Ultra-Thin

[CamiloMM]

Hi, I recently bought an Aspire V5-471.

The first thing I did was to get rid of the abysmal pre-installed OS (Win8) and "upgrade" to Win7. Then I installed drivers, and am currently setting up apps and all.

Thus I wanted to upgrade the BIOS, downloaded it, but when I try to run Update.bat, seemingly I can't. It gives me this error:

Please update to the same type of BIOS (v2.x)

ERROR 235 - OEM check failed from BIOS service!

 Using an utility I found out my current BIOS is V2.15 from 12/21/2012. Both BIOSes available for download are newer than that, and I don't know which changes have been introduced, but I just wanted to keep it all up-to-date.

Seemingly the BIOS for Win8 is from the v2.x series, but I'm on Windows 7 so I believe I shouldn't install that. (and there's this one from the v1.x series which is newer than the v2.15 I have)

What should I do?

Thanks in advance.

[Alan-London]

There is no requirement to change the BIOS when upgrading from Win8 to Win7.

Leave your machine with the BIOS you have - Win7 will be absolutely fine plus, should you ever wish to go back to Win8 or even Win9 when that is released, you will be able to do so easily and without risking turning your V5 into a brick. Another benefit is, should you ever sell your V5, it will be upgradeable!

Remember, the BIOS is NOT a driver and does not need to be updated in the same way.

[CamiloMM]

Thanks for the fast reply.

But I still wonder - why are updates published for BIOSes if they aren't necessary? I wish there was some changelog (is there?).

I also thought that modern BIOSes (especially now that they're UEFI) would somehow not get bricked.

And what do you mean by:

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Alan-London wrote:

should you ever sell your V5, it will be upgradeable!

---

?

[Alan-London]

BIOS updates can be issued for a variety of reasons. They can be as trivial as correcting a spelling mistake or adding eye candy as well as important updates addressing bugs or adding further functionality.
However, the issuing of a BIOS update should not be seen as mandatory. Unless you have a problem that is expressly addressed by the update or it includes functionality that you simply can't live without, then I would recommend you leave well alone (although the choice is yours of course). 'Serious' BIOS software developers will always list major or important revisions. Not mentioning the revisions can mean one of two things, the change is of no functional consequence or the issuer is incompetent! (I'll say no more!!)

I have mentioned this before - The BIOS plays NO part in the operation of your operating system! It is a very common misconception that the BIOS plays the part of a 'driver' within Windows - it doesn't.

My reference to 'bricked' is directed at the many occurrences of failed BIOS update attempts. These are not generally the fault of the BIOS code rather the result of an incorrect or incomplete update procedure. (In reality there is no such thing as a bricked laptop - they can all be recovered with the correct tools.)
Modern or older, UEFI or not, they are all equally susceptible to update failures.

By 'upgradeable', I refer to your laptops ability to run Win8 or 9 or 10... Install the Win7 BIOS and you limit your OS upgrade options in the future (unless you risk writing a new BIOS yet again).

That said, should you elect to install another BIOS just ensure you get the right one and that you are clear on the correct update procedure before you start! With any luck you will avoid that sickening feeling of staring at a black screen!

[CamiloMM]

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Alan-London wrote:

that sickening feeling of staring at a black screen!

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Well, you've convinced me. I had to buy this laptop in a hurry precisely because my old one suddenly decided to go from functional to dead motherboard and it would suck for it to happen again this early on! Especially if there's no reason to 

The only thing that I couldn't understand is,

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Alan-London wrote:

By 'upgradeable', I refer to your laptops ability to run Win8 or 9 or 10... Install the Win7 BIOS and you limit your OS upgrade options in the future (unless you risk writing a new BIOS yet again).

---

But, Windows 8 (and presumably eventually 9+) can be installed on even a "legacy BIOS" (I inflicted it upon a relative's old computer after she complained that XP didn't look very modern). I think it will have boot issues if installed under UEFI's "secure mode" and then switched back to legacy, but that makes some sort of sense (maybe).

[Alan-London · Accepted solution]

Yes, you may be able to install on legacy BIOS *today* - but I suspect that is simply because MS didn't want to limit their market! Tomorrow will be a different matter once the bulk of machines have the UEFI on board. I, and many others, am firmly of the opinion that the primary objective is to lock down the OS in the same way that Apple have. Once/should that happen you will need a UEFI BIOS and most certainly 'secure boot'. Whether I'm simply paranoid or not (and I'm not) you may do well to retain your UEFI BIOS especially as it is more than happy to run Win7.

[CamiloMM]

You may be indeed right. Which is a kinda grim future... and I hope Windows RT becomes a big flop for them to reconsider this. Not fond of lock-ins

[Alan-London]

Grim indeed. No, this won't be reconsidered in my view. A great deal of planning (and money) has gone into this industry wide. I feel the goal here is an attempt to finally put paid to software piracy. This is the first step on the road to a brave new world! Apple is clearly pursuing a similar strategy. We now have the two major players walking the same path.

Future software sales are likely to be delivered electronically to signed machines only. (Note that an OS disk is no longer provided with a new machine (neither is the key for that matter.) Secure boot will ensure that an alternative OS can't be installed and, together with the HDD encryption/locking, should ensure their software is safe from piracy. ('They' will tell you it's all about safeguarding your data. Ummm...)

The only beneficial aspect that I can see is the reduction, if not elimination, of the dreaded 'virus'.

Beware the BIOS update that cannot be downgraded (it won't have a 'change log' ) and disables the ability to switch off secure boot (plus who knows what else)!! It will surely come. Game, set and match!

You heard it here first (I've not been well! ).

Disclaimer: No, I don't advocate piracy. I simply want to retain the freedom to use my machines as I think fit.

[CamiloMM]

Man, what you're saying sounds a bit paranoid at first but makes a lot of sense seeing the current direction of the Windows OS.

My biggest issue with Windows 8 was that the whole desktop world was tucked into a "tile", as if it was the modern equivalent of a command prompt, a legacy environment. As if I had to learn "the new way" of using a computer - game-like full-screen apps, acquired from a gate-keeper, and optimized for game-like usage, as if multi-tasking was discouraged and I shouldn't even worry about what's running or not on the computer, or how it's doing "its magic". It's a terrible place to be.

And the whole WinRT scenario reminds me of Sony locking down people from using other OSes for no reason. I've read you can't even install an alternative browser like Firefox or Google Chrome on WinRT - for this, they should really be sued, it's worse than it was with Netscape. I mean, even Apple allows Chrome on iPad. And on the console market, even Sony's PS4 looks more "open" than Xbox One, in other words, a company trying to be less open than Sony and Apple...

But I believe we can do something about it - in particular, by not embracing any of this (bovine feces reference acronym that was edited by a mod). In the future when buying computers maybe we'll have to choose carefully, or keep running Windows 7 until 9 or even 10 turn out to be better than 8, and if they aren't, well, let's hope desktop Linux keeps improving like it has been 

Also, I don't think anything short of turning PCs into consoles (maybe with mandatory downloadable "firmwares" for UEFI?) would restrict piracy or viruses. And the non-downgradable no-changelog future you're thinking of resembles this.

We just have to be very careful with what we purchase, but I believe this move from MS is going to be a big failure. I think Windows 8 may not even pass current XP adoption...

[ufhixitachi]

i'm really proudly you're answer the solution, but let me ask you one question, how about windows 8? i've same problem with CamiloMM i'm using windows 64bit, recently i download from acer driver support for my Aspire V5-471G but it downgrade my bios and make me reinstall again cause my previous windows can't load windows, i really frustrating, my bios is Phoenix Bios SC-T v2.2 now downgrade to v1.3, i was ask with acer service in my area but he direct me to check forum from acer. i hope here i've solution. thanks