How to use and troubleshoot Dell Command | Update to update all drivers BIOS and firmware for your computer

This article provides guidance on using and troubleshooting Dell Command | Update (DCU) to update all drivers, BIOS, and firmware for your computer.

Table of Contents

1. Dell Command | Update
2. Installation of DCU
3. Advanced Driver Restore for Windows Reinstallation
4. Device Driver Version reporting or exporting
5. Troubleshooting Dell Command | Update

Dell Command | Update

Dell Command | Update (DCU) is a Dell utility that allows you to automate driver, BIOS, and firmware updates on your computer.

The Dell Command | Update tool allows you to keep your computer up to date without you having to know every driver or update needed. It interrogates your computer and compares it to the available updates on dell.com/support for your specific computer.

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Installation of DCU

You can download the latest version of the software from the following link: Dell Command | Update (Version 2.4.0, July 2018). Or search for the file within the Drivers & Downloads section and the Systems Management category for your computer at Dell Support Website > Drivers & Downloads.

Download the latest version then Double-click the file. Then click the INSTALL button on the Dell Update Package screen (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Dell Command | Update Install screen.

Click YES to the User Account Control (UAC) prompt then click Next on the Dell Command Update setup screen.

Accept the License Agreement then Click Next to continue installation (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Accept the License Agreement and continue.

Click the Install button to continue (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Click Install to begin installation.

When the installation wizard is complete, click the Finish button (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Click Finish after the installation completes.

Close the Update Package window. And the installation is complete (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Click Close to finish the full installation process of Dell Command | Update.

How to use DCU

You can find the Dell Command Update application that is listed on your applications or all programs menu (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Location of Dell Command Update in the Apps menu

Double-Click Dell Command Update to open. It is recommended you select the Default settings, then Click the OK button (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Choose default settings and click OK to open the Dell Command | Update application.

Click the Check button to allow DCU to interrogate your computer and identify any needed updates for the computer (Figure 8).

 
Figure 8: Perform a Check for driver updates.

Depending on how current your computer is, you may have several updates, or like in this case a single update. Check the Recommended Updates and Check Automatically restart computer (when required) Then click the Install button (Figure 9).

 
Figure 9: Click Install to begin installation of recommended updates.

Figure 10: Customization screen for manual install of driver updates

Once all the updates are installed (multiple restarts possible), click the Close button (Figure 11).

 
Figure 11: Click Close after updates are installed and the computer finishes rebooting.

Your computer should now be up to date.

On the left side of the main screen, "Update History" can be checked to verify which updates have been installed to date (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Update History screen with report of recent updates

You can use the settings icon (small gear icon along the upper right corner) to set up a schedule to help keep the computer updates on a continuous basis (Figure 13).

 
Figure 13: Set a schedule for updates.

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Advanced Driver Restore for Windows Reinstallation

Advanced Driver Restore provides a one-click installation of the base driver cab-file to provide device IDs for all internal devices. Once complete, you can reboot, open DCU, and run a check. With All Device IDs in place, it pulls "ALL" the latest drivers.

Dell hosts all CAB files at the link below.

Dell Command | Deploy - Driver Packs for Enterprise Client OS Deployment

Advanced Driver Restore for Windows Reinstallation process (Figures 14-16):

Figure 14: Selecting the Advanced Driver Restore option

Figure 15: The tool is preparing for the driver restore

Figure 16: Enabling the option and selecting the CAB file location to pull the drivers from

You must extract the driver cab for the specific computer onto a USB drive or other location. The CAB file can be loaded to baseline the Device Manger and prepare the computer for a full update "Check," by specifying the location.

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Device Driver Version reporting or exporting

You can export a complete report of all current driver firmware, and BIOS versions by selecting "System Information" on the left side of the main screen. The screen below provides the option to Export the report (Figure 17):

Figure 17: Creating a driver information log file

You can then convert the report to an Excel file. Once the file has been exported to a location, open Excel and go to that file. You see the following option menu when you click to open the file. Choose the top option "As an XML Table" (Figure 18):

Figure 18: Open the report as an XML table.

Click "OK" on the following message that appears (Figure 19):

Figure 19: Click OK to continue.

Below is an example of an Excel report for the listed drivers and versions of the computer (Figure 20). This can be helpful in verifying that a driver did update to the latest version.

Figure 20: Excel report of installed drivers and versions

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Troubleshooting Dell Command | Update

If you are experiencing issues downloading or installing drivers to your computer using Dell Command | Update, use one of the following options.

Using Dell SupportAssist to automatically check for and install updated drivers. Dell SupportAssist is now preinstalled on most all new Dell devices running the Windows operating system and can be found in the Start menu under All Programs in the Dell or Alienware folder. Information on using Dell SupportAssist, and a download link to download the utility, is available at the following location: Dell SupportAssist for PCs and tablets

You can also manually search for and install driver updates for your computer at Dell Support > Drivers & Downloads. Once at the Drivers & Downloads site, ensure that your computer model and operating system are correct, then use the Category drop-down menu to find the latest available drivers for your computer.

For additional reference on downloading and installing drivers, reference the following Dell Knowledge Base article: Drivers & Downloads FAQs

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Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• Dell Command | Update
• Dell Business Client Update Catalog
• How to Create a Dell Command Update MSI Installer Package
• How to Automatically Download and Install Drivers on a Dell Computer