How to Update BIOS to Protect Against Vulnerabilities
Is it me, or are we seeing new disclosures of large and frightening vulnerabilities affecting core components of your system? Just a week ago, Microsoft and Google announced additional issues – Rogue System Register Reading and Speculative Store Bypass – which are bizarre variants of Specter and Meltdown vulnerabilities that have dominated tech news cycles this year .
What does this mean to you? Well, you probably have – or will – some updates for your processor, which will likely be delivered as a firmware update for your system (usually called a BIOS update, although you are probably updating your Unified Extensible Firmware Interface . or UEFI).
If this all sounds likenonsense , don’t worry. While this is a little more complicated than a standard operating system update, you shouldn’t be intimidated by a BIOS update. It’s actually a pretty straightforward process.
If you have a Mac, you win
Mac Owners – If you’re worried about missing out on valuable updates that fix the hardware issues you’ve read about, don’t worry. As long as you regularly check the App Store for system updates (and you can also tell the App Store to download them automatically via the settings screen), you’re good to go. This is the best way to get updates from Apple.
If you are using Windows …
Roll up your shirt sleeves. The process of updating your system’s firmware isn’t the worst, but it’s not as easy as what you find on a Mac. Check Windows Update before starting. While this will not update your motherboard’s BIOS, it is always recommended that you use the most recent drivers and operating system updates.
If you are using a laptop , go to the manufacturer’s website and look for the support section for system updates. You will probably need to know the exact make and model of your laptop in order to get the updates you want, which you can probably find on a sticker on the underside of your laptop. Each laptop manufacturer stores updates in different locations on their websites, so a little search may be required to do this.
If you’re lucky, your laptop manufacturer offers some kind of software utility that can help you figure out what drivers and updates you need for your particular laptop. Your laptop manufacturer may also offer their own BIOS update utility in addition to (or instead of) the BIOS update file.
Since there are a million different notebooks and notebook manufacturers out there, the BIOS update process may differ. If your manufacturer doesn’t have a utility to run all of your updates for you, you’ll want to find at least the latest BIOS file. Whether you install this with a dedicated utility, or use a tool like Rufus to create a bootable USB key and run a BIOS update from MS-DOS, it entirely depends on how your laptop manufacturer handles such updates.
If you are using a desktop computer , you also have several options. Your system manufacturer may offer BIOS updates, which you find using the same methods as the laptop owner. You may also have to hunt down your motherboard manufacturer to get BIOS updates this way.
If you are not sure which motherboard is installed in your system – because who remembers the smallest details of the PC they built five years ago – press Windows Key + R, enter “msinfo32” and find the system manufacturer and system. List of models. If they don’t give you the exact model number of your motherboard, you can also use a third party application like CPU-Z or HWInfo to help.
Once you find out the manufacturer and model number of your motherboard, find the corresponding support page on the manufacturer’s website. Again, you’ll be looking for the manufacturer’s drivers page for your motherboard and, within that, either a utility that updates your drivers and firmware for you, a BIOS file, or a combination of a BIOS file and a BIOS flashing utility.
From there, the process for updating your motherboard to the latest BIOS will be different. Most people will probably find that they are either running the utility directly from Windows, or copying the BIOS file to a USB drive, rebooting their computers, holding down the DEL key (or whatever key your system uses) during POST to pull the BIOS out of their motherboard, and flashing the updated BIOS from some hidden menu option.
Again, your motherboard manufacturer should have documentation on how best to do this, so I recommend browsing their site (or doing a quick internet search) for the correct steps.
BIOS updates can be a little intimidating
Just a small addition, but BIOS updates are simple and you don’t want to mess with them – for example, if something messes up, it will be a big failure. Just in case, make sure you back up important files before running a BIOS update. Make sure your laptop is plugged into a wall, not running on battery power, and do not turn off or restart your computer or laptop during the update process, unless the update utility tells you it is safe to do so.
After updating the BIOS, you might have to go back to your system’s BIOS – usually by pressing a key such as DEL or F2 at boot time – and reset any settings you previously configured. It happens.
Assuming your system manufacturer is the same as everyone else, you probably won’t have any way of knowing about new BIOS updates other than checking your manufacturer’s support page for your system (or motherboard) from time to time. to see what’s new. Make a recurring reminder on your favorite calendar so you don’t miss critical performance or security updates for key components of your system.