Updated BIOS to P11.B4 and now it won't boot

I tried to update the BIOS on an Aspire XC-605G to the P11.B4 version. I followed the instructions. When it finished updating the BIOS, it said to restart the computer and then I should see a screen that asked me to hit enter to get into settings. At that point I should hit F9 and then F10 and restart again. Did this, but we now get a screen that says "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert Boot Media in selected device and press a key". Tried going back into the settings and checking the boot order and stuff, but all looked great (hard drive first). Did the F9, F10 thing again but get the same thing.

I'm hoping someone knows how to reverse the BIOS update or something. Thanks in advance for the help.

Accepted answers

JordanB

If your xc-605G originally came with Windows 7, then you should go in to BIOS settings and make the following changes:

1. Disable secure boot
2. Set Launch CSM to "Always"

All comments

stm76

PS it has Windows 10 on it. I'm pretty sure it is a Core i3 with 4 or 8 GB of RAM.

JordanB

Hello @stm76

Did your computer originally come pre-installed with Windows 7? Or did it originally come pre-installed with Windows 8?

stm76

I think it did. But on the Acer downloads page, I made sure that I selected that the computer has Windows 10 64 bit on it. I figured it would only show me the stuff that worked with Windows 10 64 bit.

JordanB

If your xc-605G originally came with Windows 7, then you should go in to BIOS settings and make the following changes:

1. Disable secure boot
2. Set Launch CSM to "Always"

JordanB

I should have asked you........do you remember the BIOS version that you had before you updated?

stm76

JordanB, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Your suggestions fixed it. Booting up just fine now.

I should have checked, but I do not know what version the BIOS was before the update.

I have to say that I don't really like Acer's way of updating the BIOS. I prefer the simplicity of Dell's BIOS updates. Double click an EXE, it checks the version you have and shows you the version it will update to. You then either tell it to go for it or cancel. Super simple, never had any problems with a Dell BIOS update ever.

JordanB

You're welcome. Glad you have it working. Acer uses the EXE method for BIOS updates with newer desktops...probably starting in 2015 or 2016.

The XC-605G's that came pre-installed with Windows 7 use the P21.xx BIOS. But it's not a huge deal if you're running Windows 10 to use the P11.B4.

Your XC-605G is in legacy mode. So that means it uses MBR....which is prone to root kits like many Windows 7, Windows Vista, XP computers. If you ever want to switch your XC-605G over to the new modern UEFI/EFI/GPT installation, you'll have to backup your files and wipe the disk and convert it to GPT with diskpart and completely re-install Windows 10 from scratch. There's lots of posts on this forum with step-by-step instructions if you ever want to switch the Windows 10 installation over. The default UEFI settings for Windows 8 or 10 are Secure Boot=enabled and Launch CSM=never, but again, you'd have to complete wipe the HDD and convert the HDD to GPT if you ever want to run with the default UEFI settings.....which would make the computer more secure.