Latest BIOS update for ProBook 6550b

[JohanvT]

Hi, I need some help in finding the most recent BIOS for my ProBook 6550b notebook.  The version I have is still the original 2014 version and think there might be a more recent version available?

The HP Product Support website refers me to a support server which has since been decommissioned.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The latest BIOS update for your notebook is F.60.

Driver - HP ProBook 6550b Notebook PC | HP® Customer Support

I would not use the Windows based flash to update the BIOS since you are running W10.

Use one of the other methods listed on the link I posted.

[JohanvT]

Hi Paul, thanks for the link.

I've downloaded the file, which is an exe which should give some options, such as create a USB key.  It does not however, as the OS is too advanced.  It unpacks the files and stops.

The text file gives this result:

05/07/2022 22:43:42.196 HPQRun Starts, Command Line:"c:\SWSetup\SP73917\hpqflash\hpqRun.exe"
05/07/2022 22:43:42.211 HPQRun: OS (version = 0 ) is not supported
05/07/2022 22:43:42.211 HPQRun Ends, Return Code: 1002

It seems it never got to the option where I could create the USB key.

What am I missing?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I had no problem creating the bootable BIOS USB key in W7, so I guess you will have to make it in W7.

You can try the Windows based flash but that would be risky in W10.

At least run it in W7 compatibility mode if you want to take a gamble on it.

[JohanvT]

Hi Paul, thank you so much for your support in this issue.

The bundle contains an app called SP73917_E, which is the correct one for my PC.  When I run this app, it brings up a dialogue box in which one can choose to create a bootable USB on key.

When I select this option, the programme runs up to a point where it gets stuck on the following message:

The USB is, however, not write-protected.  I can freely copy other files of any format to the USB without problems.

I've tried most of the advice on the web about this error, but it only occurs with this program, which leads me to beleive the problem is not with the USB, but with the programme?

Any advice you can provide here will be invaluable.  I've also tried to make the USB via Rufus, but I cannot see the image files in the package; it seems it generates the files at this point.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Unfortunately, I don't know why that is happening and what you can do about it. Using W7 and a 1 GB USB flash drive, I ran the same update-- SP73917_E

This was the end result of the file contents of the flash drive after the program ran without any issues.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

There is one other thing you can try if you did the above on Windows 7 like I did.

I attached an old HP utility called the USB disk formatting tool.

Download, unzip and run the file.

It will format your USB flash drive so that it is bootable.

Looking at the screenshot of the final results of running that BIOS flash drive utility, the files on the flash drive seem to be exactly what are in the folder.

After the HP USB format tool creates the bootable flash drive, copy and paste those files in the folder to the USB flash drive and see if that works.

I do not believe the tool I attached works on newer operating systems.

[JohanvT]

Dear Paul, thank you so much for your very capable assistance, I really appreciate it.

It seems all but impossible to achieve the BIOS update via USB bootable disc creation with these tools under Windows 10.  I have even tried disabling the write protection function via the Group Policy Editor, but I keep hitting the same "write protection" issue.  The HP USB disk utility also doesn't work under Win 10.

I am inclined to resign to the fact that the BIOS cannot be updated.  I also think the overhead of continually avoiding forced Win 10 updates will not be worth the risk, as it could easily happen with less tech savvy users.

Thank you once more for your assistance!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome. 

Sorry that you were not able to create a bootable USB BIOS update drive using W10.