Flash BIOS longevity

[Uniballer]

I have some Pentium era motherboards with the BIOS in flash (e.g. MX28F1000PPC-12). How long should I expect the flash to hold the BIOS code? Would it be worthwhile to proactively reflash the BIOS to avoid data retention problems, or am I more likely to cause harm?

I have heard of UV-erasable EPROMs losing their data over time, but haven't heard any stories about Flash data loss from this era (yet). Any input?

 

[Chuck(G)]

I wouldn't reflash the BIOS--flash drives wear with writing, not reading. Keep a copy of it around for safekeeping, but otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. The old flash memory was NOR flash and pretty rugged. I've got a bunch of old P1 boards and they're all just fine.

 

[Stone]

If it ain't broke... don't fix it!!!

 

[Plasma]

If you are concerned, you can make a backup with an EPROM programmer. But I wouldn't reflash them.