Dell SupportAssist for PCs and tablets

Frequently Asked Questions

Dell SupportAssist is automated proactive support technology to enable faster detection, resolution and reporting. Below you will find the most frequently asked questions and their answers about SupportAssist.

1. What is SupportAssist for PCs and tablets?

It is a Microsoft Windows©-based software program that automates support from

Dell by identifying hardware and software issues on Dell laptops, desktops, and tablets. When an issue is detected, SupportAssist notifies you and Dell technical support. In-warranty replacement parts will be shipped.

For customers that manage devices with ProSupport suite entitlements , SupportAssist features extend to include automatic case creation and proactive engagement from

Dell to resolve the detected issue. Third-party research has found when SupportAssist is used with ProSupport Plus the following results occur:

 58% reduction in steps to resolution

 84% in time on phone

For this study, the technical support process was compared against HP & Lenovo in

October 2014. Review the full research study for more details.

2. Which devices are eligible for SupportAssist for PCs and tablets?

Laptops and desktops:

Dell Inspiron

Dell XPS

Dell Latitude

Dell Vostro

Dell Alienware

Tablets:

Dell Venue 8 Pro

Dell Venue 11 Pro (5000 & 7000 series)

Dell Latitude

Dell XPS 10

Dell Optiplex

Dell Precision

3. How much does SupportAssist cost?

SupportAssist is available at no cost; however, features vary by service level entitlement.

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ProSupport Plus , ProSupport and Premium Support customers can take advantage of automated issue detection, case creation and notification. ProSupport Plus customers can also take advantage of predictive alerts on batteries and hard drives.

Basic customers receive critical updates from Dell and parts self-dispatch via Checkup

System scans initiated from SupportAssist. Please note, Basic customers do not receive SupportAssist alerts within TechDirect.

4. What features does a ProSupport Flex for Data Center customer receive with

SupportAssist?

ProSupport Flex customers receive the same features as a Basic customer including critical updates and parts self-dispatch via Checkup System scans. Basic customers do no

5. What are the requirements for using SupportAssist for PCs and tablets?

Operating system Laptops and desktops:

 Microsoft Windows XP (32–bit SP3)

 Microsoft Windows Vista (32–bit and 64–bit)

 Microsoft Windows 7 (32–bit and 64–bit)

 Microsoft Windows 8 (32–bit and 64–bit)

 Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32–bit and 64–bit)

 Microsoft Windows 10 (32–bit and 64–bit)

Tablets:

 Microsoft Windows 8.1

 Microsoft Windows 10

Software

Hardware

Network

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 or later

Memory (RAM) – 2GB

Hard drive free space – 2GB

Internet connectivity

6. How much network bandwidth does SupportAssist consume?

The SupportAssist performance analysis team uses Windows Assessment &

Performance monitoring, as well as other tools, to validate every release of

SupportAssist has minimal impact on the overall system resources, including network bandwidth consumption.

7. How do customers get SupportAssist for PCs and tablets?

 SupportAssist is pre-installed on all new Dell Windows 10 PCs and tablets. If you have a device less than a year old, simply search your device for “SupportAssist” and run the application. See the User Guide for help.

 If your device did not come with SupportAssist pre-installed, make sure that your device meets the minimum system requirements and then follow the “how to install” instructions available here .

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 I f you are an IT user and would like to monitor multiple business PCs and tablets with SupportAssist, you can deploy a common configuration across your devices.

Information on how to configure this capability is available in the Deployment

Guide .

8. How do customers ensure they have opted in to receive alerts on their Dell device using SupportAssist?

If a customer is managing SupportAssist alerts on his or her individual system, the customer will want to ensure SupportAssist is connected to Dell by visiting the

Settings widget in the top right of the SupportAssist interface. The customer will find

Privacy Settings within the Settings menu. The auto-updates will need to be enabled in order for SupportAssist to be connected to Dell.

9. How do customers with an IT department receive alerts in one centralized location when monitoring multiple business PCs or tablets with SupportAssist?

Businesses and organizations with an IT department who wish to consolidate management of SupportAssist alerts on multiple business devices will need to create a

Dell TechDirect account. Alerts will flow into this account for easy, centralized management.

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The SupportAssist Deployment Guide explains how to create a configuration file matching the credentials aligned to your Dell My Account and TechDirect account.

Customers can review, manage and forward alerts to Dell from within TechDirect.

ProSupport and ProSupport Plus customers can choose to auto-forward alerts to

Dell.

Please note, Basic customers no longer receive SupportAssist alerts within TechDirect.

10. What languages does SupportAssist for PCs and tablets support?

The SupportAssist interface supports the following languages: Arabic, Chinese

(Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French,

German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish,

Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Iberian), Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

The TechDirect interface supports the following languages: English, Chinese

(Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean,

Portuguese (Brazil), Russian and Spanish (Latin America). Please note, SupportAssist alert details displayed within TechDirect are only displayed in English.

11. What information does SupportAssist for PCs and tablets collect?

SupportAssist collects system state information that is required for troubleshooting hardware issues and for providing proactive support. SupportAssist does not collect any user files stored on the system, any passwords or any information about application usage.

SupportAssist collection includes the following types of information:

 Hardware configuration — installed device, processor, memory, network device and usage

 Event information – Windows event logs, core dump, and debug logs

 Software configuration — operating system and installed applications

 Network identity information — computer name, domain name and IP address

SupportAssist also stores the contact information that is provided by the user during registration or configuration including customer name, email address and phone numbers.

12. How is information transferred to Dell?

The information sent from your system(s) to Dell is encrypted with 256 bit encryption and transferred securely using SSL protocol. The system state information is stored in compliance with the Dell Privacy Policy.

13. What steps does Dell take to safeguard customer information?

Dell hosts SupportAssist information—including the application, systems, network and security components—in a US-based data center designed to maintain high levels of availability and security. Dell protects your system state information by using a wide variety of measures.

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Features include, but are not limited to:

 On-premise security guards.

 Rigorous exterior building security, including cameras, false entrances, vehicle blockades, specialized parking lot design, bulletproof glass and walls, and the use of an unmarked building.

 Interior pan/tilt/zoom security cameras with digital recorders.

 Network security — all monitoring components are located behind a firewall and are managed by a Dell network security team. All network traffic is tightly controlled, requiring all inbound traffic to be transmitted via specific ports and sent only to appropriate destination network addresses.

 Server and database security — Servers and OS components reside on standard images that have undergone security review. Security updates used by the application are regularly reviewed, including those published by

Microsoft and vendors of other software. When critical security updates are issued, they are tested first on nonproduction images and generally apply them to live servers within 48 hours.

 Procedural security — Dell groups who have access to Dell SupportAssist components (such as the database administration group and the operational support team) are assigned separate duties and access rights. All updates to the production environment go through a defined change control process that incorporates checks and balances.

 Auditing — Dell retains proprietary monitoring hosting device logs, accessible only by Dell. These logs record all attempts to log into or access the OS or

SupportAssist Web Server Console, as well.

14. Who has access to the SupportAssist collected information at Dell?

SupportAssist collected information is accessible by technical support agents who use the information for troubleshooting hardware issues reported by SupportAssist.

15. How do customers add or remove the SupportAssist icon from the Taskbar on a system?

To add: Right click on the Taskbar and select “Pin this program to taskbar”.

To remove: Right click on Taskbar and select “Unpin this program to my taskbar”.

16. Where is SupportAssist assistance and more information available?

For technical videos or to ask questions on the user forum , visit the SupportAssist

Community Group . Or, contact your Dell representative.

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