# bios upgrade for acer 4736



## pkd1412 (Apr 13, 2011)

HI friends, I am new to this forum . 1. I have acer aspire 4736. Currently it has bios version 1.05 . the latest i have seen is 2.08 on the ACER website .Can i directly download it and just run the exe file which is given in the zip download for windows? The zip folder contains 2 sub folders , one for windows and the other for DOS.I am currently having win Xp SP3 OS.I have bought a Win 7 HP 32 bit OS and wanted to upgrade my current OS. i was wondering i should do the bios upgrade first and then do the installation .Is my understanding correct ? If yes can somebody tell me the way of upgrading the bios for ASPIRE 4736. Is it just executing the downloaded .exe file from ACER website ? or should i take some more care in upgrading it ? 2. I have one more small question . sometimes my laptop gives me a vague error . it starts with some clicking sound, for 1 or 2 seconds , then there is a message displayed, "No bootable device found, Insert boot disk and press any key ". I then force power off my laptop. wait for a couple of minutes and then start again . it may come one or two more times, and then the welcome screen from windows comes . I dont know what may be the problem . if some one has an idea, please let me know . 3. Also sometimes my laptop shuts down ( without any message ). this happens more often when i am video call for about 30 min on skype or i am watching some video songs/movies online .example : on youtube . Is this something to do with my CPU fan. But i dont know how to diagnose it . Kindly help . waiting for your replies


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

I see no reason to update the BIOS at this time. A BIOS update is an inherently risky process and should only be done when the update specifically addresses a problem you are having. It should not be done simply because there is a newer version available. A failed BIOS update, which can occur even if you do everything right, is a very serious matter, particularly with a laptop.

The "No bootable device found" error sounds like possibly your hard drive is failing. If you do not have a backup of all important data now would be a good time to make one. Of course you should have such a backup anyway. Hard drives do fail and often without any warning at all. After you have done that you should obtain the drive diagnostic utility from manufacturer and run that.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

I have to agree with everything LM has said. And never attempt to flash BIOS on an unstable computer. A badly timed power-off will net you so much dead weight. 

Re. Sympton 3: This may well be temperature related. Run an application such as HWMonitor or CoreTemp and to monitor your cpu/gpu temperatures. You may need to try several apps before finding one which is accurate on your sys.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Same a LMiller7. Check your Temps & Voltages in the Bios.


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## Dblanchard1278 (Jun 18, 2009)

I also agree with LMiller, updating the bios can render your laptop useless if the process gets messed up and since its overheating I wouldn't consider doing it. Acer should have instruction on how to do it though, the exe file should make a bootable cd to do the flash and the dos folder is a little more complicated to make but not by much. use the programs my team mate gcavan suggested and see what your temps are, also buy a can of compressed air and blow out the dust from the laptop. Dust can clog vents and trap heat inside a pc and heat is bad for a pc as you are seeing now. Once your pc is working properly you can decide if the bios flash is something you want to do but since there is no reason to do it I would just forget it untill its needed.


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## pkd1412 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hello guys, 
first of all thanks a lot for your inputs .
1 . As per your suggestions, i wont go for an upgrade of bios now.Also as gcavan mentioned , i will try to run the tools suggested and check the temperatures.The problem i see here is this will happen when i will be in a long video call or watching online videos, so you suggest me to keep this software tools mentioned running to monitor this temperature fluctuation while watching videos or on calls, or in general keep it on and observe for few days .

2. Another thing about the harddrive, i have a backup external HDD , I will take the backup , just in case my harddrive becomes dead some day .I want to do some drive diagnostics as LM rightly mentioned. Can you please suggest where can i find some ..... i had once tried to use one diagnostic tool ,which was very very unfriendly and i could not understand it. any tool suggestions are most welcome. ( sorry , right now i am on a diff PC so cant tell you guys my HDD manufacturer , if i remember correctly, its either hitachi or something like that but i am not sure )

3. I have bought a new win 7 now and it arrived yday . so i was thinking of upgrading the OS from win XP to Win 7 HP .I hope this can be done . even if my harddrive dies away one fine day, i can still use the same Win 7 license . Am i right ??

Thanks again for your replies .
Have fun


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## pkd1412 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hi,
an update from my side .
My harddrive is ST9320320AS SATA 3Gb/s 320GB 5400 RPM .
Yday I checked with the Sea tools . and all tests in it ,( basic tests ) are passed. I checked the SMART , Long generic, short generic tests and all tests passed .I also changed my power cable .
with this can i conclude that the harddrive is ok and does not have any problems ?


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## Dblanchard1278 (Jun 18, 2009)

Run the programs while the pc is in use and pay close attention to the temps and see what they are for both programs. You can use the same license for windows7 if your drive fails, just don't use it on another pc, installing the os on a new drive won't hurt or void the license. Have you tried blowing out the laptop with a can of air yet?


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## pkd1412 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hi ,
I found again the same problem today . I was watching a movie on youtube . suddenly my system powered off without any information given by window of shutting down .
Please find the temperatures recorded at the time when i immediately rebooted my system .( see attachment )

No, i havent used the compressed air or anything to clean up the laptop. I am little not familier with disassembly , so i am not able to do it .

Ofcourse the clicking sound at the time of booting, is still present . even though i did all diagnostic tests which passed by using seatools, replaced the old power adapter /cord with a new one.

Can any of you please suggest me what shud i do in this case .

Well for win 7, i am installing it tonight .anyways as u guys mentioned the license will still be valid to my laptop even in case of hdd replacement.

thanks for ur suggestions .


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Yep they're too hot, try blowing it out with a can of compressed air first, you do not need to disassemble just(with the laptop off. unplugged) blow the air into the vent you normally feel air coming out of, then the intake vent and then back to the outtake vent and recheck the temps.


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## pkd1412 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hi,
I finally bought the compressed air can yday (was totally busy the whole week with lot of other headaches ) and made some air bursts into the ventilator vents today .so far watching an online movie for 40 min or so . the temperature is maintained at 54 Deg C . But dont know if this is because the laptop temp from the morning started at 27 Deg C and now moved on to 54 Deg C. well i will have to monitor it still some more time and then can i post some real results . as of now, i cant decide i guess.
this ACER aspire 4736 is so sick that to get to the fan compartment we need to disassemble everything .

I guess now the problem is clear to me . at 90 Deg C , the system shutsdown automatically . I think this is set in BIOS . then it takes some time to cool down when i can use it again for heavy applications, video streaming, games etc .
but I am really afraid to disassemble myself .If i take this to any local computer shop, the repair itself will cost anything between 100 to 150 Euro . Its very expensive .

Does any body have an easy idea of disassembling acer aspire 4736 to get to the fan with not removing almost everything.

Thanks in advance


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

54c on a laptop is not too bad when using the CPU, Idle should drop into the 40's. 
The CPU itself calls for the shutdown to protect itself from damage it's not a Bios setting.


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