I have updated my Bios from HP site this january 2018 to ver: F.51 Rev.A. but now can't find it. Why

[MKB47BD]

I have HP Notebook 15 - bs091ms. I updated my bios on this January 2018 through downloading this bios from HP's website using the exact model no. of the notebook.The bios which I installed was ver. F.51 Rev.A. I updated it from ver.F.42 Rev.A. Now to my utter surprise when I went to HP page and browse the software download section of this HP model Notebook, I was amazed to see that the new updated bios (ver.F.51 Rev A) is missing from the download section and only the old bios (F.42 Rev.A) is available for download which is was issued in August 2018 I think. So where is the new update and why did HP pulled it out from its server? I already updated to the that version which is missing now. So how will I downgrade to the previous version? Please someone help me on this....

[IT_WinSec]

Hello @MKB47BD 

Thank you for posting in the HP Support Community.

I have no information why you cannot find the update or if it has been pulled out. There could be many reasons for this but the bottom line should be that if your BIOS is OK at the moment, you should not touch it and should not attempt to downgrade/update it further.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it

[MKB47BD]

Well I updated the bios when I got notified by HP Assistant. It notified me at that time that a new bios update is available with ver F.51. So I went to website, download the sp91something.exe and updated it and it was going ok until yesterday I noticed that my Windows 8.1 hanged with glitchy sound suddenly whicle watching youtube from firefox and Gom Player running at the background and a blue garbeled screen appeared make the laptop unresponsive. I had to press the power button for 10 seconds or more put to forced shutdown. It booted and was OK after restart. Then I browse the internet and found this link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-BS-145TU-BIOS-update/td-p/69...

Lots of consumers are getting issues and got their HP 15 laptop bricked after the update. Now HP pulled this update off from their website. So my question is will I be able to downgrade HP bios firmware to F.42 Rev A or reinstall the old bios using the utility?

[IT_WinSec · Accepted solution]

Hi @MKB47BD 

This link you posted above is for a different model. HP manufactures hundreds/thousands of new models each and every year. Some of them may share components and specs, some may share BIOS types, etc but most are different. This one you refer to is different from your model.

Generally speaking, it's no doubt BIOS updating is risky. What I usually suggest to users/customers is NOT to upgrade BIOS/UEFI unless they experience any kind of specific issue which can be directly connected to the BIOS/UEFI.

Updating just for updaing and just for using the latest verson is not a solution. Any kind of update (no matter for what and who relesed it) can fix 2 issues but may introduce 10 more issues. Additionally, upgrading the BIOS (for any vendor) poses more risks because BIOS recovery is not that easy as compared to typical software updates IF something goes wrong.

Same applies for Windows Updates, OS update, drivers updates, etc - upgrade/update IF you have issues which you know are fixed in the newer version or for some severe security issues. Otherwise, keep the existing version as long as possible.

It's risky to update the operating system, let alone BIOS/UEFI. Check this out >> https://thehackernews.com/2019/03/windows-buggy-updates.html

Additional opinion with regards to BIOS/UEFI updating >> https://www.howtogeek.com/136881/htg-explains-do-you-need-to-update-your-computers-bios/

With regards to your question if you will be able to downgrade the BIOS version to previous version,

I cannot say. You can try it but some BIOS updates do not allow downgrading, some allow. Since this one has been pulled out, I have no documents to check if it's possible.

As mentioned initially, I do not recommend you try it since your current BIOS is OK. A single Windows glitch may not be related to the new BIOS

[MKB47BD]

Thank you Sir for quick reply with clear explanation. I will stick to this bios then F.51 than downgrading to F.42 since its not giving any hickups lately. Its quite sad that HP named their bios update in codenames similar to other HP notebook models' bios and the most tragic part is they let their servers to bypass this specific bios update F.51 which they later pull it off from their website without any notification to the consumers. I think I will uninstall the HP Support Assistant software because this app notified me that there is a recent update of bios which led me to download from their site without even knowing that it might have issues.

[IT_WinSec]

You are welcome !

If you prefer, you can keep HP Support Assistant but only make it not check automatically. Instead, you can check for updates manually from time to time. I think this is the best solutions

However, even if you uninstall HP Support Assistant, your most important (critical) updates for drivers or others will come from Windows Update -> here is more information -> https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03330139