Installing Older Dell BIOS Updates from Command Prompt without having an OS installed

You may find the need from time to time to update the BIOS on a Dell System which doesn't have the built-in BIOS update Utility that you can boot directly to from the Boot Options menu.

The case might be that you can't get the OS to load (in order to later run the BIOS Update), you need to update the BIOS to load a newer OS, or perhaps you simply just want to update the BIOS without going through the hassle of installing a Full OS to do it.  On Dell's Support Site, most BIOS Executable's descriptions say something like this:

This file format consists of a BIOS executable file. The Universal (Windows/MS DOS) format can be used to install from any Windows or MS DOS environment.

However, if you try to boot into a Windows PE or Recovery Environment, and run the BIOS Executable you 'll get the following error:

this version is not compatible with the version of windows you are running

The command prompt in the WinPE environments is not really MS/DOS so the BIOS Update Utility will fail to run.

To get around this, get a USB Drive, and download Rufus, and format the USB Drive with the following options:

Device:  (Select your USB Drive to Format)

Boot Selection: FreeDOS

Once formatted, copy the Dell BIOS Update executable to the root of the USB i.e. (9333A08.exe).

Then put the USB into the Dell Computer whose BIOS you want to flash.  Boot pressing the F12 Key when the Dell Logo appears.  Then boot to the USB Drive in LEGACY mode.  When the command prompt appears simply type the .exe file's name (9333A08.exe) and the DOS Version of the BIOS Update Utility should begin to run, and then successfully update the computer's BIOS.