McAfee Quarantines RTX2080 VBIOS During Install on Alienware Area 51m Laptop

Summary: The following article provides information about an issue with McAfee quarantining files from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS update for the Alienware Area 51 laptop.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Is McAfee detecting the RTX 2080 VBIOS update as an infected file?

 

McAfee identifies the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS file as a threat and the LOADWMIMNGR.DLL file is being quarantined. Due to this, you may be unable to update the VBIOS on your Alienware Area-51m laptop.

Affected Products:

  • Alienware Area-51m Gaming Laptop

Cause

Note: This is a false positive reported by the anti-virus software due to the digital signature of the file.

Resolution

Download and install the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS. The latest VBIOS helps to resolve the issue. Before installing the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS, ensure that the BIOS on your laptop is also updated to the latest version.

Warning: It is recommended that you disconnect devices before updating the BIOS on your Dell laptop. (For example: External hard disk drives, printers, scanners, and so on.)

 

Warning: Dell laptops must have the battery installed and charged to at least 10% before you begin the BIOS update. Dell Technologies recommends running the laptop on the AC adapter before proceeding with the update process.

 

Note: To learn more about updating the BIOS on your laptop, see the following Dell knowledge base article: BIOS Update Guide 
  1. Browse to the Dell Support Site.
  2. On the left, click the Drivers & Downloads tab.
  3. Ensure you have selected the correct operating system.
  4. Under Category, select BIOS
  5. Locate the latest Alienware Area-51m System BIOS.
  6. Click Download and save the file to your personal computer.
  7. To download the latest RTX VBIOS, under Category, select System Utilities
  8. Locate the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS.
  9. Click Download and save the file to your personal computer.
  10. First install the latest BIOS version.
  11. Open File Explorer and browse to the location where the downloaded file is saved.
  12. Double-click the BIOS setup file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process (your personal computer may restart during the BIOS update procedure).
  13. After the BIOS is updated successfully, open File Explorer and browse to the location where the downloaded file is saved.
  14. Double-click the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS setup file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.


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Affected Products

Alienware Area-51m
Article Properties
Article Number: 000177913
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 13 Nov 2025
Version:  11
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