Which Dell crapware can I uninstall?

cheaterslick · Oct 5, 2025

Which Dell crapware can I get away with uninstalling?

I briefly touched on it in another thread but I'd like to emphasize here if I can. I think there's some duplication of services here. And some of these are what Dell calls "Support Assist plug-ins" which I don't know if they're necessary or not..

Any help here would be most appreciated, thank you.

FreeBooter · Oct 5, 2025

Tell you the true none matter if you don't use them, for example if you are not going to ask assistance from Dell Support if not uninstall it.

Josey Wales · Oct 5, 2025

I have 11 days left on my warranty after that I will remove all I can.

neves · Oct 5, 2025

Personally, would remove ALL of them. Even for driver updates - it's cleaner to use the site and update every driver manually - compared to SupportAssist app. Tho, in some cases - they force you to use the app, making their online/site driver support content unavailable for manual download. If that's not the case for your system (and you can access the drivers) - then there's no point. SupportAssist app is/was also buggy at times - and hard to uninstall the usual way (had to remove each of its components manually - with Microsoft Troubleshooter tool). Just my 2 cents.

DJNelson · Oct 5, 2025

Everything in the image is crapware that can be removed, except for the intel graphics driver.

cheaterslick · Oct 5, 2025

This is a Dell Pro 14 Laptop. The "Pro" series replaced the Latitude series as far a business laptops go.

I believe Dell included both their commercial updater as well as their business/enterprise updater on this machine.

I also think both Dell Command Update and Dell Support Assist essentially do the same thing. Duplicate software with two different names and some appearance differences in each of their GUIs. All of this adds up to to what I consider bloat.

In the past, I used to go to their drivers website and enter my service tag and then check to see what was new. Not nearly as convenient as using the software up above. I used to get frequent BIOS updates from there as well, downloading them to my desktop and installing them from there. Eventually I will probably do it this way again, but for the time being I will use some of the bloatware I showed up above. The thing is, what can I get rid of right now? And are those "plug-ins" for it really necessary?

DJNelson · Oct 5, 2025

I specialized in repairing Dell laptops before I retired early. I've un-f*cked thousands of machines.. Manufacturers are definitely going in the wrong direction. Designing CPUs with a dozen extra cores just to handle all the background bloat is a bit ridiculous.

Obviously you have different hardware, but note what ISN'T included in my backup driver folder.

glasskuter · Oct 5, 2025

cheaterslick said:
I also think both Dell Command Update and Dell Support Assist essentially do the same thing.

Kind of but not really. DSA does much more. I do not consider them bloat depending on how proficient the user is. As I told you in your other thread, I feel I'm more proficient than most folks and I find DCU to be a helpful tool that I run on demand for drivers & bios updates. Just because something is installed one does not have to have it running in real-time.

While Command Update is focused on a single function (updates), SupportAssist offers a comprehensive suite of proactive and reactive support features.

Dell Command Update (DCU)

Purpose:
Primarily for installing and automating the latest drivers, firmware, and BIOS on Dell commercial computers.
Target Audience:
Designed for IT professionals to manage updates on business PCs and in enterprise environments.
- Automates driver, firmware, and BIOS updates.
- Provides a baseline of drivers, which is useful after OS reinstallation.
- Can be used in the background via command-line interface for efficient deployment.
Best For:
Maintaining system software on commercial Dell devices, especially when dealing with custom OS images.

Dell SupportAssist

Purpose:
A proactive and predictive support solution that handles driver and firmware updates, system diagnostics, optimization, and other system health checks.
Target Audience:
All Windows computer users and IT professionals managing fleets of devices.
- Scans for and installs updates, just like Command Update.
- Conducts hardware diagnostics and optimizes system performance.
- Tracks warranty information.
- Includes a recovery environment for troubleshooting when the OS won't boot.
- For business PCs, it offers AI-powered predictive failure analysis and case generation through TechDirect.
Best For:
General users who want a comprehensive tool for maintaining their PC's health, or IT departments needing advanced features like predictive support and fleet management.

pewa · Oct 5, 2025

neves said:
Personally, would remove ALL of them

I have a Dell laptop too. I removed their crap ware long ago.

cheaterslick · Oct 5, 2025

neves said:
Personally, would remove ALL of them. Even for driver updates - it's cleaner to use the site and update every driver manually - compared to SupportAssist app. Tho, in some cases - they force you to use the app, making their online/site driver support content unavailable for manual download.

Yup, that's the case here. I just checked and it won't even let me see the driver links without SupportAssist.

Looks like I used to be able to do that, but not anymore.

Or maybe there's another avenue to do it through the Service Tag number that I'm not aware of, I dunno...

neves said:
If that's not the case for your system (and you can access the drivers) - then there's no point. SupportAssist app is/was also buggy at times - and hard to uninstall the usual way (had to remove each of its components manually - with Microsoft Troubleshooter tool).

The Microsoft Troubleshooter Tool is better than Revo? -

- Where do you find the Microsoft Troubleshooter Tool at?

DJNelson said:
I specialized in repairing Dell laptops before I retired early. I've un-f*cked thousands of machines.. Manufacturers are definitely going in the wrong direction. Designing CPUs with a dozen extra cores just to handle all the background bloat is a bit ridiculous.

Well that's what I'm trying to do right here. I have a USB stick with all my old machines drivers on there. It may be missing any new BIOS updates since I created them, I dunno. But in general, it has the last updates they released there from Dells bought in 2017 and 2018, respectably.

No NVIDA or AMD video cards, though...

DJNelson said:
Obviously you have different hardware, but note what ISN'T included in my backup driver folder.

What isn't? Please tell me.

cheaterslick · Oct 5, 2025

glasskuter said:
Kind of but not really. DSA does much more. I do not consider them bloat depending on how proficient the user is. As I told you in your other thread, I feel I'm more proficient than most folks and I find DCU to be a helpful tool that I run on demand for drivers & bios updates. Just because something is installed one does not have to have it running in real-time.

While Command Update is focused on a single function (updates), SupportAssist offers a comprehensive suite of proactive and reactive support features.

Dell Command Update (DCU)

Purpose:
Primarily for installing and automating the latest drivers, firmware, and BIOS on Dell commercial computers.

Target Audience:
Designed for IT professionals to manage updates on business PCs and in enterprise environments.

Automates driver, firmware, and BIOS updates.

Provides a baseline of drivers, which is useful after OS reinstallation.

Can be used in the background via command-line interface for efficient deployment.

Best For:
Maintaining system software on commercial Dell devices, especially when dealing with custom OS images.

Dell SupportAssist

Purpose:
A proactive and predictive support solution that handles driver and firmware updates, system diagnostics, optimization, and other system health checks.

Target Audience:
All Windows computer users and IT professionals managing fleets of devices.

Scans for and installs updates, just like Command Update.

Conducts hardware diagnostics and optimizes system performance.

Tracks warranty information.

Includes a recovery environment for troubleshooting when the OS won't boot.

For business PCs, it offers AI-powered predictive failure analysis and case generation through TechDirect.

Best For:
General users who want a comprehensive tool for maintaining their PC's health, or IT departments needing advanced features like predictive support and fleet management.

That's very informative. -->Thanks! -

So you use both ?
Or do you have a preference?

glasskuter · Oct 5, 2025

Everyone screams IT's BLOAT, IT'S CRAP. The way I see it, if something is useful, makes my life easier, doesn't make a mistake by giving me something that's not for my device, and hasn't failed me once, it's neither. It's an asset. Running as demand only it doesn't aggravate me or use system resources. I control it with its process. It's less than 13 mb.
But then I'm not one to hobble Windows functions either as so many do.

So to each his own. I do me and you do you.

neves · Oct 5, 2025

cheaterslick said:
The Microsoft Troubleshooter Tool is better than Revo? -- Where do you find the Microsoft Troubleshooter Tool at?

For app packages with multiple components - yes, it is. Revo' will remove the main package and some of its remnants - while leaving some of its components behind. Won't even find anything - after you uninstall it (they're basically orphan components - with registry entries). BCUninstaller can find them - and if you select them - it will even show the uninstall process - tho when finished and reloading - they're still there. Microsoft Uninstall troubleshooter - is the only tool that finds them and removes them properly, Unfortunately - it can only uninstall 1 component (no batch uninstaller) - and you might have 9x components to remove - so it's a tedious process of loading the app and uninstalling each components 1 at a time. Here...

Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed - Microsoft Support - last month

glasskuter · Oct 5, 2025

cheaterslick said:
Yup, that's the case here. I just checked and it won't even let me see the driver links without SupportAssist.

That is not true. In big bold letters "Identify your product". Enter service tag. Search.
On the next page, In blue, select "find specific drivers"

Drivers & Downloads | Dell US

DJNelson · Oct 5, 2025

cheaterslick said:
What isn't? Please tell me.

No Dell software. Only hardware drivers.

Josey Wales · Oct 5, 2025

glasskuter said:
That is not true. In big bold letters "Identify your product". Enter service tag. Search.
On the next page, In blue, select "find specific drivers"

Drivers & Downloads | Dell US

It is true for me. I just login and click of support & the search for Drivers.

TraderGary · Oct 5, 2025

I run Dell Command | Update every morning at the same time I run Windows Update.
I run Dell SupportAssist periodically.

Josey Wales · Oct 5, 2025

TraderGary said:
I run Dell Command | Update every morning at the same time I run Windows Update.
I run Dell SupportAssist periodically.

Most OEM's do not mark BIOS updates as optional. Dell Does.

TraderGary · Oct 5, 2025

Josey Wales said:
Most OEM's do not mark BIOS updates as optional. Dell Does.

When I get a BIOS update in Dell Command | Update, as I recall, it's always been as a required update. The next time there's a BIOS update, I'll pay special attention. I always just run all the updates that are listed as I like to always be up to date on everything.

Josey Wales · Oct 5, 2025

TraderGary said:
When I get a BIOS update in Dell Command | Update, as I recall, it's always been as a required update. The next time there's a BIOS update, I'll pay special attention. I always just run all the updates that are listed as I like to always be up to date on everything.

Yes you better do that:

Which Dell crapware can I uninstall?

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