Hi,
I have an Insprion 537s mini desktop. It came with Windows XP, and I have a copy of Windows 7 that I would like to install (legal copy, unopened, not pirated). I ran the Microsoft upgrade advisor, and it didn't give any show-stopping issues. Still, I checked out the drivers information here, and found that it is recommended to apply a BIOS update. Mine is A02, and the driver support site says that A03 is available, and that it's specifically for Win7 support.
The instructions on that page for updating the BIOS indicate to copy the .exe to a DOS-bootable USB stick, boot from that, then apply the update. However, a video that I found in the FAQ section of the support site says that you can just run it from the desktop.
Which way is the correct way? If I need to do the USB method, how do I create a DOS-bootable USB image?
Also, can anyone verify that I absolutely need the A03 BIOS? If it's even remotely likely to brick my desktop, I'd rather not do it unless absolutely necessary.
Thank you very much for any information you can give me.
-john