Problem

You need to update your BIOS using a DOS boot disk and you’re running Windows 7, or Vista. Chances are you haven’t seen a DOS floppy, much less the floppy drive to put it in, since 1985.

Solution

I found many sites telling you how to make a USB stick bootable for installing Windows 7, but none on how to make it bootable for DOS for upgrading the BIOS or other diag.

Here is one solution I found :

1. Download a Windows 98 Bootable CD image from http://www.allbootdisks.com/download/iso.html and burn it to a CD.
2. Download the HP Flash Drive Format program that you will find mentioned on tons of differents sites : http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23839&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN and install it.
3. Using that utility, format your flash drive with FAT32, Make it Bootable, and point the utility to your CDROM drive with the CD you made in Step 1.
4. Copy your BIOS and flash utility to the USB drive
5. Boot the computer using the USB stick. This may require entering a Boot Menu w/ F11 or F12, and/or changing some settings in the BIOS such as “Enable Legacy USB Support”. Chances are it will just work by putting the USB stick in and rebooting.
6. Follow the motherboard manufacturer instructions on how to flash the BIOS.

Good luck and enjoy!
-m