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HP Recommended
HP Pavilion Plus 14-EW1082TU (A3WE3PA)
Microsoft Windows 11

I have Purchased  a new HP LapTop  in December 1st week, 2024.

 

Model-Name: HP Pavilion Plus 14 AI-Enhanced LapTop

Model-Num : 14-EW1082TU

Product-Num : A3WE3PA#ACJ 

Mother-Board-Model: 8C31 (90.36)

BIOS-Version : F09A

 

A) Is there an HP-official or third-party-tool/method for backing up the UEFI-BIOS-firmware of this LapTop?

 

I am aware there exists  a “Universal Bios Backup ToolKit Ver-2.0.1.0”-Tool (davidxxw, 31-07-2020), for reading the BIOS-chip contents (hex-dump), for older HP-Laptops, with non-UEFI-BIOS, &  backing it up to a disk-file, which can possibly be used later for manual-BIOS-recovery, in case of BIOS corruption.

 

I am asking whether there is a similar tool for newer UEFI-BIOS-firmware HP-Laptops?  Or is there any mechanism by  which this backup can be done?   Don’t answer me with “HP-Recovery-USB” creation, with bios-file downloaded from support-site.  That is not my question.

 

B) My system (14-EW1082TU) current BIOS Ver/Date = Insyde F.08, 18-04-2024. (factory-state).

Two more new versions  F.09A, & F.10A has appeared for this model in the HP-Support  site, later.  I have not attempted a BIOS-Update for fear of corruption/Bricking!

 

C) My main SSD (500 GB) has two more partitions other than the main C:\ Windows partition, in its factory-state.  A 260MB EFI-System-Partition (ESP), & a 728MB “HP-Recovery-Partition”.  These two are not assigned drive-letters & are not accessible normally thru File-Explorer/My-PC.   I have  accessed the ESP & read its contents using special commands thru PowerShell.

 

The ESP-partition contains boot files, UEFI-SystemDiag & has a backup of the BIOS.bin files (08C31.bin, 08C31.sig, 08C31.s12). The location of the bios.bin file in ESP = “\EFI\HP\BIOS\Current”.   I assume this is a backup of the current-system-BIOS,  flashed into the BIOS-chip, before it was shipped to customer.  But I am not sure!!  Why? Explained below.

 

D) I have downloaded the current & newer BIOS version softpaq.exe files (F08, F09, F10…) for my LapTop model from the HP-Support site.  I have extracted the BIOS.BIN, sig files for them, by running the softpaq.exe & choosing option-3 to copy the bios-files to a folder.  The same can be achieved thru 7zip extract also, with more files. I assume the resulting bin files are RSA-decrypted raw-binary files, fit for direct flashing into BIOS-chip.

 

But none of the downloaded/extracted (F08, F09, F10) BIOS.bin file (08C31.bin) match with the one inside the ESP-partition !!!   All file-sizes are same= 32 MiB.  I used BC “Beyond-Compare” which is an advanced  Hex-compare utility, & also Fcpro.

 

On further examining the contents of the “08C31.bin” file within ESP in WinHex, non-blank data starts only from location-address: 0x1426000 (~ roughly 21.1 MiB), Till then it is blank either 0x00 or 0xFF!!.   Whereas all the downloaded & extracted F08, F09, F10 bios.bin files (08C31.bin) has random hex-data from 0x1000 (~ 4KiB) onwards.  Their data differs only from  0x1229010 (~ 19 MiB).

 

Because of above observations, I don’t know which BIOS version is stored in the backed up SSD-EFI Partition (ESP)?

 

Can some expert here clarify why?  Or give their comments, or possibilities, based on my above findings ?

 

Note: I have an older UEFI BIOS LapTop: HP-15-BS576TX  (Y2017). The BIOS backup question is  relevant for both LapTops.

 

Bhishmar, Trivandrum

7 REPLIES 7
HP Recommended

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to assist you.

 

I understand you're looking for information related to updating the BIOS if it gets corrupted.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, I'm here to help you today.

 

Kindly refer to the steps on this link to update the BIOS and let me know if that resolves the issue.

 

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a great day ahead!

 

Irwin6

HP Support

Irfan_06-Moderator
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

@Irwin6

I urge you to at least make an attempt to read any OP’s post carefully before jumping to reply.

 

My LapTop BIOS is not corrupted yet, and I do not want to rush to a BIOS-Update now.

And I am NOT  looking for information for updating my BIOS now.

So thank you, but no thanks, for now.

 

I am looking for a method to backup the current BIOS of the system. (i.e. BIOS-Chip-contents to a disk-file.)

It is not for use now. It is for a future use, in case my BIOS gets corrupted.  PLANNING for future.

 

Pls do get back to me, if you know of any such method.

HP Recommended

Hi @Bhishmar,

 

The link shared above has information related to all the BIOS versions availble when you go to the software section of your device.
You can always download it to a USB flash drive and use the above link on how to manually install the BIOS on your device.

 

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

 

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a great day ahead!

 

Irwin6

HP Support

Irfan_06-Moderator
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

@Irwin6

I again urge & request you to read my original post & answer to the point, rather than giving “ROBOTIC” replies.

You feel like a bot.

HP Recommended

Hi @Bhishmar,

 

I am sorry that you did not get the information you were looking for from the above replies.

 

HP does not officially provide a dedicated tool for backing up UEFI BIOS firmware. However, there are methods and tools that can assist in this process. Here's what you can consider:

 

HP-Official Method

HP provides tools for updating and recovering BIOS firmware but not for directly backing it up. These tools include:

 

HP BIOS Update and Recovery:

 

  • This tool allows you to create a recovery USB drive with the latest firmware for your system. While it doesn't back up the current BIOS, it can serve as a fallback for restoring the latest version from HP's website.
  • You can access this tool through:
    • HP Support Assistant
    • HP's dedicated BIOS update page.

HP UEFI Diagnostics:

  • Available on many HP laptops via the boot menu (press F2 during startup), this tool provides diagnostics but no BIOS backup functionality.

 

If you are looking for Third-Party Methods, please get in touch with a local store to further assist you with that information.

 

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

 

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a great day ahead!

 

Irwin6

HP Support

Irfan_06-Moderator
I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

Hi @Irwin6

Thanks for ur time & effort, for answering to the point to my question this time.

However it is not a solution for me, as u already know.

 

 

 

 

HP Recommended

Hi @Bhishmar,

 

I am sorry to hear that the above steps did not help much but i do appreciate your efforts in performing the troubleshooting steps.

As you have exhausted all the possible troubleshooting steps to fix it. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

 

I've sent you a private message with the instructions to get in touch with the HP phone support to assist you further. In order to access your private messages, Click the Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link

 

Take care and have a great day ahead!

 

Irwin6

HP Support

Irfan_06-Moderator
I am an HP Employee

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