Supportassist scan for drivers update error

Hi Vatsal Vakharia:

Sorry, but you're image isn't displayed correctly, so I'll assume that you still see the "A task is currently running..." warning when SupportAssist is launched. Has the service warranty for your Dell G3 3500 expired yet?

What is your current BIOS version, and did that SupportAssist warning appear before you started the BIOS update, or after the BIOS update had started? To find your current BIOS version open a Run dialog box, enter msinfo32 to open your System Information panel, and look for the “BIOS Version/Date” field.

When you go to Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features does it show that the latest SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 (released 23-Jun-2022) is installed? If so do you also have Microsoft .NET Runtime v5.0.17 installed (a new system requirement for SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 - see the minimum system requirements posted ...

... and when you go to Start | Windows Administrative Tools | Services can you see two services named Dell Client Management Service and Dell TechHub, and do both services have a Status of "Running"? Note that Dell TechHub is a new service that should have been added by the SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 installer - Dell employee jbilinski posted on 28-Jun-2022 in Admiral1989's SupportAssist - Installation Failed Message that "Dell TechHub replaces Dell Hardware Scan service and is needed to run the Hardware Scan panel" in SupportAssist v3.11.4.29.

Do you currently have Dell Update v4.6.0 (the old-style Win32 program for Win 7 SP1 and higher) or Dell Update for Windows Applications v4.6.0 (a modern app for Win 10 / Win 11 only) installed, and if it launches correctly does a check for available updates run to completion? If Dell Update runs correctly do not update your BIOS or any other available update it finds - just see if it throws any warnings or error messages.

NOTE that I never allow SupportAssist or Dell Update to install a BIOS update on my Inspiron 5584 - I always close all my running programs, download the standalone .exe installer from the support page for my Inspiron 5584 and save it to my desktop, right-click, and choose "Run as Administrator". There are even some users who don't feel this "Update from Windows" method is safe and prefer to use the "Update from BIOS Boot Menu" method using a removable USB thumb drive. Both these methods are described in the detailed release notes  for the latest Dell G3 3500 and G5 5500 System BIOS v1.80.0 released on 08-Aug-2022 (see the section titled "Installation Instructions").
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Just an aside, but I personally don't like SupportAssist - it's too buggy, consumes too many system resources, and the "system optimization" scans (Clean Files / Tune Performance / Optimize Network) are too aggressive and have the potential to do more harm than good - see my 12-Jul-2021 comment in ex-jedi's Prevent Automatic Recycle Bin Emptying. I have disabled my Dell SupportAssist and Dell TechHub services so SupportAssist can't launch automatically on my Inspiron 5584 at boot-up, and I've started using Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.x to check for Dell software and driver updates. If I ever need to run a hardware scan I can still run Dell's F12 ePSA (enhanced Pre-boot System Assessment) hardware diagnostics from my BIOS, and my Windows 10 OS also has its own built-in hardware diagnostics at Settings | Update & Security | Troubleshoot | Additional Troubleshooters.

I also have the Dell SupportAssist Remediation service disabled so this program (also known as SupportAssist OS Recovery) can't launch at boot-up, and I now use Macrium Reflect Free v8 disk imaging software to create emergency recovery media (a bootable USB) and the occasional full disk image I store on an external backup drive in case I ever have to perform an emergency recovery. As an extra precaution I've also enabled Windows System Restore (disabled by default on Win 10 and Win 11) as instructed in the Windows Central article How to Use System Restore on Windows 10.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1889 * Firefox v103.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19500.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.12.204-1.0.1725 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update Windows Universal v4.6.0 * Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.3.16171 * My Dell v2.0.30.0 * Fusion Service v2.0.58 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.20.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Yes that's exactly when it started happening. I suspect the issue is related to what Imacri said in the post. You need to have Microsoft .NET Runtime v5.0.17  for supportassist to work correctly. Recent windows update should have updated Microsoft .NET runtime to a different version. You would have to roll back the update to fix the issue, I think. Let me know if that works.

Can you tell me does it happened after updating Dell update application to 4.6.0?

As soon as I open supportassist it opens fine then after i click on check for update it starts and stucks at 0% for 1 min then shows this error.My BIOS is updated to latest v.1.18.0 . And supportassist version is 3.11.4.29 and Dell update application version is 4.6.0.It just happened after i updated Dell update application from 4.5.0 to 4.6.0 via supportassist.Then i was about to update my BIOS to 1.18.0 via supportassist but it didn't scan for update and then I updated BIOS from Dell update application. .NET framework is 5.0.17 and fusion service is also latest.Dell update application was showing an update and no warning and i updated BIOS from there.Both mentioned services are status are running.This just happened after i updated Dell update application.

No,even after that update it was working fine.I suspected it right after Dell update application got updated.Also i have attached image of error. 

I get the same exact error message on my system as well. Sorry to hear the .NET runtime rollback wasn't effective. Supportassist has been a headache for me, at this point im over trying to get it to work. Hopefully the next update will make it functional.

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@Vatsal Vakharia wrote:

As soon as I open supportassist it opens fine then after i click on check for update it starts and stucks at 0% for 1 min then shows this error....It just happened after i updated Dell update application from 4.5.0 to 4.6.0 via supportassist.

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Hi Vatsal_Vakharia:

After you launch Dell SupportAssist leave the interface open and wait at least an hour to see if that "A task is currently in progress. Wait for the previous task to finish" message clears. If you have automatic background scanning enabled in SupportAssist there are some updates that can take a very long time to install - especially if you have Dell SupportAssist Remediation installed and SupportAssist is trying to install the latest ~ 350 MB SupportAssist OS Recovery Tools v5.5.3.16171 update. (see my comments below about disabling automatic scanning).

When you click on the History tab of SupportAssist and check your Recent Activity log for the entire month of August 2022 does it provide any information on what task is failing to run to completion? You said that "after i click on check for update it starts and stucks at 0% for 1 min then shows this error", which seems to imply that you have an unfinished update running on your computer.  I launched SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 manually today (recall I don't allow this program to start automatically on my Inspiron 5584) and ran manual Get Drivers & Downloads and Scan Hardware scans today from the Home tab, and here's what my August 2022 Recent Activity looks like.

If you haven't already done so, please disable your Fast Startup power option (also known as hybrid boot-up / hybrid shutdown) as instructed in Option 1 of the TenForums tutorial How to Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10 and then re-boot your computer. This power option is enabled by default but Fast Startup can interfere with the loading of services and drivers of third-party software at boot-up and cause unexpected problems, and Microsoft has acknowledged that Fast Startup can even interfere with Windows Update - see the MS support article Updates May Not Be Installed With Fast Startup in Windows 10.

Warning: After Fast Startup is disabled, your first system restart might be slow If you have Windows updates pending installation.  Be patient and don't restart your computer  whilethe installation(s) are trying to run to completion.

If disabling Fast Startup and a few re-boots doesn't help, did you go to Start | Windows Administrative Tools | Services as I suggested and confirm that the two services named Dell Client Management Service and Dell TechHub both have a Status of "Running"? I also asked if Dell Update v4.6.0 was running correctly on your G3 3500. If Dell Update won't run, does Control Panel | Prorams | Programs and Features show that the latest Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update v5.5.1.16143 (rel. 21-Jan-2022) listed  on the support page for the Dell G3 15 3500 is installed? See the first image  in my 15-Aug-2022 post that shows the names and version numbers of the Dell software currently installed on my Inspiron 5584.

If nothing I've suggested so far helps it might be time to try a clean reinstall of SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 using DELL-Chris M's instructions at SA Uninstall/Reinstall. Note that those instructions require the uninstall of all SupportAssist-related programs (including the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update, Dell SupportAssist Remediation, etc, if installed) before SupportAssist is reinstalled. I've used those instructions a few times, and I go one step further and use Revo Uninstaller Free in Aggressive mode to uninstall each SupportAssist-related program to remove stray files and registry entries left behind by the "regular" uninstaller (Note: if you aren't familiar with Revo Uninstaller, the Dell Tech Support video at Dell SupportAssist Not Installing includes a list of folders, registry entries and Windows services that you can manually delete after your Control Panel uninstall of SupportAssist to get the cleanest possible reinstall). When I reinstall SupportAssist I always save a fresh copy of SupportAssistInstaller.exe (downloaded from the SupportAssist for Home PCs page) on my desktop, right-click the SupportAssistInstaller.exe file, and choose "Run as Administrator" - for some reason, choosing "Run as Administrator" is necessary on some systems (see Sidscrat's 04-Jan-2022 post  for one example).
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Your latest image shows that "system optimization" scans (Clean Files / Tune Performance / Optimize Network) ran on your system on 13-Aug-2022. As I previously mentioned, I find these scans are too aggressive and have the potential to do more harm than good. Are you sure it wasn't one of these "system optimization" scans", and not the update to Dell Update v4.6.0, that triggered your current "A task is currently in progress. Wait for the previous task to finish" error?

Regardless, I have all scheduled background scans disabled at Options (gear icon) | Settings | Automate Scans and Optimizations | Scan Your System and Drivers At: to ensure SupportAssist cannot try to "optimize" my system. The only manual scans I run on the Home tab are "Get Drivers & Downloads" and the occasional "Scan Hardware". You should also review your other SupportAssist settings to see if there are other features you might want to disable - at least while your troubleshooting your current issue.

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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1889 * Firefox v103.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19500.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.12.204-1.0.1725 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update Windows Universal v4.6.0 * Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.3.16171 * Revo Uninstaller Free Portable v2.3.9 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.20.0
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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@TaySensei wrote:

... You need to have Microsoft .NET Runtime v5.0.17  for supportassist to work correctly. Recent windows update should have updated Microsoft .NET runtime to a different version. You would have to roll back the update to fix the issue, I think....

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Hi TaySensei:

The OP Vatsal Vakharia posted  that .NET Runtime v5.0.17 is already installed on their system so I think they'll have to look elsewhere for the cause of their error.

Please see my 03-Aug-2022 comments in chriscfox's SupportAssist Won't Install about some of the differences between the older "classic" .NET Frameworks (for Windows PCs only) and the newer .NET (Core) Runtimes (multi-platform for Windows, macOS, Linux, etc.). If I understand correctly, any application like SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 that is developed specifically for the .NET Runtime v5.x must have that same version of .NET Runtime v5.x installed [i.e., SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 will not run correctly if .NET  Runtime v6.x and/or v7.x are the only .NET Runtime(s) installed].

As far as I know, the "classic" .NET Framework 4.5 and later versions are compatible with apps that were built with earlier versions of the .NET Framework (e.g., you can use .NET Framework v4.8.0 to run software designed for .NET Framework v4.5.1), but newer .NET (Core) Runtimes do not have this same flexibility. See Bob Rundle's 21-Aug-2021 Forward and Backward Compatibility in .NET Core as well as the MS .NET Core support article How Code Changes Can Affect Compatibility, which states "Maintaining forward compatibility is not a goal of .NET Core".  Microsoft's .NET and .NET Framework also notes that newer .NET Core Runtimes are now simply referred to as .NET Runtimes.

Windows Update will not automatically install .NET Runtime v6.x if it detects that you have .NET Runtime v5.0.17, even though .NET Runtime v5.0.17 reached end of support on 10-May-2022 and will no longer receive security updates. I believe Windows Update should only install the .NET Runtime v6.x if it detects an application on your system which requires that specific version 6.x of the .NET (Core) Runtime.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1889 * Firefox v103.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19500.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.12.204-1.0.1725 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update Windows Universal v4.6.0 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.20.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

I would not recommend doing a clean install of supportassist at this time. I attempted to do that yesterday and certain features like OS recovery plugins would not install properly afterward. I had to roll back the changes using a system restore point.

Like support assist,  this does not work. Has not on 3 NEW pc  at all. Spent an hour with dell on remote support for them to make dell support assist  work- ONE time. Getting fed up and  they obviously do not care!

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@Vatsal Vakharia wrote:

... This happed only after updating Dell update application. Please help me to solve this.

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Hi Vatsal Vahharia:

User campfiresmoke's 17-Aug-2022 thread Windows Universal Application 4.6.0 A00 just reminded me that the Known Issues section of the SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 release notes <here> state that driver scans in SupportAssist may not work correctly after Dell Update is installed or updated. This bug first appeared in SupportAssist v3.10.4.18 , and the only workaround suggested in the official release notes is to "Reboot the system and retry".

You might want to read the comments posted in campfiresmoke's thread.  You said you already have the latest Dell Update v4.6.0 so if disabling Fast Startup and re-booting hasn't fixed you problem you might want to try uninstalling and reinstalling SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 (which doesn't always go smoothly these days, as ) or  just wait for the next release of SupportAssist and see if that fixes the problem.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1889 * Firefox v103.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19500.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.13.208-1.0.1740 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update Windows Universal v4.6.0 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.20.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Tried all you said.Also restarted my pc (in both state where fast boot was enabled or disabled) as  mentioned in offical release.uninstalled and reinstalled supportassist still it didn't work.As far I know how supportassist works and it service work an exe file named supportAssistSoftwareDiags.exe needs to be in running state if supportassist is running to run check for updates.In my case that exe is not running even supportassist is running.You can check in your pc's task manager that that exe is running or not if supportassist is running.It stops if supportassist is closed.Please report this to developers that it isn't working even after a restart in both cold state.Is there anything which can be tried to solve this.

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@Vatsal Vakharia wrote:

...As far I know how supportassist works and it service work an exe file named supportAssistSoftwareDiags.exe needs to be in running state if supportassist is running to run check for updates....Please report this to developers....

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Hi Vatsal Vakharia:

I was able to locate a file called SupportAssistSoftwareDiags.exe in C:\Program Files\Dell\SupportAssistAgent\bin\ (last modified 21-Jun-2022) but I used Microsoft Sysinternal's Process Explorer v16.43 to monitor my running processes while I ran manual "Get Drivers & Downloads" and "Scan Hardware" scans with the current SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 and I did not see that executable load into memory. That might be because I have disabled some automated tasks in my SupportAssist settings (i.e., Automate Scans and Optimizations, Notifications, System Repair), but as far as I can tell it is SupportAssistHardwareDiags.exe, and not SupportAssistSoftwareDiags.exe, that needs to be loaded into memory in order for these scans to run correctly.

As a general rule, Dell employees do not respond to requests for tech support in this Dell Community. Hopefully, one of the senior users in this forum with a rank of TechExpert will see your question and jump into this thread to provide further assistance.

If your service warranty has not expired and you would like to contact Dell Support directly you can also open a support request at https://www.dell.com/support/incidents-online/contactus as instructed in the support article How to Create a Support Request Online for Dell EMC.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1889 * Firefox v103.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19500.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.13.208-1.0.1740 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update Windows Universal v4.6.0 * Inspiron 5583/5584 BIOS v1.20.0
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Means this won't run in my laptop till a new version of supportassist is available.Please pass this to a senior member with rank of tech expert because till the update won't be available i won't be able to update my laptop through supportassist. Are there any possible fixes for this available?