Flash from operating system error occurs if administrator password is set in BIOS - ThinkCentre A51 (type 8122, 8123, 8124, 8131, 8133, 8134, 8135, 8136, 8137, 8138, 9212)
Symptom
If you perform a BIOS update using the flash from operating system version, you may encounter an error and the flash update may fail. You would recieve the following error message, "BIOS updated failed. See help for troubleshooting".
This occurs when an administrator password is installed on the system, the "Require Administrator password when Flashing" setting in BIOS is set to YES, and you attempt to update the system BIOS using flash under the operating system using winflash.exe.
Affected configurations
Any of the following systems running Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000 Professional:
Product Development is aware of this issue and is currently working on a remedy for it. This information will be updated once that fix becomes available. Until a permanent solution is provided, you will be able to use one of the options below to resolve your problem:
Option #1 Use the DOS based Flash BIOS update (bootable diskette version).
Option #2 Go to Setup Utility and temporarily update the option from "Require Administrator password when Flashing" to "No". Follow these steps to make the necessary changes:
Note: Your mouse will not work when you are in the Setup Utility. You will need to use the arrow keys.
Enter Setup Utility by pressing F1 during POST.
Highlight the Security screen.
Highlight Set Passwords and press Enter.
Select Require Administrator password when Flashing and press Enter.