How to Flash an IBM Thinkpad’s BIOS when the Laptop Has a Bad Battery

The Thinkpad may still be around, but if you have a model made by IBM rather than Lenovo, you may find that you need to flash the BIOS to install new hardware not supported by the old system. You also may find out that your battery no longer works. Especially, as is the case with the model I own, it is over five years old. Short of buying a new battery to erase and update the bios information, it can be done another way. It may take a little extra effort but it is not difficult.

The first thing you will need to do is to download the correct BIOS update for your computer from Lenovo.com. If you do not look carefully, do not worry the disk will not damage your computer, it simply will not run. Running the software to create the initial disk is a simple task. Simply double-click on the icon and follow the prompts and press Y at the last screen to accept the license agreement. The software will run in an MS-DOS box and create a boot-up disk that will work perfectly if your laptop has a working battery. However, since you’re reading this article your battery is not working and your next step is to pull out another blank floppy disk.

You will need to create a system boot disk. To do this in Windows XP, pop the disk in go to start -> my computer -> a: and then right click on the disk. Select format and when it goes to options check the radio box that tells you to create a DOS startup disk. Once it is formatted, the process will be easier if you create a temporary folder to hold the files on the original disk. Do not use the old MS-DOS command diskcopy from the prompt as it will create a boot disk identical to the one the BIOS flash software created. Cut or copy the files to the clipboard and if you created the temporary folder, move them to the temporary destination. Do not leave them in the clipboard as you cannot put the replacement disk in and have it copy correctly. Pop the new disk in, select all the files and copy them to the clipboard or use the send to option and specify the A: drive.

Now, if your set up is like mine hook the external floppy drive up and make sure your BIOS is set up to boot from the floppy drive before the hard disk. If you have a CD boot option, remove the disk from the cd drive and reboot. Once the a: prompt comes up, you will need to type flash2.exe /u to update your system. Once this is done, reboot and when the Thinkpad logo comes up press the proper key or key combination to enter the BIOS. Initialize the new settings, exit and restart.

If you got an error running the flash2.exe option it is because you need to change an option in the network initialization settings. Simply enable the flash and try and run the flash2.exe file again with the /u option. And you can enjoy whatever new hardware you have as long as its compatible with your hardware in the first place, secure in the knowledge that your beloved old laptop will continue to serve you for at least a little while longer.