17 R4, reseat the memory message?

@fireberd just my thoughts also. Easy to blame BIOS, but in this particular case, the BIOS is not likely to be the cause.. Especially since it affects different BIOS versions on a handful of AW and Dell laptops. With the only thing in common Dell SA update and WU updates. 

I wouldn't rule out the BIOS.  I don't know all I should about UEFI and its interface with the OS.  BIOS reports size of memory.  

@fireberd I think it is unlikely that BIOS is the cause. It affects old and new BIOS versions and started at the same time after the updates in December 2020. That is not a coincidence. And you fixed the issue just by completely remove SA so that also rule out BIOS. But its clearly something in Windows that gives a false positive about the memory, and that triggers the BIOS. 

Whit that said I mean that a specific BIOS version is not the main cause (since it affects different versions), but a update from DELL or/in combination with Windows updates. The information that is provided in this 22 pages is a good indication of that. 

Interesting to se what the future will bring and if Dell comes up with a update. Or the next Windows 10 build this spring will rule the memory message out. 

@LTelfer what update did you do before the error popped up? Such as updating windows/Support Assist/BIOS/Drivers?

Check what is installed in reliability monitor the last days before the error. 

Is the error displayed as white text on a black screen during the boot process? You find images of that on page 20.

Hello Everyone,

I have been having a problem with my laptop ever since i updated my laptop on 10th December. When turning it on sometimes i am getting the blue screen with RAM error and the laptop fans are so inconsistent now sometimes going crazy for no reason when the laptop is doing nothing. Game performance has also dropped with a lot more lag spikes in games. I just come across this post and sounds similar.

I have a Alienware 13 r3. I have even repasted the CPU and GPU thinking it might be overheating. Would all of this be connected to the update?

Thanks for reading.

@ThomasAAT  The error is on blue background with white writing on boot process but the wording is the same, i updated using Alienware update app and also Nvidia graphics card driver and windows updated. A Bios updated was included in the Alienware update app.

I have just gone the reliability monitor and it has a lot of critical errors, it seems to only go as far back as 23rd December. I see Alienware AlienFX controller the most,  IAStoreDataSvc, host process for windows service and windows.

@LTelfer thanks for specifying. As you can see from this post, the error seems to relate to an update to SA that is not compitable with Windows and throws this false memory message.

You can try the fix thta is provided by @fireberd and completely remove SA from your system. Dell need to fix SA.

I will keep SA installed and see if any upcoming updates will solve the issue.

If it bothers me to much I may uninstall SA also.

BTW @fireberd did you use the pro version of revo uninstaller? Or can the free version also be used to remove SA completely. 

@fireberd ok.

I might be able to uninstall with CCleaner Free. It shows the two versions of SA and can do a registry cleanup and fix afterwards. But I will hold on for now and see what's happens.

Pleas provide updates on your hand when available.

Hi @AduainCaptor Do you have any updates from SystemOne regarding this error?

@Fraiz what exact update do you refere to? I have no new updates to my 17R3 in supportassist, so this do not relate to the most of us with this problem, in my opinion. 

I have found the reason behind this error it's one of the updates from the Get Drivers and Downloads section of the Dell support assist Software try avoiding that update and I think the error would stop showing

@fireberd Microsoft has released an "optional hotfix" KB4598291 Cumulative Update Preview via WSUS for Windows 10 version 2004 build 19041.782 and version 20H2 19042.782. 

It may or may not include a fix for this false memory message during boot. Release notes have currently not been made available by Microsoft, but the post liked above will be updated if/when available.

Since this update is a hotfix, it made me thinking that MS have got complains/reports about this (among other) problems and now brings brings a fix prior next month update. I would imagine it may be in next months Patch Tuesday release.

If any have tried or is going to try, please give us an update if it fix our problem with this dreaded memory message.

I usually like to reinstall windows on my computer or better off, just roll back all the drivers you installed and/or windows update drivers too. That should give you a clean state to selectively choose which update can fix the computer having the reseat memory message or break it.

Once you do that then it'll be pretty clear what driver will be causing it.

NOTE:

i pretty much don't use support assist for hardware testing unless its something that the BIOS cant do which spoiler alert: Doesn't happen often.

@Alienware Area-51 ALX 2006 good points.

I have got some new information from Alienware support on facebook/messenger regarding this issue. Here are the answers I got.

• "Thank you for your message. It's a well-known issue that our technical department is aware of and working on. By now the solution for this issue is the following steps: 1. Enter the BIOS by tapping the F2 repeatedly during boot. 2. Clear the event log. 3. Restore the defaults and exit the BIOS."

I followed up with the following question:

• "Thank you for this information. I will give it a try and report back if the error message returns after several reboots and shutdowns. That said, users have reported a uninstalling certan windows updates from December and/or completely removing Support Assist resolves the issue. That is not a solution for me since I use SA and wants to keep it. Is your solution tried out and a confirmed fix for this issue? Will another opportunity be just to wait for an official fix from dell/alienware. I am a bit afraid to mess up my main PC."

Alienware:

• "I understand. The solution in the previous message is advised by our technical department earlier today. It should solve the issue, but they also mentioned that for some users it has not made any difference. If that will be the case for you I can only advise you to wait until our technical department has worked out another fix."