Updating SupportAssist caused BSOD every 35 minutes

Hi mjelder: 

Employee Dell-Brad L announced yesterday that Dell is planning to push out two SupportAssist v4.x updates to fix serious bugs in v4.6.2  - see their 19-Dec-2024 post in MichaelInParis's Any way to reduce the size of the DTPDB.DB file?. From what I understand, the v4.6.3 update will begin rolling out next Tuesday on 24-Dec-2024 to fix a bug that impacts system performance due to excessive RAM and CPU consumption, and a second update will be released at a later date to fix a bug that causes database files in the C:\ProgramData\Dell\DTP\DB folder to grow over time and consume excessive amounts of disk space (i.e., typically in the range of 20 - 80 GB).

I have no idea if either of these upcoming updates will fix your BSODs, but I'd suggest you uninstall SupportAssist v4.6.2 and follow MichaelInParis's topic about their DTBDB.DB bug since that will likely be the topic where employee Dell-Brad L posts status updates about these bug fixes.

Also note that Dell has apparently pulled SupportAssist v4.6.2 from their download servers because of the seriousness of these bugs and temporarily reverted back to the previous v4.0.3 - see melzie's 19-Dec-2024 post in Aleric's Missing "Dell Client Management Service".
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5247 * Firefox v133.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.4.157-1.0.5116 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.4.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0

In Apps & Features I uninstalled "Dell SupportAssist" and "Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update".  Are there any BIOS settings to be changed such as "SupportAssist System Resolution, Auto OS Recovery Threshold" or "SupportAssist System Resolution, SupportAssist OS Recovery"?

In Apps & Features I uninstalled "Dell SupportAssist" and "Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update".  Are there any BIOS settings to be changed such as "SupportAssist System Resolution, Auto OS Recovery Threshold" or "SupportAssist System Resolution, SupportAssist OS Recovery"?

Hi mjelder:

I no longer have any SupportAssist-related programs installed on my Inspiron 5584 (they were too buggy and used too much RAM and CPU) but as far as I know uninstalling Dell SupportAssist v4.x from Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features is all you need to do, and in most cases no further cleanup is required when you follow the normal uninstall procedure. In some instances a clean reinstall of SupportAssist v4.x that wipes orphaned remnants of your old SupportAssist installation off your system might help to fix a stubborn glitch, but the instructions at Dell SupportAssist for PCs and Tablets Installation Issue state in part that "In the past, we perform a clean uninstall by removing directories and registry files. This should not be necessary anymore".

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Has uninstalling SupportAssist v4.6.2 stopped your BSODs?  If not, let us know if Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.x (also known as Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery or System Repair) is currently installed on your XPS 8940.  This emergency recovery software will create a new Dell system repair point (snapshot) in the hidden, protected C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\Snapshots folder ** approx. 30 minutes after each system restart and Windows login, and perhaps this software is the cause of your BSODs. 

**  HINT: The TreeSize Free utility (run as Administrator) can be used to view the contents of that protected folder.

If the Dell SupportAssist Remediation service has a Status of "Running" in your Windows Services I suspect you'll also see dozens, if not hundreds, of "Successful Application Reconfiguration" events logged in your Windows Reliability Monitor each time Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery collects information about your installed software and creates a new snapshot of your system - see the second image in my 24-Nov-2024 post in newmarket2's Program Data is huge; something's wrong. This "bug" was identified almost 4 years ago and is caused by sloppy program (see my 04-May-2024 post in DELLKaren's "Successful Application Reconfiguration" and SupportAssist) but Dell seems in no rush to fix it.  This rapid logging of "Successful Application Reconfiguration" events never caused a serious issue on my Inspiron 5584 but a few users reported in DELLKaren's topic that each time Dell SupportAssist Remediation created a new snapshot the high CPU usage caused their system to become unstable.

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If your BSODs continue and are generating mini-dump files you can run a utility like Nirsoft's  BlueScreenView and/or Resplendence's Who Crashed to see if it can analyze the Bug Check (BC) codes. These utilities only list basic details (filename, product name, file description, and file version) of the suspected driver / module that was loaded in the crash stack at the time of the crash so they aren't as accurate as a detailed Windows Debugger (WinDbg) analysis of your full dump files, but I've used these utilities to successfully diagnose BSODs caused by outdated graphics drivers and other common issues. See the last section of my 08-Jul-2022 post in  Bradp1779's Inspiron 5570 Blue Screen for instructions on how to use BlueScreenView.

If your Dell service warranty has expired and you cannot submit a formal support request I'd suggest you post your dump files in BleepingComputer's free Windows Crashes and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Help and Support board and have one of the trained volunteers there do a proper analysis with WinDbg.  Posting instructions are pinned <here> at the top of that forum board.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5247 * Firefox v133.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.4.157-1.0.5116 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.4.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0 * TreeSize Free Portable 4.7.3.500

... Windows started and there were no more BSODs...The Dell.CoreServices.Client critical event was gone...

Hi mjelder:

Good to hear your BSODs have stopped.

Just an FYI that Rockface reported those same Dell.CoreServices.Client.exe APPCRASHs in their 03-Dec-2024 topic supportassist issue after updating to SupportAssist v4.6.2.  Dell customer support was unable to provide a solution and suggested Rockface uninstall SupportAssist v4.6.2 and wait to see if the next release has the same problem.
 

NOTE: SupportAssist v4.6.3 began rolling out today (see employee Dell-Nat-M's 24-Dec-2024 announcement in MichaelInParis's Any way to reduce the size of the DTPDB.DB file?) but I have no idea what bug fixes are included.

User aporocactus also reported BSODs and Dell.CoreServices.Client.exe APPCRASHs in their 08-Dec-2024 topic XPS 9520 Are constant BSODs caused by updated SupportAssist? but their solution was to disable the Dell SupportAssist Remediation service.

Rockface and aporocactus used slightly different workarounds to stop their Dell.CoreServices.Client.exe APPCRASHs, but SupportAssist v4.x and Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.x (also known as Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery or System Repair) are closely linked so it isn't too surprising that both approaches worked.  You can configure Dell SupportAssist Remediation from either your SupportAssist settings (assuming SupportAssist OS Recovery 5.5.x is installed - see the section titled Configure System Repair Settings in the SupportAssist v4 User’s Guide) or from the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery settings manager at Control Panel | System and Security | Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery (see the images I posted on 14-Dec-2024 in MichaelInParis's Any way to reduce the size of the DTPDB.DB file?).

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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5247 * Firefox v133.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.4.157-1.0.5116 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.4.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0