Upon attaching devices to the USB ports on my computer a message appears saying “This device could perform faster…” which relates to connecting the devices to a USB 2.0 port. My motherboard manufacturers documentation claims that the motherboard supports USB 2.0 and upon visiting the manufacturers website it seems that a BIOS flash update is required to enable this support. However, I am reluctant to proceed as I have heard that flashing the BIOS can render the computer unusable if something goes wrong during the process. Can you provide advice or reassurance on this matter?

If your motherboard manufacturer says that an update is required to enable USB 2.0 support on the motherboard this generally means that the hardware is capable of supporting that feature, but for one reason or another it was not included in the original release of the motherboard. On old motherboards flashing the BIOS was a rather risky proposition, as if things went awry during the process it could render the motherboard unusable and thus render the entire computer unusable. Often they also almost required a computer science degree to figure out how to properly flash the motherboard! However, modern motherboards are much more user friendly and safe to flash. There are also various checks and balances built into the upgrade process to ensure that the upgrade is successful. Of course, this completely depends on the type and age of motherboard which is installed in your computer and without knowing the exact details it will be difficult for me to provide more specific advice. However, if the process looks fairly user friendly then I would follow the instructions and it should work, as I imagine problems from upgrading the BIOS which render the computer unusable are fairly uncommon provided you follow the directions.