Dell Support Assist fails to install

Thank you, all! I appreciate all the responses to my request for help. The situation has been "resolved" for me, unfortunately, by my PC being unable to boot after repeated attempts. Since it was my alternate PC, which I was using just for backups and storage, I have decided to not repair it. The PC I'm using now, an Optiplex 5270 AIO, is working very well. So I'm going to close this request for help. Again, thank you all for your thorough and helpful responses. --Frank

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@lmacri wrote:

There is an updated download link (https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/supportassistforpcs/cp/supportassistforpcs - look for the blue Download Now button) in Dell employee DELL-Chris M's clean reinstall instructions at SA Uninstall/Reinstall that currently downloads the small ~ 667 KB stub installer SupportAssistInstaller.exe.  This small stub installer (online download manager) should manage the entire download and installation of the latest version of SupportAssist. Save this SupportAssistInstaller.exe file to your desktop, right-click the .exe file, and choose "Run as Administrator" to see if that works. If this installer doesn't run to completion, you might want to step through all of @DELL-Chris M 's instructions to perform a clean reinstall.

It was that installer that I was initially using and it's because it failed that I've searched another procedure and found this thread.

If nothing work I will consider going to try the clean reinstall stuff but I've already tried a similar procedure without success.

I've pretty much given up on SupportAssist - it's just too buggy and uses too much RAM and CPU - and I normally use Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.x for checking for Dell software and driver updates. If you want to try Dell Update go to https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us?app=products and enter your unique Service Tag.  That should redirect you to the correct support page for your Dell computer model, and when you choose the "Drivers & Downloads" tab you should be able to find an installer for the appropriate edition of Dell Update v4.7.1 that is currently recommended for your  computer model and operating system.

 

 

Thanks, looks like a good alternative

I'm going to try that Dell Update app , hope it'll works

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I'm going to try that Dell Update app , hope it'll works

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Unsuccessful unfortunately

It stay frozen on this blue splash screen for a very long time

then vanishes

@lmacri 

Fixed by uninstalling app, rebooting then reinstall.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Worked only once.

Stuck on blue splash screen again.

I give up

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@Gilles.P wrote:
....If nothing work I will consider going to try the clean reinstall stuff but I've already tried a similar procedure without success.

I'm going to try that Dell Update app , hope it'll works

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Hi Giles.P:

What is your Dell computer model, operating system, and current BIOS version? If your OS is Windows 10 or Windows 11 please include the edition (e.g., Home, Pro, etc.), version (e.g., v21H2, v22H2, etc.) and OS build number shown at Settings | System | About | Windows Specifications. To find your BIOS version open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R), enter msinfo32 to open the System Information panel, and look for the "BIOS Version/Date" field.

The image <here> for the error message you saw when you ran the old v3.12.3.5 .MSI is now visible and says "UI Mode Not Supported". Does your Windows login account have Administrator privileges (see the MakeUSeOf article 4 Ways to Check if a Windows Account Has Administrative Rights), and does your system meet the minimum system requirements for SupportAssist v3.13.0.126 (Win 10 or higher and MS .NET Runtime v6.0.9 or higher) and Dell Update v4.7.1 (Win 10 or higher)? Your installed MS .NET (Core) Runtimes are listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features. From my Inspiron 5584:

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Just an aside, but when I follow DELL-Chris-M's clean install instructions at SA Uninstall/Reinstall I uninstall all SupportAssist-related programs (Dell SupportAssist, Dell SupportAssist Remediation, Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update, etc.) as outlined in those instructions, but I go one step further and use Revo Uninstaller Free to clean up additional registry entries and files that are often left behind by a "regular" Control Panel uninstall. If you aren't familiar with Revo Uninstaller there is a Dell Tech Support video at Dell SupportAssist Not Installing that describes how to manually remove orphaned registry entries and files that might be left behind after SupportAssist is uninstalled from Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2486 * Firefox v109.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2211.5-1.1.19900.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.20.230-1.0.1868 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Dell SupportAssist v3.13.0.126 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 * My Dell v2.1.8.0 * Fusion Service v2.1.31.0 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.21.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

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@lmacri wrote:

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I go one step further and use Revo Uninstaller Free to clean up additional registry entries and files that are often left behind by a "regular" Control Panel uninstall. 

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I've have a lot of files (about 1GB total) under "%programdata%\Dell" "%programdata%\Dell Inc"
The video doesn not give indication to remove anything there (only mentions "Program Files" for "Dell" folders)
I not sure if I have to remove them too.

After having the comments of the video I'm not very confident that it could work
If it still do not work this will my last try to install Support Assist 

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What is your Dell computer model, operating system, and current BIOS version?

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• Model : Inspiron 17 7773 2-in-1
• Windows 10 Home
• Version : 22H2
• build 10.0.19045
• BIOS/Date Dell Inc. 1.19.0, 15/12/2021
  
  

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The image for the error message you saw when you ran the old v3.12.3.5 .MSI is now visible and says "UI Mode Not Supported". Does your Windows login account have Administrator privileges

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Yes it does, and to be completely sure I've already tried to run it under the "administrator" account and it produced the same error.

Note that that ""UI Mode Not Supported" error message produced by the installer have already been posted by another user in this thread.

The prerequisites are OK too

I go one step further and use Revo Uninstaller Free to clean up additional registry entries and files that are often left behind by a "regular" Control Panel uninstall

I'm foing to try that then and restart from scratch then
In any case should I stick with "Dell Update or revert back to  SupportAssist ?

BTW this is my wife laptop and, since she need it for her work, I've not much timeframes availables to investigate that stiff much.
If that time, after having used REVO, if it still doesn not work, I'll will give up
I'll keep looking to important updates (like bios) and install them manually et for software I guess that I can rely on Windows Update

It worked that time

And I haven't even used Revo Uninstaller
I just removed (again) all dell related applications in settings => applications and cleaned some selected folders  inside %programdata%

@lmacri I had to apply the extra step described in this forum thread 
https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/Dell-Client-Management-Refuses-to-Start-Error-1053/m-p/8226702/highlight/true#M146909
to allow online update check Dell site to secceed too.
It's important to know that this require to be logged  under the "Administrator" account. Even a normal account with admin rights do not have access to the ""C:\ProgramData\Dell\UpdateService" folder

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@Gilles.P wrote:

It worked that time .... I just removed (again) all dell related applications in settings => applications and cleaned some selected folders  inside %programdata%

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Hi Giles.P:

Glad to hear you found your own solution.  Be sure to post back if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner (I think we live in different time zones), but I'll just add a few comments about some of your observations.

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... In any case should I stick with "Dell Update or revert back to SupportAssist ?...

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That's up to you, but as I said before, I find that SupportAssist is too buggy and uses too many system resources so I personally prefer to use Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.x.

I checked the support page <here> for your Inspiron 17 7773 2-in-1 and it only offers the "classic" Dell Update v4.6.0 (Dell-Update-Application_RYXN2_WIN_4.6.0_A00.EXE, rel. 24-Aug-2022). Since your laptop has a Win 10 v22H2 OS I'm not sure why the latest Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 [the "new style" Universal Windows Platform (UWP) edition for Win 10 and higher] isn't offered for your computer model.

According to the "Important Information" section of the release notes <here> for Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 "Dell Update Classic interface is not supported from version 4.7 and later. If you have Dell Update Classic, Dell Update version 4.7 UWP is installed". If I understand correctly, Dell has discontinued support for the "classic" Dell Update v4.6.0 (the Win32 installer for Win 8.1 and higher) and is automatically migrating Win 10 and higher users to the Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.x UWP edition. Perhaps that's why your Dell Update splash screen seemed to get stuck and then vanished - because it was trying (and possibly failing) to migrate you over to the UWP app. If you aren't sure if you currently have the classic or UWP version of Dell Update go to Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features - the classic version will be listed as "Dell Update", while the UWP version will be listed as "Dell Update for Windows Universal". I have the UWP app and this is what Programs and Features currently looks like on my Inspiron 5584:

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I've have a lot of files (about 1GB total) under "%programdata%\Dell" "%programdata%\Dell Inc"
The video doesn not give indication to remove anything there (only mentions "Program Files" for "Dell" folders)
I not sure if I have to remove them too.

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Do you have Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery installed? If this emergency recovery software is installed it will be listed as Dell SupportAssist Remediation at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features (see my image above), and if that software is enabled then the System Repair section of your SupportAssist settings will look something like this:

The daily snapshots (system repair points) created by Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery are stored in the hidden and protected folder at C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Snapshots and it's not unusual for this folder to grow to about 15 or 25 GB in size if System Repair is enabled. If there is a glitch in Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery this subfolder will sometimes exceed the maximum allowable size and grow to 100 GB or more - see my comments in guthrie's 04-Nov-2021 thread file size -SAR REmediation ).

Turning off System Repair in your SupportAssist settings should purge your old snapshots, but DELL-Chris M's clean reinstall instructions at SA Uninstall / Reinstall also include a section for safely purging the snapshots in C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Snapshots that you can perform after SupportAssist and Dell SupportAssist Remediation are both uninstalled.

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I had to apply the extra step described in this forum thread 
https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron/Dell-Client-Management-Refuses-to-Start-Error-1053/m-p/82267...
to allow online update check Dell site to secceed too.
It's important to know that this require to be logged  under the "Administrator" account.

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The Dell Client Management Service is a common service required for a variety of Dell programs like Alienware Command Center (AWCC), SupportAssist, Dell Update, etc. and the default Startup Type is "Automatic (Delayed Start, Trigger Start)".

I've seen a few users recently report that they were having difficulties installing or using a Dell utility because their Dell Client Management Service was not running. I'm not sure why this sometimes happens (see my 02-Dec-2022 comments <here> about the Dell Client Management Service , Dell SupportAssist and Dell TechHub services) but a manual restart of the service or a system re-boot usually fixes the problem without having to manually delete and re-create the C:\ProgramData\Dell\UpdateService\Clients folder as instructed in Silichip-X's YouTube video at How to Actually Fix Dell SupportAssist Update. As Paul1106 noted in Dell Client Management Refuses to Start (Error 1053), having incorrect permissions for the C:\ProgramData\Dell\UpdateService\Clients folder might indicate that you have a corrupted Windows user account, so keep this in mind if you encounter other unexpected problems on this Inspiron 17 7773 2-in-1. 

If you haven't already done I would advise you disable the Fast Startup power option as instructed in the Brink's TenForums tutorial How to Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10. Fast Startup is enabled by default in Win 10 and Win 11 but this power option (also known as hybrid boot-up / hybrid shutdown) can interfere with the loading of services and drivers of third-party software at boot-up and cause all sorts of odd glitches and unexpected problems. Microsoft has even acknowledged that Fast Startup can interfere with Windows Update - see the MS support article Updates May Not Be Installed With Fast Startup in Windows 10.

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64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2486 * Firefox v109.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2211.5-1.1.19900.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.20.230-1.0.1868 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Dell SupportAssist v3.13.0.126 * Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.5.16206 * * Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.7.1 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.21.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Thanks a lot @lmacri for this highly detailed and useful information !
Regarding fast startup I have already disabled it on my desktop PC I'll check it its enabled on my Wife laptop

Its simple, they want you to buy a new computer

What a freaking train wreck.

Just give us a driver updater that works, eh DELL?