Queries on XPS 13 9380..SupportAssist & resolution

Question

Hello, just yesterday I bought the Dell XPS 13 9380 4k touch model. Please can someone clarify my below 2 queries:-

a) Can I use the SupportAssist under My Dell to get drivers and downloads updates even after my 1 year warranty?

b) Can I lower the resolution via the Intel UHD Graphics control panel to save some juice?

jphughan · Accepted Answer

1. It seems that Dell has recently only allowed SupportAssist to be used on systems that have an active warranty contract. After that, it stops working. However, after that point, you can use Dell Update to keep receiving drivers and firmware/BIOS updates, or you can just download them manually from support.dell.com. As for @Mary G's claim above that "laptops usually do not need updates", that is completely and provably false. If you go to the Downloads page of any basically any system that's been around for a few years, expand the details of a driver or application, and click the "Older versions" link, you will find that the majority of them have had MULTIPLE updates issued over the lifecycle of that system. The XPS 13 9380 is still relatively new as of this writing, so it won't have as many, but there are already some drivers that have multiple previous updates, such as the Intel Graphics driver. Mary G, why do you make strange claims like that?

2. You can definitely lower your resolution, but you won't save any power that way. I recently wrote a more detailed answer in this thread where someone else asked this exact question.

Mary G · Answer

Drivers and download are free forever and are used for reinstalling the drivers you have now. The warranty is for the hardware not any services online. However laptops rarely have any updates. They are customized for your exact motherboard and usually do not need updates. Go to the download page for your model and sign up for driver updates. In the rare case of an update, Dell will notify you. Bios updates might be issued and you don't want to miss those.

onlytanmoy · Answer

Thanks a lot for the clarification mate..that helped.

Please can you help with my below query on using CCleaner with the XPS 9380 SSD.

I just want to use the below 3 features from CCleaner and nothing else:
1. Cleaner to analyze and trash the junk files/temp files
2. Registry cleaner to clean the registry
3. Startup manager to manage windows startup apps

I will NOT be using it for defragging the SSD, secure file deletion, wipe free space or driver wiper.

jphughan · Answer

I don't use CCleaner myself, but there's nothing about those things that would be a problem specifically with the 9380 and an SSD. I personally don't buy into using third-party tools to clean up "junk" in temp files and the registry. Having files and registry information just sitting there doesn't cause your system to slow down or consume a meaningful amount of disk space, and having CCleaner delete files and registry entries that it doesn't and can't fully understand can create problems that wouldn't have existed otherwise, so for me that type of thing always seemed to be extra risk with no meaningful benefit. If you're worried that something on your system might be consuming a significant amount of space, take a look at TreeSize Free, which maps out your drive in a way that makes it very clear very quickly where disk space is being consumed.

But again, all of the things I just said are about CCleaner and similar tools in general. There's nothing about those things that would be riskier on a 9380 with an SSD compared to any other system.

onlytanmoy · Answer

Thanks for your response.

I am actually facing the below issue in my new Dell laptop...please go through the below link

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/unknown-program-named-program-appears-in-startup.2532248/

As per that using CCleaner to remove the junk/temp files helped getting rid of that 'program' from startup

But in many places I have heard against using CCleaner on a SSD (though they mainly warn against secure file deletion, Drive Wiper, wipe free space) so I believe the actions I intend to perform using CCleaner (i.e., clean temp/junk files, reg clean, startup manage) should not pose a threat to the health of the 9380 SSD.

XPS

Queries on XPS 13 9380..SupportAssist & resolution

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