DSA v3.5.0 Bug? - Scheduled Drivers and Downloads Scan Ran Other Scans

Hi Imacri,

I have noticed that the Home tab dates for System Optimizations (Clean Files, Tune Performance, and Optimize Network) do not pay attention to the fact that the box is unchecked for “Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations.”  In the older version, even though I had the box unchecked for “Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations”, there would be a new monthly date for the three/four System Optimizations.  But, I know that the System Optimizations did not run because the Recycle Bin was not empty.  Similarly, now that the new version (3.5.0.488) installed on May 6, the Home tab indicates that the three System Optimizations (Clean Files, Tune Performance, and Optimize Network) took place on May 6.  But, I know for a fact again, that Clean Files did not take place because my Recycle Bin is still not empty.

Another point to watch out for:  On May 13, a SA dialog box popped up at 8 PM, notifying me that System Optimizations were going to take place shortly.  There was a box to click to do it later.  I clicked on that.  Then, I opened SA and checked Settings>Schedule Scans and Optimizations, where I saw that the box was checked for “Turn on on automatic system scans and optimizations” and the radio button for “weekly” was set in the second column for System Scans at 8 PM!!  So, that is why the dialog box popped up on May 13 at 8 PM (a week after the new version installed). I returned the settings to their former state (“monthly” for System Scans and the box unchecked for “Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations”) and saved the settings.

This indicates to me that SA does not use the settings of the old version when it installs a new version.  It makes up its own mind about them, checking the box for “Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations” and setting the radio buttons to “weekly.”

So, you should always investigate the settings after a new version installs.

A third point:  The “Remove Viruses and Malware” is greyed out since you do not have Dell’s Premium Support Plus for this (i.e., you did not purchase the free anti-virus software that Dell provided with your machine or you uninstalled It afterward). This means that this 4th System Optimization option never runs.

P.S. Is your Vista machine still running?

Hi DELLKaren:

Thanks for your feedback.

My experience was very similar to yours. Earlier in the week I had a Hardware Scan start unexpectedly and discovered all my custom settings had been lost when DSA auto-updated from v3.4.5.366 to v3.5.0.448. I thought I had set my scan schedules back to my "preferred" schedule (if I had a choice I would set System Optimizations to "Never" and only schedule driver update and hardware checks - I DON'T want DSA cleaning my registry or tuning my system settings) but it's possible my DSA settings changes weren't saved correctly before the unscheduled System Optimizations and Virus/Malware scans ran on 13-May-2020. Regardless, I think I'll just wait another week or so and see if I can catch DSA v3.5.0 running another unscheduled scan. In the mean time I'll also make sure I don't run CCleaner or some other third-party utility so that I can tell if an unscheduled DSA System Optimizations scan actually purges my temp files. If the problem persists I'll try a clean reinstall of DSA (yet again) or just turn off scheduled scans altogether and see if that helps.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but the only change mentioned in the DSA v3.5.0 release notes <here> is the "Ability to migrate files and settings from a Dell or non-Dell PC to a different Dell PC using the Dell Migrate service" (available in DSA at Troubleshooting | Copy My Files and Settings From Another PC). According to the NotebookCheck article Dell Sets Up a New Migrate Service to Help Users Set Their New PC Up Just Like the Last One this new Migrate service went live on 13-May-2020, the same day these unscheduled System Optimizations and Virus/Malware scans appeared to run on my Inspiron 5584.

I haven't had access to my HP Pavilion / Vista SP2 laptop for a few months (the office where it's located has been shut down during the COVID crisis) but the last time I booted it up it was running great. Unlike my Dell Win 10 laptop, this old Vista SP2 machine doesn't BSOD, doesn't constantly freeze and force me to perform a hard re-start, actually wakes up from sleep mode when I swipe my touchpad (and doesn't unexpectedly wake up from sleep mode every time it tries to go into hibernation mode), and the Event Viewer isn't filled with errors. I've basically given up on Dell Support ever finding a solution to any of these problems (or asking for a diagnostic log to see if there's a better solution than shipping this Insipron 5584 / Win 10 laptop back to have the hard drive wiped and/or motherboard replaced). I really regret now that I didn't send this Insipron Win 10 laptop back to Dell within 30 days of shipment for a full refund and just keep my reliable (but less secure) Vista SP2 laptop going a bit longer, but 30 days wasn't really enough time uncover all the problems this Dell laptop has.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Hi DELLKaren:

Just wanted to let you know that I'm in touch with someone from the Dell SupportAssist Engineering support team and have sent them logs from the hidden C:\Program Data\SupportAssist\Client\Agent\Logs\Application Logs folder for analysis.

I had a scheduled System Optimizations scan run today (21-May-2020) and there's definitely something odd going on with my DSA v3.5.0.448 installation.  I was able to capture a screenshot today showing that a Virus & Malware scan (Step 4 of 4) started after the Systems Optimizations scan (Step 1 to 3) finished even though I'm not subscribed to Dell's Premium Support Plus...

... and while the DSA Home tab seems to show that the Systems Optimizations scan ran today on 21-May-2020, there is no evidence on the History tab that those optimization scans ever ran [note that the History tab correctly shows my weekly scheduled Drivers & Downloads ran yesterday (Wednesday) on 20-May-2020]. After reading your previous post I was also able to confirm that today's System Optimizations scan didn't actually clean any files on my system - my Recycle Bin has not been emptied and CCleaner Free v5.66 shows my temp disk files and stray registry entries were not cleaned.

I'm not going to try a clean reinstall of DSA v3.5.0.448 or make any changes to the settings until I've heard back from the Dell SupportAssist engineering team and see what they have to say.

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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Out of curiosity, can you explain to me your methodology behind the "Drivers and Downloads (Scheduled)" and the "Drivers and Downloads (Web)" routine on May 7 and May 20?  Why both?  I noticed that the order between the two is not the same on the two dates, also.  Is there a reason for this this difference?

I do hope that you can turn the heads of the Dell SupportAssist engineering team around and get them to fix those problems. The Home tab has been regularly reporting dates for the 3 System Optimization choices (Clean Files, Tune Performance, and Optimize Network), even though there's no actual physical evidence that they have actually run (i.e., for example, the Recycle Bin is intact).

My Dell came with a year's subscription to McAfee, so the 4th option (Remove Viruses & Malware) is not greyed out.  But,  it doesn't report accurate dates either -- i.e., the dates never coincide with the dates that I've scheduled with McAfee to do the virus scan (it will never automatically do a full scan; it only does a quick scan).

In addition, at the bottom of the Home screen, there's a set of boxes: [ You may not see the middle box, if you did not get the subscription for McAfee (or some other offered virus scanner) from Dell.  I know for a fact that I don't have the middle box on my other Dell Inspiron and the last box on that machine has an offer to upgrade the plan to purchase a virus scanner from Dell.]

There it says that "Routine optimizations are currently turned off"  So, why does it says at the top of the Home tab that the optimizations have run???

And while you are at it, convince them to put a "never" choice for the frequency of System Optimizations.  Like you, all I want to do is the Drivers & Downloads and the Hardware Scan.   I've finally resorted to unchecking the box for "Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations" and putting a reminder on my calendar to do the D&D and HS periodically.  In additon, users have been complaining endlessly about inability to keep the Recycle Bin.  As a matter of fact, if you don't want to have your files cleaned, you can't use DSA to request support from Dell.  If you try to request support that way, you have to first submit to Dell's Virtual Technician, which will initiate the System Optimizations and thereby empty your Recycle Bin. So, while you have their ear, convince them to give us the ability to request Dell Support via DSA, without having to submit to the System Optimizations first.

I am very happy to hear that your Vista machine is STILL running.  I did all of the Windows Server updates for it past the Vista EOL for about a year and a half, following your instructions in the Microsoft Community and Volume Z's Office update posts.  But, one day when I wasn't in front of the machine, a new version of Malwarebytes that was set, unbeknownst to me, to automatically initiate did so at the same time McAfee was doing its scheduled scan and alas, that precipitated a BSOD and the demise of the Vista machine.  I loved that machine.

Hi DELLKaren:

I've notified the Dell SupportAssist Engineering team about your observations and directed them to your posts in this thread. I also raised the issue about not being able to choose "Never" for individual scans (especially for the overly-aggressive System Optimizations scan) at Settings | Schedule Scans and Optimizations and hope Dell / PC-Doctor will add that option in the future.

My Inspiron 15 5584 came with a one-year trial version of McAfee LiveSafe v16 but I was unhappy about the long lag time to deliver critical security updates to this "Dell-branded" McAfee antivirus (the About tab in McAfee says Affld = 105 for Dell-branded software; subscriptions purchased directly from McAfee have an Affld = 0) [see my Nov 2019 thread Waiting for McAfee LiveSafe Critical Update 16.0.22 Refresh 1 (CVE-2019-3684)] so I uninstalled all my McAfee products and then ran a wipe with the McAfee Consumer Product Removal (MCPR) tool to remove the last traces. Right now I'm just using the built-in Windows Defender antivirus on this Win 10 Pro v1909 laptop for my real-time protection. I've already confirmed that Windows Defender isn't running a Quick Scan when the DSA v3.5.0.448 reports it has run one of these mysterious Virus & Malware scans on my system. Here's what I see at the bottom of my DSA Home tab (note that the "Learn More" link just provides info on how to upgrade my basic warranty to Dell Premium Support Plus).

My weekly Drivers & Downloads (Scheduled) scan scheduled for each Wednesday ran as expected yesterday on 20-May-2020 and found one optional software update for the Dell Digital Delivery Service 4.0.52 (ID # PDKG8, released 12-May-2020), which I haven't installed yet. The Drivers & Download (Web) scans that appears on my History tab are for a manual "Detect Drivers" check I sometimes run from the support page for my Inspiron 5584 at https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-ca/product-support/product/inspiron-15-5584-laptop/drivers. I've found that the DSA, Dell Update utility, and manual driver checks from the support page don't always detect the same driver/software updates for my Service Tag and I've run into a few problems with wonky driver updates on this Inspiron 5584, so I'm very cautious now about installing any update recommended by the DSA unless I can confirm the update is actually valid for my Service Tag.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Hi DELLKaren:

Just an FYI that the Dell SupportAssist Engineering team believes my Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.148 works as expected with one exception - Virus & Malware scan should not be launching (or at least appear to be launching) at the end of my scheduled System Optimizations scans as shown below since I have a basic 1-year warranty. If I understood correctly, DSA Virus & Malware scans should only be available to users who purchase Dell's Premium Support Plus plan (see the comparison chart <here>), and this is a proprietary malware scanner that is completely separate from the McAfee LiveSafe AV installed at the factory. I was also told that it's normal that my scheduled System Optimizations scans aren't logged on the History tab of DSA.

I have no idea why your DSA v3.5.0.448 shows one of your Inspiron machines is protected by Virus & Malware scans (assuming that machine doesn't have a Premium Support Plus plan) but it does explain why the run times of the Virus & Malware scans on your DSA Home tab do not correspond to the run times of your McAfee Quick Scans.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Hi DELLKaren:

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I did tell the Dell SupportAssist Engineering team twice that my schedule System Optimizations scans didn't look like they were actually optimizing my system (i.e., my Recycle Bin was not emptied and CCleaner showed my temp files and stray registry entries were not cleaned).  They did not address this specific concern and only said that my DSA v3.5.0.448 was working normally except for the unexpected launching of the Virus & Malware scans.

Here's an image showing three .exe files currently sitting in my Recycle Bin that were deleted from my hard drive well before my scheduled System Optimizations scan of 21-May-2020.

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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Hi DELLKaren,

Request you to share your service tag details with me over private message.

Regarding recycle bin 3 .exe files left over the  I would like to tell you that we don't delete .exe files from recycle bin but I'll confirm you on that after checking your tag details.

I'm assuming you might have Basic warranty because System Optimization in built features are depends on warranty level.

For Basic warranty we are just running system Optimization but not taking any action on the results.

Hi NikhilKiroula:

When you say that "For Basic warranty we are just running system Optimization but not taking any action on the results" do you mean that a scheduled System Optimizations scan (Clean Files, Tune Performance, and Optimize Network) does nothing except send telemetry back to Dell and doesn't actually empty the Recycle Bin or clean temp files or stray registry entries if you have a basic warranty?

If so, does that mean that users with a basic warranty must manually start those Clean Files, Tune Performance, and Optimize Network scans by clicking the Run (or Run All) buttons on the DSA Home tab if they want DSA to optimize their system?

And when you say "I would like to tell you that we don't delete .exe files from recycle bin" does that mean that running a manual Clean Files scan from the Home tab should remove everything in the Recycle Bin (e.g., .txt, .dat, .xlsx, .sys, etc.) except .exe files if you have a basic warranty? If so, does a manual Clean Files scan also leave behind .exe files for users who purchase a Premium Support Plus plan?
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Thanks for your explanation of your practice of checking DSA, Dell Update, and the Dell support page for your system.  I do the same.  I also subscribe to Dell's Technical Updates, and while these are not specific to my service tag and come out sporadically, they do give me an idea of what I should/might be looking for in the other checks.  It always helps to confirm best practices with other users.  Thanks.   

Yes, I know what (Scheduled) and (Web) mean on the SA History page.  I wasn't asking Imacri about what they each meant.  I was asking about the reasons for her doing both.

Hi Imacri,

Have you received an answer from NikhilKiroula, perhaps in a PM.  If so, I'd like to know how he answered your questions. 

Hi DELLKaren:

No, I haven't had any further feedback from Dell so I'm still not sure why a Virus & Malware scan appears to run every time a scheduled System Optimizations scan is launched.

I did notice that the product comparison chart <here> shows that the "Optimizes PC Performance Automatically" feature is only available if you upgrade to a Premium Support Plus plan, so that confirms Dell employee NikhilKiroula's statement that "For Basic warranty we are just running system Optimization but not taking any action on the results". I find DSA system optimizations are too aggressive so I'm happy to learn they aren't actually cleaning my system, but it seems like a waste of system resources to run scheduled System Optimizations scans on systems with a basic warranty if they don't do anything (other than collect and send telemetry data back to Dell).
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v1909 build 18363.778 * Firefox ESR v68.8.0 * Windows Defender v4.18.2004.6 * Dell SupportAssist v3.5.0.448
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U@1.60/1.80 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620