Updating Bios on ancient machines

[Wauley]

I bought this machine in December of 2014.  It was one of the last Windows 8 Machines HP offered.  My previous machine, HPE-380t CTO, had the Hard Drive crash, so I slid this one up under it.  I hated Windows 8 and within a month of me getting this machine, Microsoft offered the free upgrade to Windows 8.1.  Which I downloaded ASAP from HP.  I should have upgraded my Bios Firmware at that time.  I have UEFI SM BIOS Version 2.7, AMI 80.20, 10/31/2014.  But I did not. 

I am retired on fixed income, so I replaced the hard drive in my old machine and gave it to my wife.  And after upgrading the OS, I was happy with this 700-210xt CTO.  However, in 2021 I made the determination that in 2025 I am going to buy two new machines.  In an effort to get as much out of these two old machines as I could, I have upgraded the Ram in both to 16GB, The Operating System has been upgraded in both to Windows 10 (64bit).  I have downloaded Driver update software and updated every driver on both machines to the latest and greatest.  When I did that to my surprise, the old machine which is the 2010 HPE-380t CTO model, boots faster and in many ways is faster, than my newer machine.  

So, I thought no big deal I will upgrade the Bios in both and call it done.  Unless the Hard Drives Crash or I have a hardware failure they should last fine until 2025.  I have spent all day trying to figure out how to upgrade the Bios Firmware.  HP has nothing that is newer than Windows 8.1 for my machines.  American Megatrend Inc. (AMI) Bios Tool will not even launch, my suspicion is my drivers are so new as to be incompatible with their older software.  And you are not going to get Tech Support from them.  They only talk to companies, period.  HP has nothing for me, and you cannot chat with a tech.  

WHAT CAN I DO?  WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?  IS THERE MAYBE A BIOS UPDATE SERVICE THAT ANYONE KNOWS OF?  Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Unfortunately, you don't have any options other than to:

Risk updating the BIOS in your PC's on an unsupported operating system.

The update may work fine on W10, or it may totally wreck your PC's, which will push up your PC acquisition date to a lot sooner than 2025.

On your 700-210xt CTO, there is only one newer version, and I doubt updating the BIOS would make a bit of difference in the performance of the PC according to the release notes.

Driver - HP ENVY 700-210xt CTO Desktop PC | HP® Customer Support

- Updated the Intel CPU microcode.
- Fixed the F11 key system recovery function after upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7.

On the HPE-380t CTO, you can't find any info on your PC on the HP support site because it has been retired in accordance with HP's policy of retiring support for products that have exceeded 10 years of age.

The only place you can find drivers for your PC would be this reputable 3rd party website and they will only have drivers up to Windows 7, since that was the latest operating system your PC was supported for.

6.10

Released:15 Nov 2010

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-380t CTO BIOS (driverscollection.com)

I do not recommend that you update the BIOS in either PC.

[Wauley]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply.  That helped make my decision.  I am leaving the bios alone.  🙂  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[Wauley]

Just FYI, on your very well written reply you included a link to the update on my newer machine's bios.  I went and read it and it seemed everything would be cool, so I said, "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing."  So, I did just as the instructions told me.  The program worked as intended and brought my bios up to AMI 80,21, 8/13/2015.  The machine is fine, and it is probably my imagination, but I think it boots a little faster.  Nothing else I noticed happen and I never use the F11 key.  Thank you so much for taking the time to help an old man out.  🙂   

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime. 

Glad to have been of assistance.