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Do I Really Need To Hot Flash?
If you just want to update your BIOS, no, you do NOT need to hot flash. In fact, you should NOT hot flash it. A simple BIOS flash will suffice.
Hot flashing is a tricky procedure that should only be attempted if you have a corrupted BIOS. Hot flashing a perfectly normal BIOS chip is foolhardy business, IMHO!
What Do I Need To Hot Flash A BIOS Chip?
If you want to hot flash a corrupted BIOS chip, you will need :-
- A working computer with a motherboard that uses the same BIOS chip.
- A suitable tool for removing BIOS chips.
- The corrupted BIOS chip, of course!
- A DOS boot disk containing the BIOS flash utility and the BIOS image for the corrupted BIOS chip.
You should also be experienced in flashing normal BIOS chips. Please do NOT attempt a hot flash unless you know how to flash a normal BIOS in the first place. Needless to say, we will not be held responsible if you misuse this guide and damage your computer.
Before We Start
Although BIOS removal tools are pretty common in Western countries, we were unable to find one over here. So, we had to make use of a pair of tweezers to remove the BIOS chips. Needless to say, it was not a safe tool to use at all since it is made of stainless steel which conducts electricity!
Needless to say, we took our time removing the BIOS chips and made sure the tweezers did not touch any open leads or the BIOS socket connectors. Still, it was rather dangerous to poke something conductive into the BIOS socket.
Therefore, we highly recommend that you use a proper BIOS removal tool. Do NOT resort to metal tools like the tweezer we used. If you still choose to use metal tools, please take extra precautions and note that you are doing so at your own risk.
With that in mind, let's start!
