How to flash an older bios version on ASUS laptop & desktops
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 10:59 am
I went to update the BIOS on my ASUS N56VM laptop this morning as a new one was out and ran into some issues that I thought I would share in case someone else does and wants to know how to fix them. As we all know, sometimes a BIOS update can conflict with your hardware, a setting or your operating system. You can usually revert back to previous BIOS version or downgrade your ASUS BIOS if needed. The problem is that on the newer EFI BIOS versions the upgrade/downgrade process is done in the BIOS with easy flash or on the desktop with a windows utility. Okay, let's get to it.
I ran into problems with my memory kit after updating my laptops BIOS, so I put in another memory kit and tried to downgrade the BIOS.
The only problem was that the ASUS Windows BIOS Flash Utility won't let you use an older BIOS image and gives an error saying that The BIOS file is older than the current version. The button to flash the BIOS is greyed out and not an option.
The easiest solution to this BIOS downgrade option is to launch ASUS WinFlash through Command Prompt. (Command Prompt can be found under Start Menu under Accessories.) Once you are in Command Prompt you must navigate to where you have Winflash installed. If you installed it with the default settings on Windows 7 it will be located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\WinFlash directory. Just enter the command cd C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\WinFlash to get into that directory.
Once you are in thar folder you can run the command Winflash /nodate and the utility will launch like normal. Only this time it will ignore the date of the BIOS images that you are trying to downgrade to.
Now you can select your desired bios file, ignore the warning about it being an older version and press Flash. After the WinFlash utility tells you it is done, you can reboot your computer and should have successfully downgraded your BIOS.
This should work on desktop and notebooks and is an easy way to fix the issue of how to install an older BIOS version. I see this being a problem for many in the future, so just wanted to point it out.
I ran into problems with my memory kit after updating my laptops BIOS, so I put in another memory kit and tried to downgrade the BIOS.
The only problem was that the ASUS Windows BIOS Flash Utility won't let you use an older BIOS image and gives an error saying that The BIOS file is older than the current version. The button to flash the BIOS is greyed out and not an option.
The easiest solution to this BIOS downgrade option is to launch ASUS WinFlash through Command Prompt. (Command Prompt can be found under Start Menu under Accessories.) Once you are in Command Prompt you must navigate to where you have Winflash installed. If you installed it with the default settings on Windows 7 it will be located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\WinFlash directory. Just enter the command cd C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\WinFlash to get into that directory.
Once you are in thar folder you can run the command Winflash /nodate and the utility will launch like normal. Only this time it will ignore the date of the BIOS images that you are trying to downgrade to.
Now you can select your desired bios file, ignore the warning about it being an older version and press Flash. After the WinFlash utility tells you it is done, you can reboot your computer and should have successfully downgraded your BIOS.
This should work on desktop and notebooks and is an easy way to fix the issue of how to install an older BIOS version. I see this being a problem for many in the future, so just wanted to point it out.