Dell client management service keeps getting disabled

We are having the same issue on 10+ computers. We are able to run an automated routine to change the service start type to Automatic, which allows the Dell Command | Update to run, but the issue keeps repeating and we haven't been able to determine what conflict or event is causing the service to be disabled.

@Rbspetne​ maybe we can get this to a list of like 100 and still have it ignored :P

Home PC, XPS 8940. Driver detection and update in Support Assist is not working. I see that the Dell Client Management service is not running, which I believe is why Support Assist can not do driver detection and gives a generic error message. When I try to manually start the Dell Client Management service, it will not.  I have talked to Dell tech support on this, but they just want to wipe the PC clean which I can not do. Help, I am not an IT professional.

Hi thumper300zx:

I don't know if this is relevant to your particular issue, but the Dell Client Management Service is a shared service used by multiple Dell utilities like Support Assist, Dell Update for Windows Universal, etc. and when one of these programs is updated it must shut down that service to finish the update.  That service should be automatically restarted once the installer has run to completion  but it sometimes requires a complete system shutdown and restart before the Status of all the Dell services go back to "Running" again.

I always suggest that Win 10 and Win 11 disable their Windows Fast Startup power option as instructed in Option # 1 of Brink’s TenForums tutorial How to Turn On or Off Fast Startup (see <here> for the ElevenForums tutorial for Win 11) and then re-boot a few times to ensure the setting change takes effect. The Fast Startup power option (also known as hybrid boot-up / hybrid shutdown) is enabled by default in Win 10 and Win 11 but it can sometimes interfere with the loading and initialization of drivers and services at boot-up and cause all sorts of unexpected glitches and problems with a variety of software programs.

It probably doesn't help that Dell is trying to push out major updates for both Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 (rel. 31-Jan-2024 - this includes v5.2.0 updates for Dell Command | Update for Windows Universal, Dell/Alienware Update Windows Universal Application, etc. depending on your Dell model) and SupportAssist v4.0.0 (rel. 01-Feb-2024) at the same time. I waited three weeks before the Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.x app on my Inspiron 5584  auto-updated to v5.2.0 update [see my 19-Feb-2024 post in my topic Dell Update v5.x App Not Auto-Updating to v5.2.0 (rel. 31-Jan-2024)] and one or both of these updates may still be pending on your machines.

This is pure speculation on my part, but if Dell is trying (and failing) to push out an update for DCU v5.2.0 and/or SupportAssist v4.0.0 that requires a shutdown / restart of the Dell Client Management Service this might account, at least in part, for the buggy behaviour you're currently seeing with this service.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4046 * Firefox v122.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23110.3-1.1.24010.10 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.8.311-1.0.2259 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0

Same here on two Dell computers running Windows 10 have that service go to disabled. Rebooting all day long has no impact on restoring it. Maybe we should discuss what else we all have in common. I use PCMATIC for my antivirus protection. Maybe that is changing Dell Client Management Service to disabled? Or maybe it is CCleaner, which I run weekly here.

MAYBE there is a Windows setting that will keep this enabled and running?

I have the same issue. I was trying to manage my color FX and it will not run. Found the service always going disabled. Start the service and I can turn it on or off and edit LED's. Then it stops.

Mine started when my warranty support expired. Exactly when it did. I am an network engineer for the government and do not need their support too much if ever. I think it is intentional. Love my custom machine but will think about buying their product again if my suspicions are correct. I chose this new machine because I wanted to stop the new egg approach of self design and try again a companies item.

@w1KBLAD​ Thanks.  This worked for me

@w1KBLAD​ that only solves the issue temporary.

I have only had this problem since I started using a second laptop with the same work account.
Perhaps there is a connection here?

Hi Mage24:

See my 20-Feb-2024 post <above> about how the Dell Client Management Service is a shared service used by multiple Dell utilities like SupportAssist, Dell Update, etc.

Is it possible your problem computer has both SupportAssist v4.0.x and a Dell Update v5.x utility like Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.3.0 (or some other variant like Dell Command | Update for Windows Universal, Alienware Update for Windows Universal, etc.) installed?  If so read Dell employee DELL-Chris M's 10-Jun-2024 SupportAssist, "Hardware scan fails", "We ran into a problem" about some of the known bugs that can occur when the current SupportAssist v4.0.3 and Dell Update v5.x are both installed.  It's always possible the buggy SupportAssist v4.0.3 is causing the Dell Client Management Service to disable unexpectedly.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4529 * Firefox v127.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24050.7-1.1.24050.5 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.1.5.116-1.0.1252 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.3.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0

@w1KBLAD​ This is what we've had to do (as explained, though not in complete detail above)

"We can run services and get it going again, or reinstall, and it works for a bit, but several clients return to throwing the error and it has to be started again before it can be run."

So yeah -- exactly the same thing, as administrator -- but eventually it stops and we have to do it again.

@WolfHound6225​ That's an interesting observation -- most (if not all) of the affected machines probably have an expired service contract.

@lmacri​ Also a good suggestion -- Dell Command seems to install some of these other services, which IMO becomes redundant anyway.