If you use the wrong BIOS file or if power runs out during the BIOS upgrade the worst thing that can happen is your PC not turning on anymore – all you will see is a blank screen.

Luckily newer versions of BIOS upgrade programs check if the BIOS you are trying to upgrade was written for your motherboard, so the chances you program the wrong file are very small.

But if you turn off your PC during the BIOS upgrade process – whether this was done on purpose or by accident –, you will probably corrupt the BIOS chip, “killing” your motherboard. It won’t turn on anymore.

There is a way to bring your motherboard from the dead, though, using another motherboard that uses the same ROM chip type (it doesn’t need to be the same motherboard manufacturer and model, the important thing is that the other motherboard uses the same kind of ROM chip your defective motherboard does). By type we mean capacity (256 KB, 512 KB, 1 MB, etc) and physical type (PLCC or DIP).

What you will do is to use the good motherboard as a programmer for your dead chip. We have already explained in details how this can be done on our Recovering Dead Motherboards Killed by the CIH Virus tutorial. Read it to learn how to recover your BIOS chip if you erased or corrupted your BIOS chip by mistake.