eli5: Why is it bad to unplug a computer when it’s updating it’s BIOS?
In: Technology
BIOS is the first piece of software a computer runs when it powers up. When you power up a computer, the BIOS is loaded into the CPU. Then the BIOS finds and runs the OS, and the OS manages your user programs (e.g. your web browser)
If you unplug your computer while updating your web browser, it may leave the web browser in an un-usable state. These days, many updater software are coded in a way that can recover from that, but even in worse case, you can simply use your OS to uninstall the malfunctioning browser and reinstall a good version. You may lose some data but at least you end up with a working browser.
If you unplug your computer while updating your OS and the OS ends up in an un-usable state, you can use the BIOS to remove the OS and reinstall a good version. You may lose a lot of data but at least you end up with a working OS.
But the BIOS is the end of the line. If you unplug your computer while updating your BIOS and the BIOS ends up in an un-usable state, there is no software you can use to recover from it.
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