questions about flashing the BIOS on the 8K7A *scared*

I want to flash to 1711 (for the 1/5 PCI divider), which teh 1606 does not have, right?

Ok...beyond following the instructions in the readme...is there anything else i need to know?

I've read some other guides (none of which deal with the 8k7a), and one said to disable "BYTE MERGE" and "VIRUS PROTECTION" (off a guide for the a7v); Do these need to be disabled in the Epox 8K7A before I start?

Also...I read somewhere that you can flash from windows (no floppies, no DOS prompt...no boot disks...)...is this TRUE?? If so, HOW do I do so?? Is it riskier than flashing the conventional way?

Lastly, is the following "guide" OK for the 8K7A? It was copy/pasted from someone's post on the overclockers.com forum:

1. Put the emergency start or the Windows ME setup disk in the floppy drive.

2. Reboot the computer

3. The items on the menu list will depend on which OS you made the emergency disk from or if you are using the Windows ME setup disk. You want to be in a TOTALY clean environment so:
a. If it is from Windows98 or 98SE, select: "Command Prompt Only".
b. If it is a Windows ME setup disk, select: "Minimal Boot".

4. Once the command prompt appears, remove the start disk and replace it with your BIOS disk.

5. Type: aflash.exe Follow the instructions on the screen for each move you make and READ carefully.

6. The BIOS program will appear. It will give you 2 choices:
a. Save the current BIOS
b. Flash or install a new BIOS

(the rest in the next reply- character limit reached...)

thanks in advance,
-eric

7. You ALWAYS want to save your current BIOS to disk first, in case something goes wrong here. Select the save option. (1)

8. Name your saved BIOS file. I suggest it be short and easy, like 1004d.old (the name of the current BIOS with an ".old" extension.) Also, WRITE it down now EXACTLY as you typed it on the screen and confirm the spelling and extension before you save it. Once confirmed, then continue.

9. It will confirm a successful save, if not REPEAT the save until it does and if it wont save it, STOP here... there is something wrong, do not continue and simply remove the disk and reboot the computer. Leave it go until you find out what is wrong.

10. After the successful save, return to the main menu and select the second option (2) to flash the BIOS. Follow the instructions.

11. It will ask for the name of the new BIOS file. Type in the name EXACTLY as you wrote it down EXAMPLE: 1005c.awd

12. It will ask for confirmations throughout the next steps. It is VERY IMPORTANT YOU READ THE WARNINGS AND ANYTHING ELSE IT DISPLAYS... READ IT CAREFULLY

13. There will be warnings if the BIOS is older than the one you are currently running and if you are flashing down to an older BIOS, this is ok.

14. There may be other warnings if the file you have is corrupt or if it is not designed for your motherboard... If you decide to stop anytime before you have flashed, you can...ONLY AS LONG AS YOU HAVE NOT FLASHED THE BIOS.

AFTER YOU HAVE FLASHED, IF A WARNING COMES UP SAYING A CORRUPT FILE ERROR, CHECKSUM ERROR OR THE FLASH WAS "UNSUCCESSFULL" OR ANY MESSAGE OTHER THAN:

"FLASHED SUCCESSFULLY"

IF ANY AND I MEAN ANY ERROR MESSAGE APPEARS, DO NOT.. REPEAT; DO NOT SHUT DOWN FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER OR YOU MAY END UP COMPLETLY DEAD.

*** WHAT TO DO ***
If you receive and error message, return to the main menu of the flash program and proceed with option (2) again, this time flash the BIOS you previously saved by typing in the name you wrote down for your old BIOS exactly as you saved it earlier

example from earlier: 1004d.old

Follow the instructions again. If this is unsuccessful you have 3 options:

a. Continue trying to flash several times, either BIOS file, over and over until successful. I have heard of people doing it as many as 20 times before. (in very RARE cases)

b. If it just wont flash and you have tried over and over, DO NOT shut down and have a tech or service come in to continue the process, EVEN if it means leaving the system on for days exactly where it is.

c. Shut down and cross your fingers it reboots, if not, remove the AC power plug and try shorting the points on the motherboard with a clean flat blade screwdriver (2 small solder dots, next to the battery as shown on page 14 of the manual, look for: CLRTC )
This will clear the CMOS, then reboot. If it doesn’t start, try again but your BIOS chip may probably wiped and you will need to order a new chip

I just flashed mine to 1711. No problems. Just follow the directions in the readme.
It was much easier than other bios flashes I've done with either Abit or Asus.
The batch file that executes saves your old bios as "old.bin"