Merry Xmas to one and all....and a question...Dell driver/firmware update software.

I sincerely hope that everyone is staying warm, dry and safe....this time of year with the associated weather keeps me busy and on the go....

The question: How many of the fine folks here use the Dell software to apprise them of any driver/firmware updates from the Dell site?

When I installed the msata boot drive, I did not install the Dell software. I see on the Dell site that there is an update for that software, as well as a couple of other drivers.

I do have the A03 bios, but everything else is as delivered (Sept 09/13).

The lappy (AW18, Win 7ult) has performed flawlessly...no hiccups, lockups or BSODs.....I guess that I am a little hesitant to make any changes that might cause me grief......

Or, am I better off leaving well enough alone.....and wait for the magical Christmas gift from Mr. Fox.....(you know the one....the work around for 4930mx).. .....I've been lurking and hoping...

Again, Merry Xmas to all...

 

If it's working fine now I would just leave it like that. Personally I like to keep my Pc's updated so I use that on my Inspiron 15R and have not had major issues. On my older Alienware I preferred to do it manually.

 

Just my own personal preference, but I despise any piece of software that automates a process like updates. The way I see it, it's just one more thing lurking in the CPU and memory, taking up resources. Besides, I personally like to see everything that's being changed BEFORE it gets cahnged, so for this reason I keep windows updates set to manual as well as passing on any other automatic update programs.

Just my 2 cents, Merry Christmas!

 

I agree... no amount of convenience is as nice as having a solid Windows System Restore option available to undo something Micro$lop thought was a good idea but really wasn't. The only way to be sure your system doesn't get hosed by Windows Updates is to take control and decide what gets installed and what does not.

I cannot remember the last time a Windows Update actually made one of my computers work better than it did before the update. I know there have been a couple that did over the years, but I just can't remember because they are so few and far between. Most make no discernible difference in functionality or performance, but more than a few have created problems of a magnitude that it's simply not worth leaving it up to chance for the sake of convenience. This is especially true for those of us that value functionality and performance more than security and reducing vulnerability to potential exploits.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

Thanks guys for reaffirming that I understood the mindset of not using auto updates. Windows update: I have turned off.....too many heartaches. The AW/Dell update; I wasn't completely certain that I had done the right thing by not installing it.

Happy Holidays to all....

ps.....I am so absolutely pleased with the performance and stability of the AW18.......it is like an appliance.....turn it on, turn it off

 

the updates are for your "benefit" .. honestly call me a hookie, but there doing something other then making your computer better...

 

very true, and about the security patch, if you update as soon as microsoft release the patch, or a month later. its really not a big deal. first you are mostly behind router. and second. when ms release the patch its most often couple of month late anyways ... lol

hehhe good point , if it was making your computer better they would sell it to you instead

 

A lot of the updates are patches for "potential" security exploits and they are chasing elusive risks that will always exist to some degree. Patch, upon patch, upon patch... is it any wonder things works as well as they do, LOL? Now and then something is going to get screwed up if you apply everything they toss into your virtual pathway. It is not a matter of if, but when, something gets messed up. It makes matters worse that they get pushed out in a one size fits all manner and they don't spend enough time testing the effect of a patch on performance or functionality. They are often scrambling for time and that's a helter skelter approach to business. After all, if the patch breaks something, they can fix that with another update later, right? This is sometimes sort of like the cure or treatment becoming worse than the disease.

All of this is more of a demonstration to prove their due diligence because we live in an inordinately litigious society where someone is always looking for an opportunity for financial exploits, secondary gain, and a place to assign blame to another party. The only real way to be truly secure in this regard is by never connecting your PC or Mac to a network or the internet. People need to take responsibility for managing their own sensitive and valuable information and moving it out of reach instead of relying on Microsoft and Apple to keep them out of harm's way. Everything thing we do in life comes with a risk of some sort. You can decide whether to enjoy it or go sit in a corner, curl up into a ball, and stay there in hope that nothing scary happens. Same thing applies to here.

I have been employed by several humongous corporations for the past 26 years, all with a massive focus on enterprise security. When I look at the plethora of Windows Updates that show up on a home computer and compare that to the minuscule number of security updates that are deemed worthy of getting pushed out on a corporate network it becomes more than obvious that most of the updates are fluff. If you read the release notes you'll see that most are "just in case" measures with poor or incomplete technical documentation. In all of these years I have never once had a corporate computer get screwed up by Windows Updates, but I have had several personal computers that ended up needing the OS repaired or reinstalled on account of automatic Windows Updates. Once should have been sufficient, but it took several times before I decided that I was done fixing stuff because of my own laziness. Disabling automatic Windows Updates has made all of my computers more stable than ever before. The only updates I typically bother looking at now are those identified as "critical" by Micro$oft.

 

With the latest round of revelations about the NSA exploit factory....I'm really starting to wonder if all of these automatic security updates (MS and others) are the the exploit factory's method of installing their evil machinations worldwide

As Mr. Fox so accurately indicates...the large majority of these updates do not appear to do anything.

Need to buy some more tin foil...

 

Tin foil hat aside, no telling. I would not discount the notion completely. It seems Der Führer has a plan whether we like or not.

 

You are such a clairvoyant, Mr. Fox.....




I'm starting to reconsider whether or not........ I really do want that bios exploit fix for the 4930mx