windows 10 update bricks machine after forced bios flash

[Galdorf]

Customer dropped off an asus desktop he explained that after a windows 10 update after it restarted it flashed the bios after it finished and restarted got the no boot media msg.
It is an ssd and hdd combo i looked at the bios revision it is not listed so i looked up issue on google and many asus customers have the same problem with that specific model and booting ssd they reflashed to previous build and it had no ssd boot issue.
Upon further investigation other asus desktops and laptops have also had this issue seems the only fix is to prevent drivers and bios updates from going through.
I booted a PE checked file structure of ssd no issues or corrupt files it does complain about efi error i am about to reflash back to original bios and see if it boots from ssd.
I have checked all bios settings and manually reset them ssd still will not boot after i go back to original bios it should boot.

 

[britechguy]

I'm sorry, but there is no Windows Update in existence that flashes BIOS/UEFI. I've done every single feature update there is on multiple platforms, none ever touches BIOS/UEFI.

I will be happy to be corrected if anyone can produce definitive evidence otherwise.

 

[Fred Claus]

I had a similar instance in a way. A client dropped off a laptop that wouldn't boot. I cant remember what it said, but it did tell me the problem was with the bios being messed up. Your client could have had a bios issue as well and it was just a coincidence that it was at the same time as the Windows update.

 

[carmen617]

I'm sorry, but there is no Windows Update in existence that flashes BIOS/UEFI. I've done every single feature update there is on multiple platforms, none ever touches BIOS/UEFI.

I will be happy to be corrected if anyone can produce definitive evidence otherwise.

I saw one today - brand new Dell laptop, first Windows update check, there was a firmware update in there. I didn't take any pictures of it, but it looked like the one in this link:

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapt...te-pushed-through-Windows-Update/td-p/5116085

 

[Phillip Manning]

I have never had windows updates do a BIOS update on any machine I have seen, normally it would be the manufacturers update utility that installs BIOS updates, software like "Dell Updater", "Lenovo Vantage", "Fujitsu Deskupdate" and "HP support Assistant", but I have only ever seen this software install BIOS updates if the user tells it to, never off its own back.

 

[fincoder]

BIOS updates via windows updates aren't common but they definitely happen. I've seen them too.
I assume they're patching serious security flaws that can't be patched by the OS itself.

Luckily the issue mentioned by @Galdorf can't actually described as the machine getting 'bricked'. The headline is brick-bait!. Being bricked means it's completely dead and it can't be revived, like loss of power during a BIOS update and no way of reflashing.

 

[Galdorf]

BIOS updates via windows updates aren't common but they definitely happen. I've seen them too.
I assume they're patching serious security flaws that can't be patched by the OS itself.

Luckily the issue mentioned by @Galdorf can't actually described as the machine getting 'bricked'. The headline is brick-bait!. Being bricked means it's completely dead and it can't be revived, like loss of power during a BIOS update and no way of reflashing.

Well bricked to customer not tech or should have just said non-booting when it came in there was nothing on screen fans were spinning no post, no keyboard lights i had to clr bios and remove the ssd once i reflashed the bios and put the cables back in everything booted fine.
It is very rare but i have seen bios updates in branded oem systems it is done by a utility from dell ect. you will never see them in custom builds usually machines made for business or high end gaming system eg ROG that have some sort of auto updater it just happened same time as windows update update.
They are done in surface tablets i know that for a fact had customers with bricked surface tablets due to bad updates.

 

[Sky-Knight]

The only BIOS updates pushed via Windows update are for Microsoft branded platforms.

Which means if you're getting a BIOS update, it's because for some reason Windows thinks, it's a Microsoft branded platform... which is strange.

Now, there HAVE been changes in the way Windows 10 handles GPT booting, and in some cases these changes require a BIOS update before they'll work correctly. I'm assuming that's what happened here, a unit that wasn't actually compatible was updated, and then splat...

At least until someone with a brain updated the BIOS. All of these microcode issues have created this problem on some platforms.

 

[fincoder]

The only BIOS updates pushed via Windows update are for Microsoft branded platforms.

Nope. Drivers and occasionally BIOS/firmware updates are delivered by Windows Update. The manufacturers (such as HP, Dell, nVidia, Intel) submit these updates to Microsoft for distribution.

 

[sapphirescales]

I'm sorry, but there is no Windows Update in existence that flashes BIOS/UEFI.

Wrong. Microsoft used to only do it with business class machines, but now this cancer has infected home class computers as well. Firmware updates should only be done by experienced users. I swear, this is Microsoft's evil plan to force people to buy new computers. Just brick all the used ones out there with "failed" updates. Oops.

 

[britechguy]

I have seen many a driver update, NEVER a BIOS/UEFI update delivered by Windows 10. I also try to encourage my clients to do routine (say, quarterly) checks on their OEM's support pages for "Drivers & Software" for UEFI/BIOS updates, as these are now very easily applied by "your average Joe/Jane" and are essential as far as I'm concerned. As I stated at the outset, I have never once experienced these being delivered by Windows Update. They're a thing of their own in all my experience.

Unlike many, I am far more happy with the Windows As A Service delivery model. In my professional life I have been called upon to try to resurrect many a "smoldering heap" that became that way because some idiot decided that "Jerry down the street" or "Cousin Tom" knew more about what updates should or should not be applied than the entity that actually developed and maintains the OS.

The amount of crash and burn that I'm seeing from automatic updating is far, far less than I saw when it was up to the end user (including some pretty sophisticated ones) regarding whether to apply updates or not.

I'm more than happy to be the contrarian technician on this one.

 

[Porthos]

"Jerry down the street"

 

[britechguy]

OK, then "Xavier down the street." [There simply can't be many of those I could be scooping up by accident.]

 

[Markverhyden]

At least you weren't lumped in with Dick 'n Harry.....

Back to the OP. I've never seen, as in by myself, where any M$ OS will push any BIOS update. However I have seen OEM "Updater" apps, the ones that promise to update "everything" do that. Seen that with HP, ASUS, and MSI.

 

[britechguy]

However I have seen OEM "Updater" apps, the ones that promise to update "everything" do that. Seen that with HP, ASUS, and MSI.

As have I, but even then most of them separate out the UEFI/BIOS flash as a completely separate thing, since it must occur completely independently of the operating system/program updates, and before the operating system even comes into play when it's actually being done.

 

[GTP]

I have never had or seen a BIOS/UEFI update delivered by Windows update - either on a business machine or home users PC.
Not saying that it may not have happened to others, but I've never seen it

 

[Adept PC Repair]

I have never had or seen a BIOS/UEFI update delivered by Windows update - either on a business machine or home users PC.
Not saying that it may not have happened to others, but I've never seen it

I have, on lenovo laptops.

 

[britechguy]

I have, on lenovo laptops.

By Windows Update? I know that HP's Support Assistant delivers these, and I'd presume Lenovo's equivalent does, too.

It makes no sense, at all, for Microsoft to even attempt to deliver UEFI/BIOS updates.

 

[Adept PC Repair]

By Windows Update? I know that HP's Support Assistant delivers these, and I'd presume Lenovo's equivalent does, too.

It makes no sense, at all, for Microsoft to even attempt to deliver UEFI/BIOS updates.

Good point, all I know is it was brand new and it automatically installed on reboot after a load of Windows updates.

Could have been oem software too I suppose.

 

[sapphirescales]

I've even had this happen on a freaking Dell Latitude E5530. Clean install of Windows and the sucker just automatically updated the BIOS. Dell Support Assistant or whatever the hell they call it wasn't installed. Heck, NOTHING was installed. I just did a fresh install of Windows, hooked it up to the internet, and let it rip. The sucker installed the latest BIOS update and also another firmware update of some kind (I think it was the firmware for the optical disk drive).