Just wanted to report I just installed the ender 3 pro firmware for the 4.2.7 upgrade controller board. The firmware binary (only) was posted december 24th. It worked, no problem. I can only test the non bl touch.

As for slicers, the community of users posts a lot of advice about cura. It is for only this reason I use it.

The only upgrade I would do if you're printing only
pla is to get capricorn tubing. Search
youtube firvenderv3 hotend fix. Think about doing the
Fix, or just be aware of the issue. , Maybe get some
Spare parts... Like compression fittings. After a while,

If your printer has a 32-bit board, you might
Want to make sure pause works, and if not,
update the frmware. If you decide to print
Abs, oc or asa or anything over 240C, maybe get a
all Metal hot end. Wait to see if you want an metal
upgrade Exruder, you might decide to print soft tpu, then you
Might want a direct drive extruder in the future.
Best upgrade for me was attaching an old rasberry pi (3b)
with octopi (octoprint), since I had the raspberry pi and the
camera best value upgrade if all (I printed a case that sits
The power aupply.

btw, Creality does have the sd card files on the download page, near the bottom since they were not updated the last few months. It is just a normal sd card. fix it (format fat32) or get a new one and you can put the files back. But you do not need them on the sd card really, your not going to read the manual on the Enders screen. There are a few test print gcode files i suppose...

That fie is for flashing new firmware to the control board. Nothing to do with replacing your sd file.