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Dell SupportAssistInstaller vs. Dell SupportAssistLauncher
Hello All--
I just did a clean install of Windows 11 on my Dell XPS 9520.
I usually update my Dell software and drivers by going to the Dell website and having the website automatically check to see if everything is up to date.
Since it always checks to see if I have SupportAssist installed on my laptop, I went ahead and installed it before heading over to the Dell website.
So, after installing SupportAssistInstaller (which I downloaded from Dell), the Dell website then proceeds to check and see if I have SupportAssist installed on my laptop. To my surprise, it says I do not.
Here's the interesting part: the Dell website then proceeds to offer me a SupportAssist install file, only that this one is called SupportAssistLauncher, and is only 1'kb bigger than SupportAssistInstaller (I suspect because of the difference in file names).
So now the big questions:
Why didn't the Dell website see that I already had Dell SupportAssist installed on my laptop?
What is the actual different between the two files: SupportAssistInstaller vs. SupportAssistLauncher?
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance!
Tiny Tech
Tiny_Tech
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June 27th, 2024 11:24
Hello Again, All--
I decided to play with SupportAssistInstaller and SupportAssistLauncher this morning to see what I could figure out. After 2 hours of installing and uninstalling each application, I´m ready to answer my own question, and hopefully pass on some useful information to others in the future who are wondering about these two applications.
Dell SupportAssistInstaller is an application that is 1,208 KB in size.
Dell SupportAssistLauncher is an application that is 1,209 KB in size.
Both of them install an application with a name of SupportAssist and a version number of 4.0.3.61632 and end up being 397 MB in size.
If you try to install to install both, you´ll only end up with the last one you installed, same name, version number, 387 MB in size.
So what is the difference between the two?
I have found one difference between SupportAssistInstaller and SupportAssistLauncher, and one difference worth noting between updating your software and drivers via SupportAssist and doing it through Dell´s website.
First, the difference between the two applications:
If you install SupportAssistInstaller, and the application is NOT open and running, and you go to Dell´s website to see if there are any new drivers or software downloads for your system, when Dell´s website automatically checks to see if you have SupportAssist installed, it will NOT find it, and then will offer you to download and install Dell SupportAssistLauncher.
However, if you have Dell SupportAssistInstaller installed, and OPEN AND RUNNING, and you go to Dell´s website and have it automatically check to see if there are any software or driver updates available for your system, it will proceed normally, check your system, and then tell you everything is up to date, or offer you software / drivers to download.
Next case: If you have Dell SupportAssistLauncher installed, and you go to Dell´s website to see if there are any new drivers or software downloads for your system, when Dell´s website automatically checks to see if you have SupportAssist installed, it WILL find SupportAssist installed, WHETHER THE APPLICATION IS OPEN AND RUNNING OR NOT.
Both applications say "Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs", same version number, but the SupportAssistLauncher has the nice feature in it that it will be detected by Dell´s website whether the application is open and running, or not. Why SupportAssistInstaller doesn´t do this is a total mystery.
From now on, when I do a clean install, I will install Dell SupportAssistLauncher.
Now...on to my interesting discovery:
When I use my Dell SupportAssist application (the installer or launcher version), and I ask it to look for software updates, if will offer me the "Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update" software, but when I go to Dell´s website and ask if there are and software or driver updates for my system, it says that everything in my system is completely up to date.
So there is my summary of my morning´s experiments. Hopefully this information will be useful for others, wondering about Dell SupportAssistInstaller vs. Dell SupportAssistLauncher, and also wondering about the differences between updating a PC using SupportAssist application, or going directly to Dell´s website.
Have a great day everyone!
Tiny_Tech
(edited)