A lot of questions :). To be true, the answers are in the manuals, but as it will take much more time for you to find them, than for me to answer them, here are the answers:
Quote:
what should I do before upgrading the system, I mean should I make backup for all the data I have like the extensions, the groups, the settings and so on
Good question. It is strongly recommended to do full configuration backup before upgrade. This is a good practice. Backup, upgrade, then restore the backup. Keep the backup somewhere to be on the safe side.
Quote:
second thing, is this upgrade will affect my license.
The upgrade will not affect any license.
Quote:
third what is the best version of the three you meantion, I mean with no bugs
Get the latest version for your product (5.1.18 for 4x/16x, 5.1.19 for 2x, 5.1.21 for 32x etc).
Quote:
forth what are the ways I can upgrade the system, is it only one way to download it from the internet directly or I can download a file and then fetch it to the system.
You cannot upgrade from internet directly. Download the firmware image to your harddrive, the pass through the firmware upgrade procedure.
Quote:
and last thing what are the new features added to the new version
You can see the list in the "Release Notes" (it is places near the fiormware image in the Downloads area). Alternatively, there is my post in the "Announcements" section of this forum, it is called "Quadro 5.1 firmware new features list".
Best regards,
David