Dell BIOS-Update Program CD

I don't know of any BIOS update CD's.  If the BIOS on the Dell downloads will not let you create a bootable disc you are probably stuck with updating via Windows. 

Updating via Windows, if you follow all the Dell instructions exactly, and do not have other programs running is no more "dangerous" that running from a bootable disc.

A comment on updates.  The description of what the BIOS does - e.g. fixes a problem or adds support for new hardware, should be looked at first.  If there is nothing in the update that applies to your specific  installation there is really no need to update.  Our forum "motto" of "If it ain't broke don't fix it" really applies to BIOS updates.  Most other device updates can be recovered but a failed and corrupted BIOS cannot.

Thanks Fireberd, my XPS M1710 is once again dead so I'm trying to get prepared for when the new parts show up. I know for certain my Nvidia 7950 GTX is fried and I am betting that the motherboard is also damaged due to the video card over-heating. I might get lucky but I want to be prepared so I can get the M1710 back up and running as quickly as possible when the parts get here. When you replace the motherboard, as I understand it, Dell also sends a service CD with the new motherboard in order to flash the BIOS and enter your service tag. This is what I am looking for. It's for a motherboard replacement. Maybe us lowly consumers are not allowed to have a copy of this CD? I don't know.

I've flashed (updated) the BIOS on my M1710 a few times now within Windows and had no problems but I've gone from A04 to A05 to A06 to A07 ... I hear the problems arise when you go from say A04 to A07, skipping the flashes in between. This is what I found through my research so I want to avoid this and I have no idea what the new board will have on it as it is refurbished by who knows who. Just trying to avoid unnecessary risk.

thanks again

I may have joined this discussion late, but I too am in search of this CD.  I have an Inspiron 5150 where the power receptacle came loose and Dell told me that the only way to fix it was to buy a replacement mother board.  Since this is such an old computer I had to get the MoBo on ebay and it didn't come with the CD.  BTW, the CD is mentioned as the last step in the Inspiron Service manual, which I got from support.dell.com.  When I booted up, the setup utility indicated that NO service tag or asset tag was present on the MoBo.  It seems to be running okay, but I would like to make it whole. 

So to reiterate XPS_Dead_Again's question, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the Bios / Service Tag flash CD?

BKSpain, I have finally come across some very useful info & utilities for this procedure ... and more. I believe you can contact me by email or PM so if interested please feel free to contact me "privately" and I will share the links and info I found. I don't think I can add links in this forum and my posts are continually getting deleted for one reason or another (ha, maybe the handle I chose :) so it's best to just contact me personally.

Try looking for the ISO at www.kickass.to

This is the place I look for all things. Generally I do a Google Search so that I can find the correct name of a program. After that, I go to the above website to download the program in question. You will need a torrent client such as Bittorrent. This client can be found at www.bittorrent.com

Just get the free one because it is as unlimited as the paid one. I hope it helps you.