Solved Dell laptop. Is there any reason NOT to have automatic BIOS updates?

_william · Mar 8, 2024

I checked my BIOS and there's a log-history there of several BIOS-firmware updates stretching back to the date I bought the laptop late last year. I've never manually updated the BIOS. I'm reading online that people sometimes have problems with BIOS-updates wrecking their machines; I haven't experienced any problems in this regard myself. My thoughts are that if Dell have set these BIOS updates as default then it's normal and nothing to worry about. Turning them off, I can imagine running into the same sort of problems one would get if one stopped getting Windows Updates or general Driver-updates etc. .

Steve C · Mar 8, 2024

I generally wait at least a month before updating the BIOS to avoid a buggy release.

antspants · Mar 8, 2024

Dells SupportAssist software will do that. I have it. But mine will only update if I ask it to, so perhaps I have disabled it in the settings, I can’t remember.
Personally, regarding any BIOS/Firmware for PC, not unlike Apple, I wait a week or two for any news that an update may be bad, and if not then I proceed.

I have as feeling that Dell wont push it immediately, maybe they are monitoring it themselves?

Steve C · Mar 8, 2024

antspants said:
Dells SupportAssist software will do that. I have it. But mine will only update if I ask it to, so perhaps I have disabled it in the settings, I can’t remember.
Personally, regarding any BIOS/Firmware for PC, not unlike Apple, I wait a week or two for any news that an update may be bad, and if not then I proceed.

I regard DSA as bug prone software to be avoided. I fixed a friend's Dell laptop last year suffering BSODs which was due to DSA. It was quite hard to remove all traces of DSA.

antspants · Mar 8, 2024

Steve C said:
I regard DSA as bug prone software to be avoided. I fixed a friend's Dell laptop last year suffering BSODs which was due to DSA. It was quite hard to remove all traces of DSA.

I have it on a 2017 seldom used Dell laptop, the truth is I just haven’t bothered or gotten around to removing it, Steve. If it was my main PC, I would remove it or not load it. On a new PC, like my new Lenovo, I reinstalled to remove corporate bloatware

TairikuOkami · Mar 8, 2024

You can not fix a botched BIOS update with a system restore, you would need a technician, it could take days/weeks.

antspants · Mar 8, 2024

TairikuOkami said:
You can not fix a botched BIOS update with a system restore, you would need a technician, it could take days/weeks.

If you can still get into the BIOS, most PC’s or Laptops have ways to roll back a BIOS update, to my recollection. I certainly recall having to do so once with my 2014 ASUS Maximus Formula board.
In fact I believe it was as easy as just loading the previous BIOS.

echo2446 · Mar 8, 2024

My two dells have manual updates turned on, even though I don't remember having ever set them. I usually update all the Dell's recommended updates (with the utility Dell command update) along with Windows updates, which are usually delayed from the Patch Tuesday for many weeks. I haven't had any problems, although I suspect that I am playing with fire. Damn if you do, damn if you don't, especially with the Critical Updates.

With the Bios updates, though, I always suspended Bitlocker manually, in fear that Dell's Bios update would sometimes fail to do it. This is probably superstitious, but oh well.

_william · Mar 8, 2024

@antspants Could you tell me where to go to check for new Dell BIOS updates? and likewise where to go to find out if those updates are good?

Also, I think the option in the BIOS under the "Update_Recovery" tab called "Enable UEFI Capsule Firmware Updates", highlighted here in this attached picture, is the option to turn off if one DOESN'T want autamatic BIOS-updates, correct?

_william · Mar 8, 2024

echo2446 said:
Damn if you do, damn if you don't, especially with the Critical Updates.

That's what I think too. And if it isn't broken, then don't fix it. No one has been able to say anything conclusive on the matter so it seems to be a gamble either way. I don't have the time nor resources to research an alternative method to using Dell's standard update app. If society arranges things such that the enormous corporate manufacturer of my computer bricks that computer through its own default settings then there's about as much as I can do to prevent that at the moment as ensuring packages a courier delivers to me won't be dropped in transit.

I hope that if a problem ever arises with this that it won't be a big deal, and in that scenario I know now what to do to manage the BIOS-updates manually in the future.

antspants · Mar 8, 2024

_william said:
@antspants Could you tell me where to go to check for new Dell BIOS updates? and likewise where to go to find out if those updates are good?

Also, I think the option in the BIOS under the "Update_Recovery" tab called "Enable UEFI Capsule Firmware Updates", highlighted here in this attached picture, is the option to turn off if one DOESN'T want autamatic BIOS-updates, correct?

View attachment 89481

I have never seen that option in a BIOS before. My Dell is from 2017 and certainly doesn't have it.

Support, Drivers & Downloads for the Dell Latitude 7430

Support for Latitude 7430 | Drivers & Downloads | Dell Australia

antspants · Mar 8, 2024

I’ll say this for Dell. It’s pretty impressive that I can still receive BIOS/Firmware updates after ~~7 years~~. 5 years

glasskuter · Mar 8, 2024

I don't use Dell Support Assist. I uninstalled it but I do manually use Dell Command Update to keep my drivers and UEFI bios up to date. DCU does not have a negative history like SA does.

Back in the day, I, too, was of the mind that if something wasn't broke, don't mess with the bios. I've moved on from that line of thinking as systems are more advanced now. Bios updates not only fix bugs but affect security.

I manually check for updates at least once a month. If there's a bios update, I usually wait until the next month to let Command Update apply it. I've had this machine since 7/21. The bios have been updated 19 times since I got it. If one uses bitlocker, it makes the user being in control of their bios updates even more important. Whatever you choose to do, either manually update your bios or let Dell app handle it, I strongly advise you not let windows update handle updating your bios.

gaffar · Mar 8, 2024

Updating the BIOS of my i7 second-gen Dell Latitude e6420 series can improve the performance and stability of the laptop. its current bios version is A02 and the latest is A25!

_william · Mar 8, 2024

@glasskuter

was of the mind that if something wasn't broke, don't mess with the bios

I meant that my PC has been having automatic BIOS updates since I bought it, and I haven't had a problem since, so I see no reason to mess with the system currently in place.

Would you be able to tell me how I can find out whether Windows or Dell are handling these automatic updates? Does the screenshot I left earlier in the thread inform at all? My update process is whenever I get the standard Windows updates whenever the OS notifies me of them, and afterwards I manually go to the "Dell Command | Update" app and get whatever updates Dell has at that particular time.

_william · Mar 8, 2024

antspants said:
Support, Drivers & Downloads for the Dell Latitude 7430

Support for Latitude 7430 | Drivers & Downloads | Dell Australia

I see. Yes, thanks, it's easy enough to find the latest BIOS-update through that link. And then I guess just google "are there any problems with the latest Dell BIOS-update?" a month or so after discovering, through that link, that there is a new BIOS-update?

Try3 · Mar 8, 2024

_william said:
where to go to check for new Dell BIOS updates

Bios updates are listed in the drivers lists at
Dell Drivers & downloads [multi-region link] - Dell
Always enter your Dell Service tag there so you are only shown updates for your specific computer.

Along with Bios updates, many Dells are provided with Bios recovery files to use if a Bios update goes wrong.
In the updates list, click on the down arrow next to your Bios update then click on the link to its details page. If your computer has a Bios recovery file then you'll see it there along with instructions for using it.

Personally, I always update my Bios manually so that I can save that Bios recovery file first.

Oh, and don't get misled by the Release dates shown for Dell Bios & driver updates.
Those dates are meaningless.
It's possible that the dates start out as accurate but then get changed to the current date every time Dell runs though some procedure to validate the updates list.

All the best,
Denis

_william · Mar 8, 2024

gaffar said:
Updating the BIOS of my i7 second-gen Dell Latitude e6420 series can improve the performance and stability of the laptop. its current bios version is A02 and the latest is A25!

Thanks.

_william · Mar 8, 2024

@Try3

Thanks. Yes that would be easy enough for me to just go and get that Recovery-File before letting "Dell Command | Update" run. How does such an RCV file work? Where should I store it in the OS? Does it need manual activation in the scenario that it is needed to fix a corrupted BIOS?

Try3 · Mar 8, 2024

_william said:
How does such an RCV file work? Where should I store it in the OS? Does it need manual activation in the scenario that it is needed to fix a corrupted BIOS?

The instructions are on the Dell Drivers & downloads webpage you download the Bios update from.
Different models have different types of Bios recovery.
How to Recover the BIOS - Dell

As I understand it, a corrupted BIOS often presents itself as a No POST / No boot issue.

Denis

Solved Dell laptop. Is there any reason NOT to have automatic BIOS updates?

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