Should You Update Your BIOS? Four Years Old and Fine Here

Somebody on a forum has told you to update your BIOS, and the page you landed on made it sound routine. It is not routine, and most people reading this should not do it.

A BIOS update is the one update on your machine that can leave you with a laptop that does not switch on. Everything else can be undone.

I read the firmware date on this machine before writing any of this. The build on it dates from November 2022, nothing newer has been applied, and nothing on the machine is wrong.

What the date on this machine actually shows

A working example beats a rule.

⭐ Read here, on a current build of Windows 11 Home: the firmware in this laptop carries a release date of 30 November 2022.

⛔ Nothing newer than that build is on it. Windows is on a current build, Secure Boot reads as on, and nothing about the machine misbehaves.

⚠️ Whatever has been released in the years since, none of it was applied here and skipping it has cost this machine nothing at all.

⚡ That is the normal case, not a lucky one. A BIOS is not like Windows. It is not fixing a security hole every month for you.

Read your own before you decide anything

Two lines, no admin prompt, and it takes seconds.

⭐ Open Terminal and run this to see the version and the date your firmware was built:

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SMBIOSBIOSVersion, ReleaseDate

⚡ Then compare that date with your maker's support page for your exact model. If the newest release is the one you already have, the question is settled.

⚠️ Ours, and it saved a prompt here: the usual command for reading Secure Boot state, `Confirm-SecureBootUEFI`, refused with an access denied message unless run as an administrator.

⛔ The same fact reads straight out of the registry with no prompt at all. Look at `UEFISecureBootEnabled` under `HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecureBoot\State`. It read 1 here, meaning on.

When you genuinely should update

Four reasons, and they are all specific.

⭐ The release notes name your exact fault. Not "improves stability". Your fault, in words, in the list of changes for that version.

⚡ You are fitting new hardware the current firmware does not support. A newer processor in a desktop board is the classic one.

⚠️ A named security advisory affects your model. Rare, and your maker will say so on the model's own page.

⛔ Or a support engineer working your case asked you to. Somebody who has your logs is a better reason than a stranger on a forum.

When you should leave it alone

Three, and the middle one catches everybody.

⛔ The machine works. No symptom, no reason, and a working BIOS is worth more than a newer one.

⚠️ You are updating because a random guide listed it as step nine. Those lists never carry the risk alongside it, and they never have your model in front of them.

⭐ Or you are hoping it will fix something you have not diagnosed. Work out what is actually failing first, because most faults are not firmware.

⚡ A BIOS update is not maintenance. Skipping it is the default for a machine that is behaving. The same argument applies one layer up, to drivers.

What a failed update looks like

The vendor documents this, and reading it is sobering.

⚡ Documented by ASUS on its page about an interrupted BIOS update, the cause is plain: "the BIOS update is failed (such as force to shut down)".

⛔ And the symptom it names is the one you fear: "a black screen (power LED indicator is on, but there is nothing displayed on the screen)".

⚠️ ASUS says what prevents it: "Please make sure that the AC adapter is connected during the BIOS updating process on your unit. Also, please do not force shut down during the update process to prevent any issue."

⭐ A power cut halfway through a firmware write is not recoverable by restarting. Some models self-recover from a USB stick. Some cannot, which is why the warning is worded so firmly.

If you decide to do it anyway

Six rules, and none of them is optional.

⭐ Get the file from your maker's own support page, for your exact model number, and nowhere else.

⚡ ASUS documents the power condition: "the device must have a battery level above 20% and be connected to a power source in order to proceed with the BIOS update".

⚠️ Plug it in even on a desktop. A five second power flicker during a flash costs you a motherboard.

⛔ Close everything and do nothing else while it runs. No browsing, no updates, no sleep timer waking up mid-write.

⭐ Expect a reboot or several, and expect your BIOS settings to reset to defaults. Photograph the screens beforehand if you have changed anything.

⚡ And do it when you have a spare evening, not the night before you need the machine.

What the vendor actually says about timing

Worth quoting, because it is more careful than the advice you will be given.

⭐ ASUS says to update "when an official BIOS update is released and aligns with actual usage requirements".

⚡ That second half is the condition. It matches something you need, not merely that it exists.

⚠️ No maker asks you to update firmware monthly. None of them ship a nagging reminder for it, the way Windows does for its own updates.

⛔ Take that silence as the answer. If it mattered for every machine, they would push it the way Windows Update pushes everything else.

Status: firmware and Secure Boot state read without an admin prompt, 27 August 2026, Windows 11 Home. ⛔ No update was attempted, and the version string is deliberately not published.

How do I check my BIOS version and date in Windows?

Open Terminal and run Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS with the version and release date selected. It needs no administrator rights. Then compare that date with the newest release on your maker's support page for your exact model. If they match, there is nothing to decide.

Is updating the BIOS dangerous?

It carries a risk nothing else on your machine does. ASUS documents what a failed update looks like. A forced shutdown can leave a black screen with the power light still on. That is why every maker insists on mains power and no interruption. The risk is small but it is not reversible in the way a bad driver is.

Should I update my BIOS if the PC is working fine?

No. A BIOS update is not routine maintenance. Update it when the release notes name a fault you actually have. Or when you are fitting hardware the current firmware does not support, or when a security advisory covers your model. Otherwise leave it.

Will a BIOS update speed up my computer?

Almost never. Firmware updates fix compatibility and stability problems and occasionally add support for newer parts. If your machine is slow, the cause is far more likely to be storage, memory pressure or something running in the background. All of those are measurable without touching firmware.

The Short Version

• The firmware build here dates from November 2022, and nothing is wrong.
• Read your own version and date in one Terminal line, no admin needed.
• Secure Boot state reads from the registry without an administrator prompt.
• Update only when release notes name your fault or your hardware needs it.
• A working machine is a reason not to update, not a reason to.
• ASUS documents a failed update as a black screen with the power light on.
• Mains power and no interruption are requirements, not suggestions.
• Expect BIOS settings to reset to defaults afterwards.

Where to Next

Read your firmware date first. One line in Terminal, and it often ends the question before it starts.

Then find your exact model on your maker's support page and read the release notes for anything newer. Look for your fault named in words.

If nothing there describes what you are experiencing, close the page. A BIOS that is working is doing its whole job.

If you do go ahead, plug the machine in, leave it alone, and give it an evening rather than ten minutes.

And if a BIOS update has ever fixed something real for you, or broken something, tell me in the comments. Either direction is useful. I would rather collect actual outcomes than repeat the warning.