Dell Support System Fails to Open and Update

Windows will supply most driver updates, no need to get one from Dell unless its something special that is not working or not working properly. Removing the Dell updater and manually checking for updates (if needed) is probably the best option.

The old adage of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies many times to updates and especially the BIOS.

fireberd said:

Windows will supply most driver updates, no need to get one from Dell unless its something special that is not working or not working properly. Removing the Dell updater and manually checking for updates (if needed) is probably the best option.

The old adage of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies many times to updates and especially the BIOS.

I tried that........at first I was hitting the link that said something like.......'download all' and it took about 30m to download all the updates but then it failed to install them.


Then, I tried to install them one by one and it took me about an hour to download all of them. But, when I tried to hit the install link, nothing happened.

They failed to install if I hit the install link immediately after they downloaded and a subsequent update was downloading or if I waited until all of them had downloaded and tried to do it one at a time.

I used the Dell Assist and that finally started working. But the first entry says something about updating and checking on new drivers. It does that.....but it will not download the new ones.

I don't know what is wrong, but I am going to suggest that it has something to do with one of the recent updates from MSFT that gets distributed every Tuesday.

I will try again later.

Thanks

Steve C said:

I removed all Dell bloatware from my laptop ages ago. I now just have a look at the support page every 3 months and manually install and new drivers or BIOS upgrades.

I removed the bloatware the day I bought the laptop.

I probably spent 5,6 hours downloading updates and getting it configured the way I wanted it and removing unnecessary programs.

Dell recently updated their support assist platform. It wouldn't work on my pc either. What I had to do was completely remove dell support assist from my pc, which I did with Revo Unistall to get a complete removal, and then go to Dell website to download the suggested support assist for my particular pc. Installed and rebooted and it works fine. It does say I need to update my wifi driver but that fails on install. Not really worried because the current driver seems to be preferred by windows. I believe you can have support assist dismiss the "update driver" request.

Update: I misspoke. They isn't a way to have support assist dismiss the driver update request. Unless I'm missing it.

RichardC said:

Dell recently updated their support assist platform. It wouldn't work on my pc either. What I had to do was completely remove dell support assist from my pc, which I did with Revo Unistall to get a complete removal, and then go to Dell website to download the suggested support assist for my particular pc. Installed and rebooted and it works fine. It does say I need to update my wifi driver but that fails on install. Not really worried because the current driver seems to be preferred by windows. I believe you can have support assist dismiss the "update driver" request.

Update: I misspoke. They isn't a way to have support assist dismiss the driver update request. Unless I'm missing it.

I called Dell and he walked me through a few checks and balances.

800-624-9897

He asked a few questions and then we connected remotely and he took over, looking at my programs.

I could not connect remotely using Google Chrome , so I had to log out and use MSFT Edge.
He deleted CCleaner from my computer because he said that it conflicts with many programs and he did not recommend it.

He ran a program and it checked all the programs on my laptop. It took 40 minutes to run the cycle. We stayed online the whole time and I monitored the laptop with an indicator that measured the progress.


The cycle did not find any major errors, but the IT specialist said that he detected a problem with Google Chrome and suggested I delete it and reload it if I wanted to continue using it. But, he suggested MSFT Edge because it runs faster.

He suggested that I not worry about the Drivers. He said that I should just run Dell Assist when I get a notice and not worry about updating Driver's, just like someone previously suggested. He said that most of them don't need to be updated and not worry about it.

Anyhow, it seems to be working fine now.

Life is good.... frustrating ...but good.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

I've had ccleaner on my system forever with no problems. I like the ability to choose what I want to remove. I run registry analyzer to see if any uninstalled programs have left residuals and delete them from registry but I uninstall programs with Revo Uninstaller and it's pretty thorough. They both have been awfully reliable for me. Just be careful when messing with the registry.

RichardC said:

I've had ccleaner on my system forever with no problems. I like the ability to choose what I want to remove. I run registry analyzer to see if any uninstalled programs have left residuals and delete them from registry but I uninstall programs with Revo Uninstaller and it's pretty thorough. They both have been awfully reliable for me. Just be careful when messing with the registry.

I have run the Registry Cleaner multiple times with no problem.

I don't have a problem with it using something like CCleaner but I would never do it on my own.

I'll re load it next month and run it, then delete it.

I usually load programs from CNET, they are reliable.

There are so many variables with a laptop, different chips, RAM, programs loaded, websites visited........I am surprised that we don't have more problems with them that we do.

Thanks

I won't download anything from CNET I don't trust them. I run Malwarebytes Pro it has flagged "CNET" many times as a malicious web site. Many of their downloads come with unwanted programs that download and install in the background. Download programs from the original manufacturers web site if possible. I can assure you CCleaner is safe if downloaded from "ccleaner.com"

Well said Stitch. Always try to download from the original website, but there are relatively safe download sites. I always save the download to pc and then run av apps, etc to check it out. When I open it, I always do custom install to make sure that what I want and only what I want is installed.