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Abstract

Systems, methods and software that update (flash) embedded controller firmware in production level computers under end-user operating system control, such as systems running a Windows operating system. An exemplary system comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a system memory, an embedded controller that comprises embedded controller firmware, and a BIOS storage area that stores initialization code comprising a basic input/output system (BIOS) that is operative to initialize the CPU and the system memory and which includes embedded controller firmware and a firmware update algorithm. Embedded controller firmware updating is implemented by comparing firmware identification data from the embedded controller with corresponding data in the BIOS, determining whether the embedded controller firmware in the embedded controller should be updated, and causing the BIOS to run the update algorithm and copy the embedded controller firmware from the BIOS storage area into the embedded controller to overwrite and update the embedded controller firmware therein. A flash utility is operative to write the updated embedded controller firmware from the firmware image file into the BIOS storage area.

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First Claim