Proprietary utility q flash. How to update the bios of a gigabyte board using a flash drive

How to update Bios on Gigabyte motherboard? And so let's begin! Updating the BIOS (BIOS) must be done very carefully. Remember that by flashing the BIOS (BIOS) you take full responsibility for the further operation of your equipment.

Therefore, if there are any malfunctions in the operation of Gigabyte equipment, it is better to contact an authorized service center, but if this is not possible, then you should remember the following:

1. Make sure that the BIOS version to which you want to update your motherboard is compatible with this model.

2. Also check that the protection for flashing the firmware in Advanced CMOS (AMI BIOS) or Advanced BIOS Features (AWARD BIOS) is removed

3. It should be remembered that it is strictly forbidden to interrupt BIOS updates, this will lead to equipment failure, so you will need to connect your personal computer to an uninterruptible power supply.
4. And if there is no important problem for updating it, then it is better not to do it.

And now everything is in order:

1. Download the firmware we need (we will flash it using the Q-Flash flasher built into the BIOS)
2. Next, you need to format the flash drive in FAT or FAT32 (if the flash drive is larger than 4 GB). Remember that this should not be done using Windows.
3. The next step is to unzip the downloaded archive with the BIOS firmware and copy the files with the extension .B * or .D * or .F * to the flash drive
4. Enter the BIOS (BIOS) and select Load Optimized Defaults, then press “Enter”, “Y”, “Enter”, “F10”, “Y”, “Enter” in the following sequence.

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5. Go to the BIOS (BIOS) again, press “F8” and select “Update BIOS from Drive” again “Enter” and select the flash drive (it will be shown as a hard drive) and “Enter” again, the next step is to select our file with the firmware and double-click "Enter"

After updating, be sure to follow the following procedure. Go to BIOS (BIOS), save the optimal default settings. Disconnect the computer from the power supply and borrow a battery.
Today I asked myself this question i.e. The freezing of the BIOS when turning on the computer has already become a bother. I found information on how to do it and, as usual, I did everything my way). In general, updated.

Here are the update instructions.
1. Go to the website gigabyte.ru and find the latest firmware version for your motherboard. For those who are too lazy to flip through pages, you can use the search.

2. Having found your motherboard, you can see which BIOS version is the latest for it for the current day (I had F8, versus the one that was F4). It also says what changes were in the new versions. Download the archive with the BIOS of your motherboard.

3. Unpack the archive into some folder, there will be three files there: autoexec.bat, FLASHSPI.EXE, *****.f*, where in the last file in the first case the identifier of your motherboard goes before the dot, and after the dot comes BIOS number, for example I had this file: h55mud2h.f8. On the official note it was written that the files should be transferred to a floppy disk, but I understand that the manual was written back in the days of Pentiun I or II. The BIOS file weighs as much as 8 MB and definitely won’t fit on a floppy disk, so we take a flash drive and drop these files into the root directory of the flash drive.

4. Reboot the computer. While loading the BIOS, you need to press the Q-Flash menu exit key (for some it was the F8 button, personally I had the End button). After clicking on which we find ourselves in a small menu in which there is not such a large selection of options. In this menu, you can save the current BIOS version to a file or update the BIOS version; we are interested in the second option (although it wouldn’t hurt to save the old version for a backup copy). So, click Update BIOS. You will be asked to select the drive from which the BIOS will be updated. (I only had one, I think you will have the same).

By selecting the drive, you will see the name of the very file that was transferred to the flash drive. Press Enter on it. The program checks the integrity of the firmware file before updating. Then you are asked one final time: do you want to flash the BIOS? Press enter and wait for the process to complete for almost a minute. After the update is completed, another BIOS integrity check will occur and then you can press Esc and reboot. All firmware is completed.

Now you need to go into the BIOS again and configure it as needed, because... After flashing all settings are reset to default settings.

I would also like to say that if you update the biost for fun, then it’s better not to do this, because... I can’t vouch for someone else’s hands and you might mess up the thread. Only sew if absolutely necessary.

Periodically, new BIOS versions are published on the websites of motherboard manufacturers, which eliminate previous shortcomings and various bugs. Motherboard manufacturers themselves also recommend updating the BIOS regularly.. In any case, you can search the Internet for reviews about the quality of new versions and only after that make a decision about flashing. Personally, I update myself at least once a year.

We will update the bios using the built-in Q-Flash utility., an example is shown on version 2.23. The principle of operation on different motherboards is no different, and these instructions are based on the example of the Gigabyte z68A-D3-B3 motherboard

Here is a list of official websites of motherboard manufacturers where you can download new bios versions. The most popular ones in Russia are indicated.

To work, we will need a flash drive, necessarily formatted in FAT32, or a partition on the hard drive formatted in FAT32, otherwise the system may simply not see them. Download the new BIOS version from the office. site, unpack the archive and put the contents on a flash drive or screw. Now we insert the flash drive into the USB socket, reboot and, as usual, press the Delete button to get into the BIOS settings.

All actions are carried out using the ESC - cancel, Enter - apply and arrow keys. New motherboards support mouse operation.

The first thing we need to do before flashing the firmware is to reset all settings to default, so that after the update we don’t have any problems with the parameters. To do this, we find the point Load Fail-Safe Defaults, select it with arrows and press Enter

We agree by pressing the Y key, the settings are reset.

Bios backup procedure

Now we look at the navigation menu, it can be located either at the bottom of the screen or on the right. We are looking for where the Q-Flash utility is turned on, in our case the launch is carried out by pressing the F8 key

We see a request to confirm actions, agree by pressing Y (abbreviated Yes) and Enter

In the Q-Flash window, select the item Save Bios to save a backup copy in case of recovery.

The system offers us a choice of storage location, but in this case it only sees a flash drive in FAT32 (or a hard drive in FAT32), so we will save the backup to it

If possible, set a name for the backup and press Enter

The procedure for updating the BIOS to a new version

After saving the backup copy of the old BIOS version, select Update BIOS.

Let's go back to our flash drive. There are unpacked files downloaded from the office. motherboard manufacturer's website. If you dropped the entire folder, then open it too

We need the firmware file, do not confuse it with a backup copy. Select the firmware and press Enter

Confirm the request to update the BIOS to the new version by pressing the Enter key

The bios update process has begun, nothing more can be done during the firmware, this is already critical. If the update fails or there is a power outage, you will have to take your hardware to a service center. The whole procedure also takes only a couple of minutes.

upon completion of the update process we receive a message about the successful outcome of our hopeless enterprise :)

Now we go to the main menu by pressing the ESC key - the topmost key on the left, and make the settings we need. We reboot, remembering to remove the flash drive, and use the computer with the new bios firmware.

Many people wonder how to flash the BIOS, but after reading forums and abstruse articles, they think that it’s so difficult – it’s not even worth trying. Is this really true? Oddly enough, updating or reinstalling the BIOS firmware is quite simple, provided that it starts for you. Otherwise, only go to the service and there are no options.

First, let's look at why we need to flash the BIOS? And to ensure that the BIOS firmware, like any software, is periodically updated by the developers, corrections and additions are made, and improvements in operation. For example, when I bought the GIGABYTE GA-B75-D3H motherboard, it had the F3 BIOS version installed, but now F15 is already available.

I should immediately note that these methods are available for motherboards from other manufacturers, be it Asus or something else. Both on laptops and desktop computers. I’ll give an example using the popular GIGABYTE.

When firmware may be needed:

1. BIOS does not always see the USB flash drive. If everything is fine with the flash drive and you tried inserting it into different ports, then 90% of the time it’s the BIOS that’s buggy.
2. Every other time he goes into the Bios settings. When you press the settings key, the download continues.
3. There is a long list of available bootloaders, but in reality there are none. During installation, many systems create an entry in the BIOS, which can be easily removed using third-party programs from Windows, but in other systems, you cannot do without special knowledge and tambourines. Reflashing is the easiest way. By the way, this fact entails the next point...
4. When you turn on the computer after BIOS, the screen is illuminated in black and gray, the operating system does not automatically load. Loads only when you force the drive to be selected from the BOOT MENU.
5. Every other time the BOOT MENU is called. When you press the hotkey, the BOOT MENU does not enter, the download continues. If everything is fine with the keyboard, then 99% of the time the BIOS is stuck.
6. Easy firmware update to a newer version.

Methods for flashing BIOS GIGABYTE

There are two ways to update and flash the GIGABYTE BIOS:

1. Via Windows. Using the free @Bios utility that comes with the motherboard on disk. If there is no disk, then go to the official GIGABYTE website, look for our motherboard model, go to SUPPORT, and download the utility. It is important to choose the version that suits your system so that it can be installed on Windows. If the version is not compatible you will receive an error.
2. Using a USB flash drive. This method is suitable for computers that do not have Windows installed. And incompatible systems are installed, for example Mac OS X (Hackintosh) - this trend has been gaining popularity lately, or Linux, and maybe other operating systems. In this method, we still need Windows, but only to unpack the self-extracting archive with the .EXE extension.

Firmware using @Bios utility

This is what the @BIOS GIGABYTE utility for Windows looks like, the interface may be slightly different, but it’s not the interface that’s important to us, but the menu items on the right.

Save Current BIOS to File– Save the current BIOS firmware to a file. It was not for nothing that I started from this point. Before making changes to the BIOS, be sure to save the current firmware to a USB flash drive, so that in the event of a failure, you can restore the data. You never know what might happen: the light will blink, Windows will go dark, and the like.

Update BIOS from GIGABYTE Server- the easiest way to flash and update the firmware, but you definitely need access to the Internet from this computer. In this case, the firmware will be downloaded and installed automatically from Gigabyte servers, you will only need to select a region from the list of Asia, China, America, Europe, Europe (Russia) - I think there will be no difficulties with this. After selecting, confirm the action and wait for completion. After which, for the changes to take effect, we reboot, and do not forget to reconfigure the BIOS, because all settings after the firmware are reset to default.

Update BIOS from File. Completing this step does not require constant computer access to the Internet, but we will still need it, no matter what device, in order to download the firmware file. So, let's go to the website http://www.gigabyte.com/Support/Motherboard, so as not to spend too much time searching - we enter the motherboard model into the search at the top.

We choose our version. press ENTER. On the page with various modifications, select ours and on the right in the menu, immediately click BIOS.
We select the operating system, but for our method this is not important, since we already have the utility running. If it weren’t for this, we would have chosen the appropriate version of Windows and downloaded it with it. In any case, they are downloaded with the utility, whatever one may say.

Click on the region we need and download the .EXE file. We launch it, it unpacks and 3 files are available.

Click Update BIOS from File and specify the file with the firmware, in my case it is B75MD3H.F15, in yours it will correspond to your model and BIOS version. We confirm the action and reboot after completion. Setting up an updated BIOS.

Firmware via BIOS using Q - Flash

For this method, the operating system on the computer is not important to us; it is important to us that the BIOS starts and enters the settings. Let's move on to execution.

Just like in the previous method, go to the manufacturer’s website and download the firmware. We unpack it in Windows, on any available computer or laptop, the firmware file B75MD3H.F15 in my case, in yours it will correspond to your model and BIOS version - we transfer it to a USB flash drive.

When loading, press DEL to get into the settings. Perhaps, depending on the motherboard model, the keys for entering settings and calling Q-Flash will be slightly different, but the essence does not change.

In my BIOS, the Q-Flash is called by F8, on the Z chipset, if I’m not mistaken, F12, but you will see this yourself in the right menu in Bios. Confirm your login to Q-Flash. And then everything is the same as in the previous method.

1. Click Save Current BIOS to File, choose where to save it, to a flash drive or hard drive. Enter the name and save.
2. Click Update BIOS from File, select our flash drive from the list. We specify the firmware file and confirm the action. Once finished, the computer will reboot. In some cases, after a reboot, it starts and turns off almost immediately. But after a couple of seconds it starts in full. We are not afraid of this moment, this is how it should be - this is not a glitch.
3. Setting up an updated BIOS.

As you can understand, BIOS firmware is not such a complicated thing and anyone can handle it. But you shouldn’t rewrite the firmware very often. Frequent repetition of this procedure can lead to failure of the BIOS chip, since it is essentially the same flash drive with a limited rewriting resource.

20.03.2017

BIOS is a program that is responsible for the performance of the motherboard, and therefore, almost all computer components. Component manufacturer Gigabyte equips its motherboards with only the latest BIOS versions. But over time, even the newest firmware becomes outdated and requires an update that can improve the performance of the entire computer.

Some useful tips:

• Download the update only from the manufacturer's official website. Under no circumstances should you trust third-party “craftsmen” who offer to download their BIOS build, promising wider functionality and/or stable operation.
• The update version must be suitable for your motherboard. The manufacturer's website always indicates which equipment a particular update version is compatible with. You can find out the model and serial number of your motherboard by reading the manual that came with the device upon purchase or by disassembling the computer/laptop case.
• Before downloading and installing, read reviews from other users about the update. Sometimes, on the contrary, it worsens the performance of the system.
• When installing updates, make sure that it will not be interrupted by a sudden power outage or system reboot/freeze.
• If you are updating via Windows, then turn off the Internet and antivirus, because... They can interrupt the installation or open background processes that will negatively affect the completion of such an important procedure.

Follow these steps to find out the model of your mother card:

There are two ways to update:

• Directly through the OS. To do this, you will also need to download the free @BIOS utility from the developer's website. The whole process will require a few clicks and a little time.
• Via BIOS. Suitable for advanced users only. This method is safer because It is possible to create backups and rollback if the update is unsuccessful.

Method 1: Update via OS

After you have downloaded the utility and the current BIOS version from the official website, do the following:

Method 2: update via DOS

To do this, you will need to transfer the previously downloaded BIOS version to the USB flash drive. Connect the flash drive to your computer and follow the instructions:

An ordinary PC user can easily update the BIOS on a motherboard from Gigabyte. The most important thing is to follow the recommendations and steps in the instructions.