Why buy a new piece of hardware if your existing model's performance can be noticeably improved by a firmware update? A firmware update can help you to achieve better performance from many devices. Possibilities include doubled burning speed for DVD recorders, higher clock speeds and unlocking the full performance potential of your motherboard.

Firmware updates can not only enhance performance, but can add new features to the hardware. For example, digital cameras might show additional information on their LCD display or offer more preset features. Official upgrades from printer manufacturers can improve picture quality and optimise paper feeding.

You should also keep an eye open for firmware upgrades for your graphics card: for example, applying an update transforms a sub-£300 ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card into the much more expensive Fire-GL-X2 Pro accelerator. This is possible because both cards use chips from the same product family.

In this feature we'll describe the concrete improvements you can achieve through firmware updates, for motherboards, graphics cards, DVD and CD recorders, PDAs and printers. First, though, we go over the basics and explain how to do firmware upgrades safely.

The basics: Flash at the click of a mouse
A firmware update will go smoothly if you observe a few rules. Before flashing the firmware, you must back up the old version. Almost all updater software has this facility. If a device doesn't behave properly after a firmware update, in most cases you can simply restore the old version.

Upgrading is easiest with tools that work under Windows. In particular, flash programs for products such as DVD and CD writers and digital cameras work like this. A single mouse click is all that is needed to start the firmware update.

Even printers, graphics cards and motherboards can be flashed easily under Windows. However, you need to be particularly careful when flashing a motherboard: unstable Windows drivers can interfere with the flashing process. A BIOS update using the Windows interface should only be carried out on systems that are operating smoothly.

If you want to put new firmware on a Wi-Fi access point, you have to connect the access point and the computer via an Ethernet cable. The wireless interface is not reliable enough for this fussy process. You can either install the new firmware to the access point from the PC using a Windows utility, or use the access point's own web interface to fetch it from the PC.

More reliable with DOS
If you don't trust Windows you can, if themanufacturer allows it, update a PC?s BIOS using a floppy disk. To do this, you need to copy the firmware file and the flash program to a boot diskette. If you don't want to make your own Windows startup diskette, you can use a disk image, such as those at Bootdisk.com. In order for the PC to boot from the floppy, the floppy disk drive must be specified as the first boot device in the BIOS.

Updating is done from the command line after booting from diskette. The name of the flash program, the firmware filename and further parameters are entered here. A more precise set of instructions can usually be found in the relevant readme.txt file.

Warning: do not turn off the computer while the update is running (usually shown by a progress bar), or the device being flashed might be damaged. During the flashing procedure on a notebook PC, the external power supply must remain connected under all circumstances because if the battery ran out during flashing it would have fatal consequences. The notebook would be left without functioning BIOS, requiring manufacturer service.

Not always legal
Numerous hacked firmware versions are circulating on the internet. Often these work by tuning the device above the manufacturer's specifications, which can lead to the product being damaged, for example by overclocking. If you install an unofficial firmware patch, you will invalidate your warranty and possibly damage your hardware irretrievably.

Firmware files patched by third parties infringe intellectual property rights and are illegal. However, legal firmware patches have many advantages and are usually much more effective than tuning by altering software settings, because the firmware controls hardware directly, while software tuning tools are dependent on the Windows device driver. These only influence the hardware to a limited extent and are nowhere near as effective as optimised firmware when it comes to tuning.

In addition, settings specified in the device hardware are retained, even if the computer is turned off. If software patches can't solve a problem, installing new firmware is often the only way to overcome it.

Motherboards and CPUs
Add value to your motherboard at no cost: BIOS updates improve compatibility and add new features to your system. For some chipsets, a firmware upgrade can even push the system into the next performance class.

More performance for free: a firmware update can boost an older motherboard to the same performance level as its more expensive successor. You can save about £35 with a firmware upgrade of this type. For example, motherboards that use the Intel 865PE (Springdale) chipset can be elevated to the same performance level as a board using the high-end Intel 875P (Canterwood) chipset.

The difference between these chipsets lies in the Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT) function. This frees additional performance reserves, optimising the memory access between the CPU and system memory at 800MHz front side bus (FSB) frequency and dual-channel DDR400 memory.

It's possible to activate this feature because Springdale (865PE) and Canterwood (875P) come from the same production line. They are identical, but at the quality control stage, the most powerful chips are selected for use in Canterwood chipsetswhile the rest are used in Springdale chipsets.

Enabling the PAT function with a BIOS update improves overall performance by about two per cent. If your motherboard uses the Intel 845P chip set with an FSB frequency of 533MHz, you can switch to an Intel CPU with an 800MHz FSB without buying a new motherboard. Many manufacturers offer BIOS updates that support the higher FSB rate.

The same goes for AMD CPUs with a 400MHz FSB - motherboa rds using nVidia's nForce 2 chipset with a system frequency of 333MHz also work with newer AMD processors after a BIOS update. The new frequency brings an improvement in performance of up to six per cent.

Manufacturers such as Abit, MSI and Epox include overclocking functions that can be optimised by using updates to their firmware. Apart from menus for selecting preset values, they include tools for altering the FSB frequ ency, core volt a geand multiplier.

MSI offers by far the most advanced overclocking with dynamic overclocking technology (DOT); its integrated overclocking function increases the FSB frequency by up to 20 per cent for demanding applications. Different performance profiles can be selected from the BIOS. Support for DOT and updates for this function are added via BIOS upgrades.

If your computer won't start after an interrupted or completed BIOS update, then hardware intervention is the only way out. Manufacturers such as Gigabyte produce models with dual BIOS chips - if one BIOS chip is damaged , then a second takes over. Some motherboards also have a DIP switch to perform a BIOS reset. If this is still not successful then the BIOS chip will need to be replaced, which means returning the board to the manufacturer.

With regular chipset driver updates you can optimise hard disk and ATAPI drive access times. The aim is to get a high data throughput rate with low CPU usage. If you have a motherboard with an Intel chipset, you install the Intel Application Accelerator.

This speeds up loading times for both Windows and application programs. If you have an AMD Athlon 64 CPU you should keep the proce s s ordriver up to date. This will enable the Cool 'n' Quiet power saving function to be activated fromWindows.

Graphics cards
Even small changes to the BIOS can make graphics cards perform better. This renderscomplicated software tools superfluous. If the firmware meant for another card is installed, some 3D accelerators can transform themselves into different models.

Performance freaks are catching on to graphics card firmware upgrades, which allow optimised settings to be saved in the hardware. The advantage over software tuning is obvious: these programs are available for numerous 3D cards and make it possible to make changes to the most important settings such as clock rates and AGP modes. The changes are effective as soon as the operating system is reinstalled, a new driver comes into use or even if the graphics card is installed in a different PC.

Two update methods
There are two possible ways to make changes to a graphics card BIOS. Some BIOS editors allow you to modify the original BIOS directly, which can be used, for example, to permanently specify a higher clock speed .Alternatively, you may be able to update theBIOS using the firmware for a technically similar but more powerful card.

For example, nVidia GeForce FX-5900 cards can be partially upgraded using the same manufacturer's BIOS to the faster FX-5950 Ultra , as long as the graphics chip and memory can cope with the higher frequencies. For both options, you'll need matching flash tools to read the firmware and transfer the new or modified BIOS back to the graphics card. For graphics cards with ATI or nVidia chips, you can find suitable programs on the internet at sites such as Mvktech.net.

For ATI cards,WinFlash makes the process particularly easy. This allows you to access the BIOS directly from Windows. After clicking on Load Image, the BIOS data is read and stored as a BIN file using the Save function. The program then rewrites the firmware.

For cards with nVidia chips, use the nVFlash utility (currently at version 4.46),which requires use of the command line and a boot diskette.

Adjusting the BIOS yourself
If you're using an ATI graphics card, once the BIOS is on your hard disk as a file you can adjust them parameters it contains using the RadEdit utility. These parameters include the clock speed, the TV standard for video output and the frame refresh rate for DOS mode. Version 1.1D supports all current ATI cards.

X-BIOS Editor (the current version is 1.0 build 520) is a powerful tool for nVidia graphics cards, which doesn't cover all of the latest chips' functions. For example, the clock rate on cards newer than the GeForce4 can't be changed. The Russian developers are reported to be working on a new version.

With older cards the functionality encompasses further possibilities such as the ability to deactivate AGP settings such as sideband or fast write addressing if there are compatibility problems. A unique feature is that you can use the X-BIOS Editor to change any graphics card's boot message. You can import the current 3D card's BIOS directly using the menu command Open/Read current. However, to write it back, you'll still need to use another utility such as nVflash.

New identity by changing the BIOS
Loading the firmware meant for another graphics card offers more opportunities for tuning than BIOS editing utilities. On the internet you can find, for example, BIOS versions that remove the frequency limitations on individual ATI cards, or you can use a suitable BIOS to transform the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro into the much more expensive Fire GL X2.

The Fire GL cards are based on the same chip technology, but have additional functions for accelerated display of raster graphics. This has advantages when using professional level graphics applications such as 3D Studio Max or CAD programs.

When looking for replacement BIOS versions, sites such as mvtech or ocfaq.com are a treasure trove for files and information on all types of card. Obviously, before changing the BIOS you should check the planned settings thoroughly. Faster clock speeds can be set up with utility software such as Powerstrip and soak-tested.

If there are problems after changing the BIOS, start the system using a PCI graphics card and then put the old BIOS back on to the AGP graphics card. Alternatively, use a boot diskette that has an entry in its AUTOEXEC.BAT file that carries out the BIOS re-update without requiring screen output.