Windows 10 Home OEM vs Windows 10 Pro & BIOS-updates; is Microsoft the go-to party and not the notebook manufacturer?

[kiddingguy]

I just got offered a BIOS-update for my notebook (version x.306) whereas on the official ASUS channel for this notebook version .305 can be downloaded. I thought this was strange

So, I contacted ASUS Support on this... and they -eventually- told me after I said that Win 10 Pro is installed that Microsoft is now the point-of-contact for me because I upgraded the W10 Home to W10 Pro myself, and that their support ends from there.

 

I think the differences between Home and Pro aren't that much (certain network enhancements, BitLocker etc etc). But ASUS Support told me that their W10Home is some sort of 'compressed' and limited W10 edtion, and that Windows 10 Pro, via offcial channels, is wayyyyy different.

 

It this really the case? Or is Asus just bugging me with this? Or are they really right on this one, that Microsoft is now my service party to-go-to related BIOS/driver updates for this ASUS machine? (thus instead of ASUS!?)

[Nick H. Supervisor]

If I had to guess, I would say that the reason they said their support has ended is because you modified the device (Win 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro) from what had been provided. It would be an easy get-out clause for them to use to avoid taking responsibility if something goes wrong.

[aphanic]

I call BS, specially coming from their tech support and not someone actually working on those things. The Windows 10 Home that they bundled with your machine should only differ with the regular one, for lack of a better word, in that it comes pre-installed with some more stuff. Not only their drivers but also 3rd party apps they have a commercial agreement for (read: are paid to include), other than that, same it's the same thing with the same features.

 

Because it's a laptop, there may be another difference regarding the recovery process, some manufacturers tweak the recovery image and/or program instead of using the one from Microsoft, but that doesn't matter whatsoever regarding support (unless you cleaned all of the hard drive and installed Windows cleanly like I always do , then you'd have the default restauration method if something went bad and you'd get no guidance from them possibly).

 

Anyway, firmware updates, yes, it's a bit unusual that you got one served over Windows Update that wasn't published in their support site as well. It's lazy on their part not to have it published in the support site (yet?), but you could probably ask for it if you needed it for something. Even with all the advancements in safety and all when handling firmware updates I still find it ballsy to push them through WU, but it's something many other manufacturers do as well, they just have it up in their support sites too.

 

As for support wise regarding drivers and firmware, nope, it'd be ASUS still. They're the ones publishing them over Windows Update, not Microsoft, and they're ultimately responsible for whatever goes on in the machine because of those updates; you're not being served generic driver updates for your components. If you have a problem, give them a call or write to them and that's it, say you're running on Home if that bothers them, not much of a difference from a regular user standpoint.

 

Although unrelated, I know that after a while they stop "certifying" machines for running newer versions of Windows 10, so you may end up encountering problems in 21H1 if yours came with 1809 initially (for example) because there are no newer (officially speaking) drivers published by the laptop manufacturer. Then again, I still have a 14yo laptop running on 20H2 at the moment and the only problem it has relates to the dedicated graphics card which underperforms by todays standards.

[kiddingguy]

@aphanic@Nick H. Thx. I thought so as well.... they's re just lazy and this is I guess their 'easy way out'.

I have upgraded the bundled/preinstalled W10H with 'just a key' to Win 10 Pro (so I have the original Asus' installation partition still...)

I purchased this notebook in October 2020, so it's like little over half a year old.

 

And... I upgraded via Windows Update and I'm on the new FW  

 

Kinda strange that ASUS' FW-updater tool EZFlash is not eating & installing the official BIOS-file from their support site....

[Jim K Global Moderator]

"official ASUS channel for this notebook version .305 can be downloaded"

 

I'm confused. 

 

On the ASUS support site the BIOS for the GL731GV is 308

For the M533IA (which I'm assuming is the one you're talking about) it is 306

[kiddingguy]

1 hour ago, Jim K said:

"official ASUS channel for this notebook version .305 can be downloaded"

 

I'm confused. 

 

On the ASUS support site the BIOS for the GL731GV is 308

For the M533IA (which I'm assuming is the one you're talking about) it is 306

It's for the M513IA.

Kinda strange that on the Dutch site, it's listed

[kiddingguy]

Thinking of... the reply of ASUS is really strange.

For what it's worth on the Windows installer... yes, it may be true that there can be a check on installed OEM-software/license code.

 

But, updating from within BIOS kinda surpresses this check, right? And can a simple BIOS-update file, check the installed software license of the installed Windows-version? And cancel this update?! #justasking

[+Biscuits Brown MVC]

My  guess is there is some localization issue (language perhaps) and that 305 is the last version that is complete. You could either get the US version or wait to see if they every release a higher Dutch version. Could also be a GDPR related thing.  Maybe they aren't updating any European BIOS for that aged (although its not old) laptop anymore as a way to obfuscate something regulatory.

[kiddingguy]

11 minutes ago, Biscuits Brown said:

My  guess is there is some localization issue (language perhaps) and that 305 is the last version that is complete. You could either get the US version or wait to see if they every release a higher Dutch version. Could also be a GDPR related thing.  Maybe they aren't updating any European BIOS for that aged (although its not old) laptop anymore as a way to obfuscate something regulatory.

I got it now via Windows Update...

 

Uhmmm... 'that aged'. It's a notebook of 8 months old (!)

I've seen BIOS-updates for far, far older notebooks 

[+Biscuits Brown MVC]

10 minutes ago, kiddingguy said:

I got it now via Windows Update...

 

Uhmmm... 'that aged'. It's a notebook of 8 months old (!)

I've seen BIOS-updates for far, far older notebooks 

I know, 8 months isn't old (not even close) and I agree I've seen many, MANY older as well. I was just speculating.

[kiddingguy]

1 minute ago, Biscuits Brown said:

I know, 8 months isn't old (not even close) and I agree I've seen many, MANY older as well. I was just speculating.

Anyways... I got it 

And ASUS is just being lazy 

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Microsoft began to add technology to Windows to allow it to manage the UEFI (BIOS) firmware update process a while ago—back in the Windows 8 era.  See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/bringup/windows-uefi-firmware-update-platform for an explanation of how it works.

 

The underlying concept is that by providing the newer firmware through the Windows Update Catalog, users can have a better out-of-box experience, as well as stay secure without having to search for firmware updates from the device manufacturer themselves.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky