OT Windows Update Pushes out BIOS updates for Windows 10/11
Kev914
Posts: 1,115
Myabe this old news, I don't know. But I recently learned about it...the hard way.
If you open Device Manager, and you see a category called FIRMWARE, then you have the update that allows this "feature.". They list the BIOS update under Other Updates and they call it FIRMWARE Upate. if there is an update for your PC.
I have a new Dell PC and one day I turned it on and it ran briefly and then shut off. I thought "What the heck!" and was just about to press the power button, when it restarted again. It came normally it seemed. But then I found it would always start weith a "False start". I checked the Event viewer and it said to make sure that all my drivers were up to date. So I went to the Dell support page to see if there were any new drivers. I immediately saw there was a new BIOS update. I wasn't sure if I wanted to install it, since I just read that some recent Dell BIOS update had bricked some PCs. So then I thought, I'll check the Device Manager and see if there are any issues. When I opened the Device Manager, I saw that FIRMWARE catagory The category was flagged and it was open. It showed the BIOS update already installed. And there was a note beside it that said this would be applied the next time the PC was rebooted. Only it didn't work. I just kept getting the false start and then immediate restarted. I ended up called Dell support and we downloaded and installed the BIOS update manully and that fixed things.
The BIOS update is suppose to be part of the Windows Feature update. Something about needing to keep PC up to date. They require PC manufacters to submit BIOS updates so if you don't do it, they will.
Of course if you have an older PC, then you may never notice if this is no update for you PC
If you search the web, you can find some discussions about this. I participated in one.
On my older PC, I have the latest BIOS update installed. It is something like 1.2.3 and under Other updates it shows a FIRMWARE update of 0123. Somebody else on the Dell forum said they had the same thing. I just hope Windows Update doesn't try to install it when it's already installed, since they incorrectly list it with a 0 in front of the version number.
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Comments
You spelled it "FIREware" three times so I assumed you must be talking about something I have not heard of. Yet you start by talking about FIRMware which would indicate BIOS as you say.
Nevertheless, I jumped through all the hoops Microsoft demanded to ready my PC for Windows 11 only to decide not to do that. It seems they want acces to my PC to install things they think I need but maybe I don't want.
Sorry. I meant FIRMWARE. I corrected it. I would have included some links to articles and discussions about this, but I wasn't sure if they were allowed.
My second PC is only 4 years old and it doesn't qualify for Windows 11 since the processosr is an i7
...this has me more than a bit concerned about the hardware upgrade I have been considering. I'm urgently running on decade old tech (DDR3 memory and PCIe 2.0) and plan to upgrade to W11 requirements.
Short and sweet; Never update anything without first checking what is being updated and why.
I update my bios only from the manufacturer. Only if has a security update or supports a better processor for upgrading. Which mine did, all it did was enable the TMP to be on by default on the CPU. Never let Windows Update, update Your drivers. Ever!!! or firmware the manufacturer will have the ones you want.
They(Microsoft) also released an "optional update" that breaks safe mode and a few other things.
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/335100-microsoft-recommends-people-uninstall-optional-windows-11-update
Windows 10 is my last microsoft OS.
....and they wonder why I have updates turned off
The BIOS update seems to be a Dell specific thing that Dell has been doing since 2017!
That's Extremetech article is an atrotious bit of Clickbait. Microsoft is not saying everyone should uninstall the update!
It's just the usual "some people might be affected" and those people can uninstall... the type of note that comes with every update.
It's Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo and probably others. And when they push it out, they don't even tell you. Some people have seen their BIOS updating and wondered why it was updating seemingly by itself. Others, like me, saw nothing at all. Just some weird behavior afterwards because the update didn't take, or maybe complete. Not sure.
I'm still on Win 10 and have been keeping it up to date with no issues. My system was built last year so it is Win 11 ready...I just haven't even thought about doing it yet.
Seems this issue has been around for a while, at least since 2018 / 2019 and that "so far" only prebuilt systems from Dell and HP and the like are having this done to them..
...that is a bit of a relief as my upgrade is a DIY.
I have an HP and updates are turned off. I don't apply updates until I'm sure they're not gonna lay waste to my OS or anything else. LOL