SupportAssist Reducing Free Disk Space Over Time

Hi handsumguy:

Has your Dell service warranty expired yet, and what is your Windows OS and current BIOS version?  To find your Windows version and OS build number open a Run dialog box (Windows key + R) and enter winver.  To find your current BIOS version open a Run dialog box, enter msinfo32 to open your System Information, and look for the field named "BIOS Version / Date" in the summary.

How much free disk space is currently left on your 500 GB hard drive, and does Windows' Disk Cleanup find any temporary files and/or other unnecessary data that can be purged to free up some disk space? It's unlikely that your system performance is affected by the 1.4 GB of disk space required for installation of all your Dell utilities unless your free disk space as dropped below ~ 20 GB.  However, I wouldn't be surprised if all the automated background tasks run by Dell SupportAssist v4.8.2 and and Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.1.2 were consuming lots of RAM and CPU and affecting your system performance that way. 

What is the version number of the "extra" Dell SupportAssist program that is using 206 MB of disk space (you might have to click "Advanced Options"), and if you search your installed apps for "supportassist" can you find another small piece of software simply called "SupportAssist" (i.e., without the word "Dell" in the program name)? 

I removed all SupportAssist-related software from my Inspiron 5584 after my service warranty expired *** but AFAIK the latest SupportAssist v4.8.x should have two components listed at Settings | Apps - the main Dell SupportAssist application (also listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features) and a small "helper" Appx module named SupportAssist that contains files and credentials required to install and run the main application - and each component had a different version number. See my 16-Sep-2024 post in AnotherJamieRI's "Dell SupportAssist" vs "SupportAssist" vs "Dell Update" vs "Dell Update for Windows Universal" for more information.

If your free disk space is rapidly dropping over time this could could be due to a longstanding bug in Dell SupportAssist Remediation (a.k.a., Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery) that affects some Dell computers.  See my 14-Jan-2025 post in Borja14's Problems With Storage for more information. If you view your hidden folder at C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Snapshots with a utility like TreeSize Free and find that hidden folder has grown to more than 20 or 30 GB then temporarily turn OFF System Repair in your SupportAssist settings as instructed <here> in the SupportAssist v4 User Guide to purge your existing Dell system repair points.  However, once you turn System Repair back ON and start accumulating system repair points (a.k.a. system snapshots) again that hidden folder might continue to grow beyond the maximum allotted 12 to 18 GB of disk space.
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*** Just FYI, I uninstalled all SupportAssist-related programs from my Inspiron 5584 after my service warranty expired - they were too buggy, consumed too much RAM and CPU, and the "system optimization" scans in SupportAssist (Clean Files / Tune Performance / Optimize Network) were too aggressive and had the potential to do more harm than good.  For example, see my 12-Jul-2021 posts in ex-jedi's Prevent Automatic Recycle Bin Emptying about the over-aggressive registry cleaner included with the Tune Performance scan (now called Boost Performance in SupportAssist v4.x).

See my 08-Feb-2025 post in ygil's BSOD Issues After Windows Updates for some suggestions for replacing Dell's SupportAssist-related software with more reliable third-party utilities. Since that Feb 2025 reply was posted I've also removed Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.5.0, as discussed in my 05-Apr-2025 topic Dell Update v5.5.0 (rel. 01-Apr-2025) Installs Unnecessary Bloat.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5965 * Firefox v139.0.4 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25050.5-1.1.25050.6 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.3.2.195-134.1.5283 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0

@lmacri​ Thanks so much for reply.  I do not have any RAM problem but have ordered more RAM:).  I favor using Dell SupportAssist even if out of warranty; however, I am still in service warranty for another 1 and 11/2 years and will open a ticket with them but right now I do not have the time to do remote service diagnostics etc.  I am looking at my laptop and my office laptops and wanting to have an understood plan for the future as prices rise:)  I have "OS Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.22631 Build 22631  BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 1.45.0, 3/4/2025 SMBIOS Version 3.2.   The Dell SupportAssist 240 MB is 4.8.1.0.  Before posting, I read virtually all of the links you posted and complied with almost all recommendations but as I said I favor SupportAssist.  I have also read all the online comments/statements/experts etc. "system performance is not affected until" you are down to 20 or 15 GB but my personal experience says different because as I said in my post I uninstalled virtually all apps relating to photos and video and then move all photo, video and music files to external drive and thereby had 300 GB Free and my system performance  changed dramatically! Since then, over a weeks time it went down to just under 270 GB free and simultaneously I noticed additional apps related to SupportAssist (but in truth I never spent the time before this looking in detail at this before).  So my question/suggestion is not that Dell SupportAssist is necessarily causing the problem but that as my free space has started to decline again, I noticed the multiple Dell SupportAssist apps and since I am guarding my disk space now, I have researched whether I need all of these apps and have not found an answer.

I am looking at my laptop and my office laptops and wanting to have an understood plan for the future as prices rise ... I am still in service warranty for another 1 and 11/2 years and will open a ticket with them but right now I do not have the time to do remote service diagnostics etc. 

Hi handsumguy:

Latitude computers are typically used in a business environment.  Is is possible your Latitude 5420 originally shipped with Dell SupportAssist for Business, and not the Dell SupportAssist for PCs app intended for home consumers?

Aside from that possibility, I'm afraid I have no idea why you appear to have an extra copy of Dell SupportAssist at Apps | Installed Apps as shown in the image below (or why one of those copies is using almost 1 GB of disk space) but it's possible a clean reinstall of SupportAssist could fix this.  If you want to try this yourself see the instructions in Dell employeee DELL-Nat M's 16-May-2025 post in peterjmck's Support Assist.  Note that uninstalling SupportAssist using Microsoft's Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter tool mentioned in those instructions (followed by a system restart) should do a better job of removing traces of older SupportAssist installations than a "regular" uninstall from Apps | Installed Programs or Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features.  However, getting Dell SupportAssist v4.8.x to run correctly after a reinstall can sometimes be challenging, so I'd advise you ask Dell customer support to do this clean reinstall for you via remote access.

Since you have a valid service warranty you can contact Dell customer support by clicking the blue Get Help Now button in the bottom-right corner of each page on the forum to start a Live Chat.  After you type in your question an automated chat bot will ask for your email address and the unique Service Tag of your Dell computer.  Once it confirms you still have a valid service warranty it should connect you to a live customer service rep.

I have "OS Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.22631 Build 22631  BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 1.45.0, 3/4/2025 SMBIOS Version 3.2.   The Dell SupportAssist 240 MB is 4.8.1.0. 

Just a few other things I noted about your previous comments.

Your Latitude 5420 support page at https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-us/product/latitude-5420-laptop/drivers shows Dell Latitude 5420 System BIOS v1.46.1 (rel. 12-Jun-2025) is the recommended BIOS version.  At this point I doubt a BIOS update would help with your particular SupportAssist problem, but if you do decide to update your BIOS see the warning in the last paragraph of my 11-Jun-2025 post in Tejokrishna's XPS 9720 NVIDIA graphic card not detecting.

If your Win 11 OS starts with 22631.xxxx that means you currently have Win 11 Version 23H2, and if you enter winver in a Run dialog box as I suggested it should show you have OS Build 22631.5472 (KB5060999, released 10-Jun-2025).  Do you know of any reason why your Win 11 OS has not updated to Win 11 v24H2 yet? FYI, Win 11 v24H2 still as some annoying bugs so staying on Win 11 v23H2 for now isn't a bad idea - I'm just curious if you know why Win 11 v24H2 hasn't been delivered yet.

The image in your original post also shows Dell SupportAssist v4.8.2.29006 is installed.  I'm not sure why your SupportAssist hasn't updated to v4.8.3 (released 24-Dec-2024) yet, but see my 02-Jan-2025 post in WjSturgis' Support Assist will not run about a known DTP bug in v4.8.2 that causes database files in the C:\ProgramData\Dell\DTP\DB folder to grow over time on some computers, as well as my comments about the bug fixes expected for v4.8.3  Unfortunately, the download link at https://downloads.dell.com/serviceability/catalog/SupportAssistinstaller.exe is currently downloading v4.8.2.31595 of the full offline installer (SupportAssistInstaller.exe) which suggests that Dell might have pulled SupportAssist v4.8.3 from their download servers.  I can't say for certain, though, since I do not have SupportAssist v4.8.x installed on my Inspiron 5584, and the SupportAssist release notes at https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-us/product/dell-supportassist-pcs-tablets/resources/manuals have not been updated since SupportAssist v4.6.1 was released in November 2024.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5965 * Firefox v139.0.4 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25050.5-1.1.25050.6 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.3.2.195-134.1.5283 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0

The image in your original post also shows Dell SupportAssist v4.8.2.29006 is installed.  I'm not sure why your SupportAssist hasn't updated to v4.8.3 (released 24-Dec-2024) yet ... 

Hi handsumguy:

Sorry, just ignore the last paragraph in my previous post. I double-checked and it appears your SupportAssist v4.8.2.29006 was released some time around 15-Apr-2025 and might still be the current stable release.

You'll have to ask Dell customer support when a stable version of SupportAssist v4.8.3 is scheduled  for wide release.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5965 * Firefox v139.0.4 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.25050.5-1.1.25050.6 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.3.2.195-134.1.5283 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0