Ah, the frustrations of dealing with the big guys...
So I followed HP's instructions in updating my HP Pavilion a420n (A7V8X-LA motherboard) except for one thing: at one point, the HP web site tells me:
"8. If you see the following message during the restart of your PC, continue with the remaining steps; otherwise you are done with the update.
Default BIOS settings have been loaded due to BIOS update or checksum issue. Press to enter Setup. Otherwise, allow the PC to continue.
9. Press and hold F1 for a few seconds to open the BIOS Setup.
10. Press F5 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to load the BIOS defaults. (Use the arrow keys to choose YES, if necessary.)
11. Press F10 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to exit the BIOS Setup and save your changes. (Use the arrow keys to choose YES, if necessary.)
12. Press Enter to confirm the save.
13. If you see a System Settings Change message prompting you to restart your PC, click YES to restart the PC again.
However, I was not prepared for the fact that the screen where the above message comes up was a mass of text that flashed by for about 2 seconds, and I think I saw the above message, but didn't hit F1 in time. The computer booted up, no odd messages, and the BIOS version went from 3.05 to 3.10, and its working fine, but then, the resease date of the new BIOS didn't show up in the BIOS editor, it showed the old date. Is it possible I've simply changed the BIOS version number, but haven't really updated it at all? Here's the web site:HP BIOS update
I'm trying to fix a video problem. Should I just leave well enough alone and see what happens, or try to run the update again?