Two software issues with M11x

My mother and father, respectively, are experiencing two strange issues with their Alienware M11x laptops. First, the most recent one, appears to be related to problems with nine updates released this month. These updates download but refuse to install; the screen permanently stuck on 1 of 9. Eventually they've switched off the machine and, a couple of days later, it's tried again with the same issue... their specs are identical and use Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, so this would indicate that the first update it seems to download is faulty.

The second issue has an indeterminate date of inactivity but, basically, the facial recognition software has stopped working for no apparent reason. This could be the result of another Windows update, but I thought I should flag it in case there are more widespread reports of it with the M11x.

 

Seems like odd laptops for your parents to have, especially with Windows Ulti, but oh well...

Both issues could possibly be related to windows updates, which would indicate an issue with them and not the laptop itself. As a rule of thumb, you should never have windows updates automatically update everything, because they HAVE been known to occasionally send out flawed or bugged patches. You should always wait ~24 hours after release to make sure it's safe to install.

Turn off Windows automatic updates, and get the webcam software from the Dell site and re-install it. Specifically what windows updates are they having problems getting?