The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Alienware r17 MEI

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by radam9, Dec 18, 2015.

  1. radam9

    radam9 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Hey there,

    I just did a clean installation of windows on my AW 17 R3, but i dont find the Intel Chipset Management Engine Interface driver on the dell support for my laptop ( http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/alienware-17-r3.html)
    Do i need it? if so where should i get it from?

    Thank you for your effort and time
     
    radam9, Dec 18, 2015
    #1
  2. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    472
    Likes Received:
    71
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Afaik Intel Management Engine is not important to home users, but if it's something related to your chipset then you better have it than not.

    Just make sure you install all the chipset drivers provided by Dell, also make sure you use your laptop's own service tag in the dell support site when downloading drivers.
     
    abdullah_mag, Dec 19, 2015
    #2
  3. radam9

    radam9 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    As i stated in the First Post, on the dell support driver page there isnt any driver for the MEI for the Alienware 17 R3 (searching with or without my service tag).

    I searched in the Alienware 17 R2 driver page and there is a driver for MEI there, so i dont know why there is none in the R3's page
     
    radam9, Dec 19, 2015
    #3
  4. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    472
    Likes Received:
    71
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Did you try downloading it from intel?
     
    abdullah_mag, Dec 19, 2015
    #4
  5. t456

    t456 1977-09-05, 12:56:00 UTC

    Reputations:
    1,959
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    2,048
    Trophy Points:
    181
    Win-RAID forum has a great thread on MEI. Use the linked tools to find out which MEI series you need and use its appropriate download link. Dell or not doesn't matter; it's all Intel, whatever the brand of laptop they're embedded in.
     
    t456, Dec 19, 2015
    #5
  6. radam9

    radam9 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Thank you for the link.
    I wanted to know if i really need it or not, will it affect (performance/stability wise) my system if i dont install it?
     
    radam9, Dec 19, 2015
    #6
  7. t456

    t456 1977-09-05, 12:56:00 UTC

    Reputations:
    1,959
    Messages:
    2,588
    Likes Received:
    2,048
    Trophy Points:
    181
    Don't know. If it's responsible for cpu microcode updates then you'd (usually) want to have it installed (is it?). Otherwise, especially for the conspiracy theorists, it grants low-level privileges to Intel. They might not want to risk leaving a bad taste with their customers themselves, but that's not to say anything concerning a hacker looking for glory or a disgruntled (ex-)employee with a score to settle.
     
    t456, Dec 19, 2015
    #7
    radam9 likes this.