i am having some problems in attempting to restore my BIOS that seem to be corrupted. i went to the Dell support site and found directions on how to restore BIOS, here they are:

To restore the BIOS, perform the following steps:

1.Disconnect the system from its power source.


2.Go to another working system, and download the BIOS flash executable utility for the system from the File Library located on the Dell support website at support.dell.com.


3.On the working system, go to an MS-DOS prompt and type the command xxxxx -writehdrfile (where xxxxx is the name of the BIOS flash executable utility you downloaded).


Running this utility generates a file with an .hdr extension.

4.Copy the .hdr file to a diskette.


5.Insert the diskette into the diskette drive of the corrupted system and turn it on.


The system automatically flashes the BIOS from the diskette.

6.When the system begins to restart and the Dell logo screen appears, remove the diskette from the diskette drive so that the system does not boot from the diskette again.

sounds simple enough right? i'm assuming that the " BIOS Flash executable utility" refers to the BIOS Flash update that can be downloaded at Dell.com. if not please correct me.

after i download the file, i attempt step 3 and enter the command prompt mode, however when i type " gx400a05-writehdrfile " i recieve this message:

" 'gx400a05-writehdrfile' is not recognized as internal or external command, operable program or batch file " which i'm assuming means that the writing program is not on my system or i'm in the wrong directory or something. can anybody help me??? what did i do wrong and how is it fixable?

if i attempt to run the BIOS Flash file it brings up another screen that says: "cannot run under a protected evnironment.
Press any key to exit.
ROM update not performed.

I'm a total N00b, thing is, we're having the same problem with "Mr. Sparkle" aka Optiplex GX400. BIOS v.A00

I went to the Dell site, downloaded BGX40005 and ran the exe.
support.dell.com
It opens a virtual terminal which walks you though creating the diskette.

If you try and open GX400A05
It's say: "cannot run under a protected environment"
"press any key to exit" "ROM update is not performed"

I think it's because you can't run this from Windows, it has to be on diskette and booted from when you turn on the computer.

I'll know more tonight, and post a follow up if you'd like.

it has been awhile since I did a bios restore or update, however I believed that you just copy the exe file to a diskette and when you boot up the computer that you want to update tell it to boot from the diskette.

__________________
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

I see the following:
Note the command that you are told to use:


Do you see the space between xxxx and -writeheaderfile?


But...


Now, here's what you say that you gave it, and what the system complained about

You didn't put a space and the system is looking for a file named gx400a05-writehdrfile.exe

If the file that you downloaded is named gx400a05.exe, then try the following (with the space before -writehdrfile):

Put the floppy disk the Optiplex's drive and reboot.

Regards,

Dave