Today, we're going to update the BIOS of an Acer laptop, specifically the Acer Aspire
E15. However the procedure should be the same for all recent Acer laptops. BIOS
updates often introduce new hardware support, or fix security problems such as
the Meltdown, Spectre, and recent Spoiler vulnerabilities. Before we begin, I need
to add a disclaimer that you're applying the BIOS update at your own risk -
I'm simply following the instructions laid out by Acer support. The first thing
you'll want to do is make sure that your laptop is plugged in during the entire
update process. You don't want to run out of power while the BIOS is being upgraded.
The second thing is to save any work in progress as the BIOS upgrade
will reboot your machine. Additionally, it's always a good idea to backup any
critical data. To find out what version of the BIOS you currently have, simply
hit the Start button and start typing - or enter the search field and type - "system
information." Click on the result that's returned by Windows. This program will
give you a wealth of information about your system, including the version number
of the BIOS, which in my case is 1.47. It will also give you the model number of
the laptop, which for me is the Aspire E5-576G. Let's go ahead and close out, and
start the BIOS download procedure. Launch your favorite browser and type www.acer.com
in the address bar. Once it loads, hover over Support in the menu, and click
Drivers and Manuals. At this point, you'll need to enter your serial number, the SNID
number, or your model number. If you flip the laptop over, all three numbers
are available on one label. Here's the model number, the serial number, and the SNID.
Returning to the website, I'll simply type in the model number, which, as
you may remember, was also listed in System Information earlier - E5-576G.
As you type, you'll see models that match your entry under the textbox. Let's click
on the returned result, which immediately loads the correct drivers, manuals, and
BIOS updates. Verify that the operating system shown
is the one that you're running, then scroll down until you see an entry for
BIOS/Firmware. Hit the plus sign next to it, after which it will show you each BIOS
version in reverse chronological order. The title of the BIOS describes what it
fixes. If you recall, my current BIOS version is 1.47,
so I'll update to 1.49. After hitting the Download link, the file will be
downloaded onto your computer. Once the download is complete, click the arrow
next to the file name, and then Show in Folder. The file itself is zipped, so you
can open it up in your favorite zip utility, or just right-click and Extract All
to a location of your choice. I'll simply extract to the default, which is
inside the Downloads folder. Next, the extracted folder will pop up, after which
I'll double click it, revealing the executable file that will actually perform
the upgrade. Before we launch it though, some important reminders: the program
will reboot the machine, so make sure to save any work-in-progress right now. And
while this program is running, don't place the laptop in standby or hibernation,
don't press the power button or close the lid, and don't add or remove any USB
devices. With that said, let's double-click the file. If you encounter a
Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog, click on the More Info link, then hit the
Run Anyway button. Then, if Windows pops up a User Account Control message, click
Yes to allow the program to make changes. It will then extract its files and run the updater.
After a few moments, it will restart your laptop, and the screen will
go blank. Shortly thereafter, the Acer logo will appear, telling us that the
computer's restarting, and then the updater will continue. This can take some
time, so I'll quintuple the speed of the video here. As you can see, the old
and new BIOS versions are displayed on-screen, and once again, as reminded by
the warning message, don't remove the AC power or otherwise disturb the update
process. Once the update is complete, you'll be presented with -
a blank screen...
for an uncomfortably long time. I've compressed the time here, but after about
30 seconds, the familiar Acer logo will appear, and then, finally, Windows.
We can now verify that the BIOS has been updated. After searching for System
Information again and launching it, the BIOS version number does indeed show a
successful update, with the version incremented to 1.49.
I hope you enjoyed - Thanks for watching!