Bios corrupted during power failure.

[NoClue]

I have a Dell Vostro 3500 i5 8Gig laptop and during upgrading the Bios a power failure occurred. Nothing works. Lots of info an the website but nothing works for me No indication which of the 3 USB ports would work when loading via flash drive the winery70.hdr file. Tried them all. Am very sad, I really need some sound advise what to do to get the machine back to live. Step to step instructions please...........thanks

 

[gregmcc]

Wasn't the battery charged?
If it doesn't have one of those dual bios features you will need to get someone to remove the bios chip and reflash. Not an easy task.

 

[Sl8er]

I have a Dell Vostro 3500 i5 8Gig laptop and during upgrading the Bios a power failure occurred. Nothing works. Lots of info an the website but nothing works for me No indication which of the 3 USB ports would work when loading via flash drive the winery70.hdr file. Tried them all. Am very sad, I really need some sound advise what to do to get the machine back to live. Step to step instructions please...........thanks

Ouch.
It's, apparently, already a major hassle to sort this out on a desktop...which means it'll probably be near impossible on a laptop.
I have a feeling you've got a new doorstop on your hands.

Hope I'm wrong and you get this fixed with minimum effort.
Good luck!

 

[LCBXX]

Get details of a local Dell Service Centre and take the device in to them. It is going to cost you; worst case a new motherboard but you might be lucky in that they may have a recovery method that they can use to reflash the BIOS.

 

[namzsteve]

Ouch man!

Had this happen to me a few years ago, I normally remove my battery pack when I have my laptop plugged in, then the crazy idea to upgrade the bios popped and I did. Power tripped on me and that was it. The recovery partition wasn't able to do the job either.
2 weeks later as I was about to order a new one, I luckily managed to fix it. Laptop is still going, HP DV7.

I feel your pain, you might just have to get a new one, the hassle of removing the bios chip is not worth it. At least you still have your data intact.

 

[absynth]

Found this,didn't read through it all.

I know it sometimes possible to recover Laptop with corrupt BIOS as I did it on an Acer Netbook and few other laptops before.

https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General/Vostro-3500-BIOS-Update-Failed-Recovery-Procedure-Needed/td-p/4437548

 

[gregmcc]

You can get replacement bios chips on eBay for like $20. Its pretty easy to replace if you are good with a soldering iron. If not then don't even attempt it. Far too much to go wrong.

Only other option is to find someone to replace the chip, or buy a whole new motherboard.

 

[marco]

If you tell me the symptoms I may be able to help you. If your Bios is dead then you would have no LED lighting up. Nothing will start and your laptop will be dead.

This is also true if your Power Management Chip dies. One or more of your 3.3 v, 5.0 v, 1.5 v power buses will be absent. This also kills your laptop.

Unfortunately you would need tools such as a heat gun and magnifying glass.