Have the same issue on a 3646-Inspiron, it says there is an update, and when tell it to update it starts the process and fades away.

I also notice that the Dell update application Icon is no longer present in the notification tray.

Think this is a bug of sorts, If you read the DBAR update log files, the file indicates there isn't a update for windows 8.1, but there is an updated for windows 10. 

So the indication of update available is kinda true, but false for windows 8.1.

To get version 1.9 of DBAR, you must first upgrade to Windows 10. 

Then you can download and install the very latest non functional version of DBAR.

On my Inspiron 17R SE7720 I cannot opgrade DBaR from version 1.6.2.4 to version 8, which seems necessary BEFORE upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 10.

Can you help?

Hans Ejvind

On my Inspiron 17R SE7720 I cannot upgrade from DBaR 1.6.2.4 to DBaR 1.8 which seems necessary to do BEFORE upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 10. Can you help

Its not necessary but make sure you have Windows 8.1 Installation Media before upgrading:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-8-1-retail-and-oem-iso/