The only reason you need to update your BIOS is when your computer is having compatibility issues with other hardware or experiencing problems that are caused by a buggy version of BIOS. The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to updating BIOS and drivers. Downgrading BIOS is hardly what normally people do but there are times when the older BIOS version works better than the newer/current one and you need to downgrade.

I recently bought an OEM laptop battery for my Acer notebook and has been experiencing problems with it. First of all Windows 7 shows an error “No battery is detected” and the battery LED keeps on blinking orange in color. I sent the battery back and got a new replacement but still getting the same problem. Finally the battery seller/manufacturer told me that it is caused by the newer versions of Acer BIOS and I need to send my laptop back to the manufacturer to reset it back to the default factory version. The latest version BIOS for Acer TravelMate 6293 is v1.41 and the Acer support website allows me to download 4 versions that are older than the current version.


Fortunately flashing of BIOS is way easier now because you can do it directly in Windows. Many years ago you will need to use a boot disk such as DrDOS with NO drivers loading up in config.sys or autoexec.bat. Anyway I downloaded the older version of Acer BIOS that is made for my Acer TravelMate 6293 notebook and ran the Phoenix WinPhlash tool (WinPhlash.exe). By default the “Backup BIOS and Flash BIOS with new settings” is selected and all I need to do is click the Flash BIOS button.

The process of Load new BIOS, Analyze old and new BIOS compatibility, Read old BIOS, Save old BIOS to backup file has passed but upon reaching the final stage “Flash new BIOS”, an error message “The current system BIOS is the same version (or newer) than the version you are trying to flash, so the BIOS will not be changed” appears.

This is actually the extra security check by Phoenix WinPhlash tool to prevent users from downgrading BIOS. If you still want to downgrade, here is the trick.

1. Open the folder where the WinPhlash tool is located and edit the PHLASH.INI file with a text editor.

2. Look for the line Advanced=0 which is normally at the second line, change it to Advanced=1 and save.

3. Now run WinPhlash.exe and you will notice an extra “Advanced Settings” button at the top right of the program. Click on the Advanced Settings button.

4. Uncheck “Flash only if BIOS version is newer than system” and click OK.

Now you can successfully flash your BIOS with an older version without getting the error message. Again I would like to stress that normally you do NOT need to upgrade or downgrade your BIOS if everything is working fine on your computer.