SupportAssist for Home PCs Version 3.8 User’s Guide December 2020 Rev.
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Contents Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 5 Key features..........................................................................................................................................................................5 Document purpose..............................................................................................................................................................
Install driver updates.........................................................................................................................................................27 Uninstall driver updates................................................................................................................................................... 28 Get Drivers and Downloads tile notifications.............................................................................................................
1 Introduction SupportAssist automates support from Dell by proactively and predictively identifying hardware and software issues on your PC. SupportAssist addresses PC performance and stabilization issues, prevents security threats, monitors and detects hardware failures, and automates the engagement process with Dell Technical support. Depending on your Dell service plan, SupportAssist also automates support request creation for issues that are detected during a scan.
New features in this release ● ● ● ● Erase and reset your old PC after you migrate your files and settings to a new Dell PC. Migrate your gaming settings. Migrate your bookmarks that are saved in Microsoft Edge. Enable automated software optimizations and virus and malware removal capabilities on a PC with Basic or expired service plan using Dell Software Support. ● Compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
Table 1. SupportAssist capabilities and Dell service plans (continued) SupportAssis t capabilities Description Optimize network connectivity manually You can optimize network connectivity by adjusting the settings to have an efficient and reliable network.
Table 1. SupportAssist capabilities and Dell service plans (continued) SupportAssis t capabilities Description Dell service plans Predictive issue detection and support request creation for failure prevention 3 If a part is identified for possible failure, an alert is sent to you. SupportAssist opens a support request, and a Dell Technical Support agent contacts you to ship the replacement part.
Table 2. Other service offerings (continued) Service offering Description Availability data, you can erase and reset your old PC before you sell, gift, or trade in the PC . NOTE: In this document, the term data refers to the files and settings that you want to migrate. The term old PC refers to the PC from which your data is migrated and new PC refers to the Dell PC to which your data is migrated.
2 Getting started with SupportAssist for Home PCs SupportAssist is preinstalled on all PCs shipped out of the Dell factory. If SupportAssist is not preinstalled, follow the instructions in this section to install, configure, and use SupportAssist. Minimum PC requirements The following table lists the minimum PC requirements for installing and using SupportAssist: Table 3.
Table 3. Minimum PC requirements (continued) Particulars Requirements ● ● ● ● https://downloads.dell.com https://www.dell.com https://dl.dell.com http://content.dellsupportcenter.com Install SupportAssist for Home PCs By default, SupportAssist is installed on all PCs shipped from the Dell factory. If SupportAssist is not installed on your PC, you can manually download and install SupportAssist. Prerequisites ● The PC must meet the minimum PC requirements for installing and using SupportAssist.
Figure 1. Home page-default view After the scans and optimizations are complete, the following details are displayed on the Home page and the History page: ● Amount of hard drive space reclaimed ● Number of driver updates installed ● Number of viruses or malware removed The following figure displays the summary view of the Home page: Figure 2. Home page—summary view .
● ● ● ● Clean Files Tune Performance Optimize Network Remove Viruses & Malware NOTE: If you do not have administrator rights on the PC, only the Scan Hardware tile is enabled. The following figure displays the tiles view of the Home page: Figure 3. Home page—tiles view NOTE: Figures 1, 2, and 3 are for illustrative purpose only. Individual features such as header color, buttons, and so on, are different on Alienware PCs.
Change language setting About this task SupportAssist is available in 25 languages. By default, SupportAssist is set to the same language as that of the operating system. You can change the language according to your preference. Steps 1. On the top-right corner of the SupportAssist user interface, click the settings icon and click Select language. The list of languages is displayed. 2. Select your preferred language. 3. Click Yes to restart SupportAssist in the selected language.
● If the shipping details are invalid, a message is displayed to update the details. Click Update and Finish to update the details. ● If the shipping details are valid, the first name and last name are displayed on the top-right corner of the SupportAssist user interface. Create Dell My Account Prerequisites You must have administrator rights on the PC. Steps 1. In the Create an Account section on the Dell My Account Sign in page, enter the first name, last name, email address, and password.
Use different SupportAssist profile Prerequisites You must have administrator rights on the PC. Steps 1. On the top-right corner of the SupportAssist user interface, click the username and click Use a different profile. 2. Click Continue. The current profile is deactivated, access to the saved contact information and shipping details is removed, and the Home page is displayed. A link to create a profile is displayed on the top-right corner of the SupportAssist user interface.
Steps 1. On the top-right corner of the SupportAssist user interface, click the settings icon, click Settings, and then click Schedule scans and Optimizations. 2. Ensure that the Turn on automatic system scans and optimizations check box is selected. 3. Select the time, frequency, and day when you want to run the scan. The date of the next scheduled scan is displayed. 4. Click Save. The automatic scans and optimizations are scheduled and the Home page is displayed.
Table 5. Notifications on the SupportAssist user interface (continued) When the notification is displayed Action Dell technical support is still working on a support request that ● Click Check status online to view the status of the is created for your PC. support request online. ● Click Dismiss to hide the notification. If you have not optimized your PC in the last 28 days ● Click Run all to run all the scans and optimizations on your PC.
Table 6. Taskbar or Windows Action Center notifications (continued) When the notification is displayed Action A support request is automatically created for a hardware issue that is detected during a manually initiated or a scheduled scan. No action required. Potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are detected during a manually initiated or a scheduled scan. Click the notification to review and remove the PUPs that were detected by the scan.
Table 7. Banners on SupportAssist Home page (continued) When the banner is displayed Action The service plan has expired and is not within the renewable period. Click Contact Dell to extend or upgrade the service plan. NOTE: The online renewal capability is available only for PCs in the U.S. Disable SupportAssist notifications Prerequisites You must have administrator rights on the PC. About this task You can disable SupportAssist from displaying notifications on your PC.
3 System repair overview The system repair feature enables you to instantly rollback to a previous point in time on your PC to resolve boot issues or any other performance issues. This feature is automatically enabled on PCs with at least 50 GB of free hard drive space and where SupportAssist OS Recovery is available. But, if your PC has less than 50 GB of free hard drive space, you can manually enable the feature in SupportAssist or the operating system control panel settings.
4 System reset overview The system reset feature enables you to reset the operating system of your PC. You can either reset the operating system to factory state or install the latest version of the operating system. Depending upon the state of your PC, the following options may be available: ● Reset to factory settings—install the factory image on your PC to reset the operating system to the state it was in when your PC was shipped from the Dell factory.
Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and go to Troubleshooting > Erase everything and reset my PC to its original state, and then click Reset my PC. 2. Click Yes, reboot. The PC restarts, and the SupportAssist OS Recovery user interface is displayed. Next steps Perform the steps that are provided in the Reset your computer and update the operating system section in the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery User's Guide available on the SupportAssist for Home PCs support page.
5 Dell Migrate overview Dell Migrate is an on-demand service that enables you to securely migrate your personal files and settings to your Dell PC from any PC running the Windows operating system. After you migrate your data, you can erase and reset your old PC before you sell, gift, or trade in the PC. To purchase the Dell Migrate service for your PC, go to https://www.dell.com/Migrate. NOTE: The Dell Migrate service is available only for the Inspiron, G Series, XPS, and Alienware PCs in the U.S.
Migrate data from old to new PC Prerequisites Ensure the following: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Dell Migrate service is available for your new PC. For instructions to purchase, go to https://www.dell.com/Migrate. The operating system that is installed on your old PC is Windows 8.1 or later. The operating system that is installed on your new PC is Windows 10. Your old and new PCs are connected to an electrical outlet. You are logged in to your old and new PCs as an administrator.
● If all your data was migrated successfully, click Finish. ● If some of your data was not migrated, click Show skipped files, review, and select the data that you want to migrate, and then click Retry. 7. Optionally, click to provide your feedback, click about erasing your old PC. to migrate data from another PC or user account, or click to learn 8. Click Close. The Home page is displayed. Next steps To erase and reset your old PC, click Erase This PC on the Dell Data Assistant user interface.
6 Drivers and downloads overview Updating the drivers helps improve PC performance and patch security risks. By default, SupportAssist scans your PC every week to detect updates available for drivers and Dell applications that are installed on your PC. If required, you can configure the frequency in which SupportAssist performs the scan. See Scheduled scans and optimizations on page 16. NOTE: In this document, the term driver refers to BIOS, drivers, firmware, and Dell applications installed on your PC.
NOTE: If you install a newer version of BIOS available for your PC, you cannot uninstall the update. NOTE: In a Windows operating system, by default, the restore point creation setting is disabled. To enable SupportAssist to create a restore point, you must enable the restore point creation settings in Windows. Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and click . 2. On the Get Drivers & Downloads tile, click Run.
Table 9. Get Drivers & Downloads tile notifications Update icon No icon is displayed. Tile icon Update type Description Optional or no update available No update is available or an optional update is available. Recommended Only recommended type of updates are available. Urgent Only urgent or multiple types of updates are available.
7 Scanning PC hardware Running a hardware scan enables you to detect hardware issues on your PC. By default, SupportAssist scans your PC hardware once a month to detect hardware issues. You can also manually perform one of the following to identify a hardware issue: ● Scan a specific hardware component ● Run a quick hardware scan ● Run a stress test NOTE: If SupportAssist is minimized and an issue is detected during a scan, a notification is displayed on the Scan Hardware tile.
About this task A quick scan on your PC detects issues in hardware components such as the hard drive, processor, memory module, and so on. Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and click . 2. On the Scan Hardware tile, click Run. Results ● If no issue is detected, an appropriate notification is displayed on the tile. ● If an issue is detected and it requires creating a support request, the optimization tiles are disabled and the issue details page is displayed.
Table 10. Scan Hardware tile notifications (continued) Status icon 32 PC icon Scanning PC hardware Status Description Warning NOTE: If a warning type issue is detected, the PC optimization tiles are disabled. To enable the tiles, click Skip. A hardware issue has been detected in some component, other than the memory or hard drives. Critical NOTE: If a critical hardware issue is detected, the PC optimization tiles are disabled until you create a support request.
8 Optimizing your PC SupportAssist helps you optimize your PC by running a series of diagnostics to identify modifications to files and settings of your PC. SupportAssist optimizations improve your PC speed, storage space availability, and PC stability by: ● ● ● ● Cleaning temporary files Tuning PC performance Optimizing network Removing viruses, malware, and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) The following figure displays the Tune Performance tile for PC optimization: Figure 5.
Tune PC performance About this task SupportAssist adjusts the power settings, registry, and memory allocation to maximize your PC processing speed. Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and click . 2. On the Tune Performance tile, click Run. During the optimization, the name of task that is running is displayed above the tiles and the progress of scan is displayed on the tile. CAUTION: If you cancel the optimization while it is in progress, the changes that were performed are not reversed.
2. On the Remove Viruses & Malware tile, click Run. During the optimization, the name of task that is running is displayed above the tiles and the progress of scan is displayed on the tile. CAUTION: If you cancel the optimization while it is in progress, the changes that were performed are not reversed. Results ● The number of viruses and malware that are removed is displayed on the Remove Viruses & Malware tile, Home page, and on the History page.
During the optimization, the name of task that is running is displayed above the tiles and the progress of scan is displayed on the tile. CAUTION: If you cancel the optimization while it is in progress, the changes that were performed are not reversed. ● If no issue is detected and there are no updates, an appropriate message is displayed on each tile. The amount of hard drive space that is saved, and the number of viruses or malware that is removed are displayed on the Home page.
9 Virtual assistant overview Use the virtual assistant from any page to troubleshoot your PC, perform optimizations, or chat with a Dell technical support agent. To troubleshoot an issue, the virtual assistant may prompt you to update your drivers, or run the Clean Files or Tune Performance optimizations. It also provides video tutorials to troubleshoot issues in your PC. If the issue is not resolved, you are seamlessly redirected to a Dell technical support agent.
Figure 7. Driver updates Figure 8.
10 Creating support request SupportAssist helps you proactively and periodically monitor your PC for hardware or software issues. If an issue is detected on your PC, SupportAssist enables you to create a support request with Dell technical support. Depending on the service plan of your PC, SupportAssist may also automatically create a support request for the issue. NOTE: The automatic support request creation capability is not available for PCs with an expired warranty.
Manually create a support request About this task Depending on the service plan of your PC, you can manually create a support request for issues that are not detected by SupportAssist. For information about the SupportAssist capabilities for different service plans, see SupportAssist capabilities and Dell service plans on page 6. Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and click the Get Support tab. 2. Click Open a Support Request.
Issue summary page The following table describes the information that is displayed on the issue summary page: Table 12. Issue summary page Information Description Service Tag The unique identifier of the PC. The Service Tag is an alphanumeric identifier. Warranty The service plan and its expiry date. Issue The details of the issue for which the support request is created. Support Request # The support request number for the issue.
11 Troubleshooting overview The Troubleshooting page enables you to troubleshoot issues with network connectivity and PC performance. It also enables you to scan a specific hardware component or the entire PC for hardware issues and provides links to video tutorials to troubleshoot issues with operating system, PC hardware, software, and Internet connectivity. The troubleshooting links enabled for you depends on your user account type.
12 History overview The History page displays information about the SupportAssist activities and events that were performed in the last 90 days in a chronological order. The activities that are listed include software optimizations, troubleshooting tasks, driver updates, hardware scans, and so on. By default, information about events and activities that are performed during the current week are displayed. You can view the details for a specific day or an entire month.
13 Getting support SupportAssist enables you to contact Dell technical support agents through phone, chat, or social media. The Get Support page lists the help and support options available for your PC. The help and support options that you can access vary based on the service plan of your PC and your region. For information about the help and support options available for various service plans, see SupportAssist capabilities and Dell service plans on page 6.
Table 13. Get Support page (continued) Feature Description NOTE: The maximum size of the file that you can send is 4 MB. For information about sending files to Dell technical support, see Send files to Dell technical support on page 45. For information about sending PC activity logfile to Dell technical support, see Send log files to Dell technical support on page 46. More Dell.com resources Click the link to view more information applicable for your PC.
3. In the Upload files box, click Browse, select the required file, and then click Upload. Results After the file is sent, and the File uploaded successfully message are displayed. Send log files to Dell technical support About this task Send the PC activity log files to Dell technical support if requested by the Dell technical support agent. Steps 1. Open SupportAssist and click the Get Support tab. 2. In the right pane, click Upload log file.
14 Frequently asked questions 1. How can I identify the build number of the operating system that is installed on my PC? Perform the following steps: a. Click Start to open the programs menu. b. Search and open the Run application. c. Enter winver and click OK. The operating system build number is displayed, for example, OS Build 15063.1266. 2. How can I check if SupportAssist is installed on my PC? To verify if SupportAssist is installed, perform the following steps: a.
b. c. d. e. f. Search and open the Services application. In the right pane, click Dell SupportAssist. In the left pane, click Stop. From the programs menu, search and open the Command Prompt application. Type netstat -a -v | findstr /C:"5700" and press Enter. ● If no application uses the 5700 port, no result is displayed. ● If any other application uses the 5700 port, the port number and LISTENING status are displayed. g. Restart the Dell SupportAssist service. 12.
If your service plan has expired, SupportAssist does not display notifications for driver updates available for your PC. You must renew your service plan to receive notifications about driver updates. 21. Can I update the BIOS on a BitLocker enabled PC? Dell Technologies recommends you to disable the BitLocker encryption on the PC before updating the BIOS. 22. When I perform a hardware scan, the scan result is displayed as Misconfigured on the History page.
15 SupportAssist for Home PCs resources This section provides information about the documentation resources and other useful links that provide more information about SupportAssist for Home PCs. Table 14. SupportAssist for Home PCs resources Contents Resource Go to Minimum requirements, installation, and product features SupportAssist for Home PCs Version 3.
16 Contacting Dell Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country or region and product, and some services may not be available in your area. If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information about your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues Steps 1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support. 2.
