Millions of Windows Dell PCs Need Patching

Andy Ful

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They only validate ePSA aka Pre-Boot Diagnosis built into every UEFI OEM BIOS say ASUS,huawei, HP, Dell, Alienware, Lenovo etc... You see, running those tools in Windows have more issues because of faulty/scam/ransomware third party apps, malformed certificates, malformed dlls, AVs blocking OEM apps etc... Basic check is CPU temps exceeding 95C on Windows but its sane outside Windows aka ePSA or Linux at 60C, so user apps are the culprit or even the Support Assistant apps.
ePSA can avoid replacements and save their money.
Please read my post carefully. The hidden factory partitions are not used by Windows. One of these partitions is required to run DELL diagnosis tools on boot.:giggle:(y)
 

blackice

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I went to update this tool on my wife’s laptop only to discover it had encountered the bug where it wouldn’t launch anyway. Made me wonder if it could be abused when broken. I almost just left it alone...but decided to uninstall and reinstall to fix it.
 

Vasudev

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Please read my post carefully. The hidden factory partitions are not used by Windows. One of these partitions is required to run DELL diagnosis tools on boot.:giggle:(y)
Nope not needed and not stored on any disks at all! Everything is present on BIOS chip of 64MB which is more than enough to store UEFI diagnostics, Bios, GOP and vBIOS. Only BIOS recovery files .rcv (Dells/AW), .new1 .rec*(HP) etc.... 100MB-260MB is more than enough for ESP/EFI partitions.
 
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Andy Ful

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Nope not needed and not stored on any disks at all! Everything is present on BIOS chip of 64MB which is more than enough to store UEFI diagnostics, Bios, GOP and vBIOS. Only BIOS recovery files .rcv (Dells/AW), .new1 .rec*(HP) etc.... 100MB-260MB is more than enough for ESP/EFI partitions.
Are you sure that all DELL computers have those tools on the chip?:unsure:
https://www.dell.com/support/articl...indows-7-8-8-1-and-10-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en
https://www.dell.com/community/Windows-10/What-are-all-these-partitions/td-p/6231083
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Vasudev

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Its pure scare tactics Dell and others do when people go with HDD only models.
100-260MB Windows recommended ESP, 500-800MB for winre, 16MB for MSR and rest for C: data partition. ESP can upto 500MB if you use 20-30 OS on same PC with same hdd/ssd.
 

Andy Ful

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Its pure scare tactics Dell and others do when people go with HDD only models.
100-260MB Windows recommended ESP, 500-800MB for winre, 16MB for MSR and rest for C: data partition. ESP can upto 500MB if you use 20-30 OS on same PC with same hdd/ssd.
Most cheap laptops still use hidden factory partitions, which should not be blindly deleted/formatted. These partitions are small enough, so the user can keep them because they can be required by the DELL technical support (especially the partition with DELL diagnosis tools).
Users on Windows 7 should not delete the factory recovery partition, because they will have problems with installing fresh Windows.
If the user on Windows 10 has DELL diagnosis tools stored on the chip, then the factory partitions can be deleted. But there can be a problem if Windows 10 version will be incompatible with laptop. So, it is good to have the older Windows 10 version available, which worked well.
 
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Vasudev

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Most cheap laptops still use hidden factory partitions, which should not be blindly deleted/formatted. These partitions are small enough, so the user can keep them because they can be required by the DELL technical support (especially the partition with DELL diagnosis tools).
Users on Windows 7 should not delete the factory recovery partition, because they will have problems with installing fresh Windows.
If the user on Windows 10 has DELL diagnosis tools stored on the chip, then the factory partitions can be deleted. But there can be a problem if Windows 10 version will be incompatible with laptop. So, it is good to have the older Windows 10 version available, which worked well.
Even if the partitions are intact, the moment you reinstall Windows (any version) will invalidate their Recovery partitions and diagnostics toolset because those few of the packages are stored in C:\Recovery folders. So, that's the reason OEMs came up with bootable diagnostics tools like Dell DDP and Lenovo UEFI diagnostics on small BIOS chips <8MB. Lenovo Diagnostics - Bootable USB (Create it on Windows OS) - Desktops, Notebooks, Workstations - US
BTW, I never understood how they test GPUs in minimal mode. I only use them to monitor HW sensors especially PCH and VRMs. With HWINFO 5.8x and above we can see the proprietary sensor info so diagnostics usage is minimal. We've advanced to the point where Win Recovery can be used to check hardware health using wmic via Powershell or cmd.
EDIT: Last time I talked to Dell reps when I wanted help on replacing faulty battery they said they consider ePSA results as final because Windows exe files takes longer to download and install to run diagnostics and reporting. ePSA needs minimal runtime for quick report generation.
 
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Andy Ful

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Even if the partitions are intact, the moment you reinstall Windows (any version) will invalidate their Recovery partitions and diagnostics toolset because those few of the packages are stored in C:\Recovery folders. ...
Why reinstalling Windows would do it? DELL laptops have a bootloader that can start DELL diagnostic tools (usually on small Linux system) directly from the hidden partition. This partition has nothing to do with the Windows system or Windows partitions.
Of course, the DELL diagnostic tools for Windows cannot be used in this way.

Edit.
On UEFI system DELL diagnostic tools are on ESP partition. But, they cannot be used for the Legacy boot (sometimes can be needed), so there is also another hidden partition with DELL diagnostic tools.
 
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Burrito

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Why reinstalling Windows would do it? DELL laptops have a bootloader that can start DELL diagnostic tools (usually on small Linux system) directly from the hidden partition. This partition has nothing to do with the Windows system or Windows partitions.
Of course, the DELL diagnostic tools for Windows cannot be used in this way.

You've taught me things about my Dell computers that I didn't know --- thanks.
 

Vasudev

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Why reinstalling Windows would do it? DELL laptops have a bootloader that can start DELL diagnostic tools (usually on small Linux system) directly from the hidden partition. This partition has nothing to do with the Windows system or Windows partitions.
Of course, the DELL diagnostic tools for Windows cannot be used in this way.

Edit.
On UEFI system DELL diagnostic tools are on ESP partition. But, they cannot be used for the Legacy boot (sometimes can be needed), so there is also another hidden partition with DELL diagnostic tools.
No, I meant Dell recovery manager will be wiped and not diagnostics tools. They are integrated into BIOS these days. Dell doesn't support Linux officially aside from XPS Developer editions. I had to go through a lot of hoops and BIOS updates to get Linux working atlast! Its a messy situation on Dells while other OEMs have opened up little support from the company and community!
You're correct BIOS recovery and capsule updates are stored in EFI/ESP under Disk X\EFI\Dell formatted as fat32.
ePSA on Dell PCs: Dell Diagnostic Tools to Diagnose and Fix Hardware Problems on Your Dell PC, Tablet or Servers | Dell India
 
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Andy Ful

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No, I meant Dell recovery manager will be wiped and not diagnostics tools. They are integrated into BIOS these days.
...
You're correct BIOS recovery and capsule updates are stored in EFI/ESP under Disk X\EFI\Dell formatted as fat32.
ePSA on Dell PCs: Dell Diagnostic Tools to Diagnose and Fix Hardware Problems on Your Dell PC, Tablet or Servers | Dell India
Not exactly, but we are getting closer.:giggle:
Older (legacy) Dell computers have the utility partition on the hard drive that contains the legacy 32-bit Dell Diagnostic Utility (based on Linux).
The newer DELL computers have Dell Diagnostic Utility on EFI/ESP partition.
 

upnorth

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Here's a thought. If one revert a Dell machine to it's factory state, dosen't that also automatic revert the Supportassist tool to it's previous, vulnerable version?

The whole idea using this kind of " support " tools is to save on actual real human support and even if I don't use Dell machines, probably never will, Dells support is not something I personal would rely on.
 
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Vasudev

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Not exactly, but we are getting closer.:giggle:
Older (legacy) Dell computers have the utility partition on the hard drive that contains the legacy 32-bit Dell Diagnostic Utility (based on Linux).
The newer DELL computers have Dell Diagnostic Utility on EFI/ESP partition.
I remember seeing similar thing on my 2007 Vaio but I always used Recovery manager for factory reset if you Clean installed they become useless even the partition themselves. I remember seeing invalid partition or something when VAIO recovery manager was nuked for good. But, I created Recovery DVDs.

You mean this one:

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This is the alternative Dell developed for people who dislike Dell partitions and still want Diagnostics tools on CD/DVDs/Thumb drives. How to Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive using Dell Diagnostic Deployment Package (DDDP) | Dell India

I still use the above to create Dell Recovery Bios for my Alienware. Their BIOS updates are dangerous and can screw up the hardware.
 

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