Best way to keep XPS 15 9550 updated

The XPS 15 9550, is my first Dell, which I've now had for about 2 1/2 months. I've had the NVIDIA update app alert me twice and done those updates. I've also clicked on the Dell Update app from the system tray. However, when I go to the Dell Support site and allow it to check my service tag, it brings up a big list of drivers and software updates. Some of the items on the list, I already have installed and some I do not. There has got to be a better way than this old early 2000s go to a site looking for updates crap??? I have a Samsung Spin, that has an update app that scans and alerts me to everything I could possible need to update and the rest is handled by Windows update. Very simple. Very quick. Am I missing something here with Dell?

 

Don't worry too much about being absolutely religious on keeping drivers up to date.

You'll usually find that Dell laptops get around 0-2 driver updates throughout the lifetime of a laptop, which translates to a new driver about once every 1-2 years (if at all). So checking for drivers once every few months is usually good enough. Checking as frequently as every day or every week is a waste of effort.

Furthermore, the majority of driver updates are bug fixes. So unless you actually suffer from that bug, a driver update usually doesn't have any noticeable effect.

The only exception to this general rule is GPU drivers. Those ARE released every few weeks, and there IS a practical performance benefit to new GPU drivers. That is the only driver that you should try to keep up to date. Luckily, nVidia's Geforce Experience app does a pretty good job at keeping the GPU driver updated.

So, I'd say, just disable or uninstall any kind of driver update meta-app that tries to monitor all of your system drivers. They have such little practical benefit, that they might as well be considered system bloatware.



Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the reply. It's just that I've read people stating that battery life improved with various updates. I have done the NVIDIA updates that got rid of the BSOD. I've also done 2 BIOS updates but my battery life doesn't appear to have changed. With my Samsung Spin, the updates keep rolling in for various components and software. It feels as if Samsung is actually working on improving their ATIV Book 9 Spin, which is reassuring. When I looked at the Dell support list, there were over a dozen available updates. I guess for now, I'll just skip them as my system doesn't have many problems other than bluetooth cutting in and out with my Logitech mouse and the slow startup, restart, sleep and resume.

 

Well, how many of those are actually higher version numbers than you currently have (ignore the update date)? I highly doubt it's a dozen, or something is seriously wrong with your Dell Update app. That list is really the most recent versions of drivers rather than a list of updates that need applying on your machine (everyone sees the same list for the same model). Some are optional for specific peripherals/devices if you have them.

Another manual alternative is the Dell Command | Update app. This shows more information too.

Remember to reset to BIOS defaults when doing a BIOS update for the settings to take properly, as per Dell's instructions.

 

There over 2 dozen for my service tag. Some I already have. Some I do not have. I inputted my service tag and it generated this list. Somethings I have no clue what they are/do. I have to hunt to find them and see which versions I have installed. Again, this all reminds me of laptops from 10 to 15 years ago. The last 3 ultrabooks I owned (including the Spin I still own), made it easy to see what is available vs what you have, all in one app, not a silly website. Sorry but I'm just highly annoyed by this. The Dell update app, even after clicking on check for updates, did not notice that the BIOS update I last installed was older than the one currently available on the site. I had to check my BIOS version manually to notice that I was behind by one version. This is not how things should work. The amazing 15" 4K screen is the main reason I've kept the XPS. If not for that, I may have returned it and just used the Samsung Spin as my primary device.

 

Well, it seems a bit extreme to return it just for that

The Dell Command Update tool is better, has more information about installed vs available updates, and doesn't come with all the bloat:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=K82GG

Why they didn't just use this instead of the inferior Dell Update I don't know.

 

Thank you! I will give it a try. I do really like the XPS. I guess I'm just wondering why not do better than notebooks that cost half the price do.

 

My laptop came with Dell Update in the sys tray. Are you saying I should remove that and install the Dell Command Update? What is the functionality difference since they seem like they do the same thing and if Dell Command Update is better why didn't Dell ship it with that instead of the Dell Update?

 

The main difference is that Dell Command Update actually has a GUI with which you can review available updates, choose which to install, see update history etc. Try it and see which suits you best. I have no answer to your second question ... I only note that they list it on the driver download page as well.