The easiest way to update your motherboard's firmware is to use the manufacturer's Windows-based software-flashing application, which handles the process for you. If your manufacturer offers such a program (and that's a big if), just follow its instructions.

If the device maker doesn't offer such a program, instead it might provide a bootable CD in the form of a downloadable .iso file (a CD or DVD image). There's a good chance that double-clicking that file will launch your disc-authoring software and prompt you to insert a CD. On the other hand, if Windows doesn't know what to do with the .iso file, download and install the freeware application , and then double-click the file. Reboot your computer with the newly burned CD in the optical drive; the firmware-flashing process should start immediately.

Unfortunately, not all manufacturers give you something that easy to use. Some offer only a DOS-based flashing utility that you're supposed to run from a bootable floppy disk. Once you prepare the floppy, you reboot your PC with the disk in your floppy drive, run the flash utility, and then remove the floppy and reboot again. If your computer is less than a few years old, you're probably asking, "What floppy drive?" If spending money on an external floppy drive for a single firmware update isn't your cup of tea, you'll have to get creative if you want that update to work.

In place of a floppy drive, you'll have to create a bootable flash drive. To do so, grab a utility called . You'll also need the HPUSBFW_BOOTFILES.zip archive. You might be able to find it at ; if you can't, track it down by typing the file name in a search engine.

Unzip and run the USB Disk Storage Format utility (if Windows refuses to run this program because it requires administrator rights--even though you're logged on as the administrator--right-click the file and select Run as administrator). Select your flash drive as the device and pick the option to format it as a FAT32 file system. Click the check box that says Create a DOS Bootable Disk and select the folder containing the unzipped files of the HPUSBFW_BOOTFILES.zip archive. Once the utility is done, drag and drop whatever files the manufacturer of your device wants you to put on the "floppy."