XPS 16 9640, ServiceShell.exe is consuming several gigabytes of RAM, causing heavy paging and severe performance issues

Our users need more data before they can correctly troubleshoot.

* Which XPS 16 model (9640, DA16250) ?
* Open Apps --> Installed apps
- List all Dell apps
- List the version of Dell SupportAssist

We have:

Betriebsystemname Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Version 10.0.26200 Build 26200
Systemmodell XPS 16 9640
Systemtyp x64-basierter PC
System-SKU 0C62
Prozessor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 9 185H, 2500 MHz, 16 Kern(e), 22 logische(r) Prozessor(en)
BIOS-Version/-Datum Dell Inc. 1.21.0, 28.01.2026
BaseBoard-Hersteller Dell Inc.
BaseBoard-Produkt 09CK4V
BaseBoard-Version A00
Installierter physischer Speicher (RAM) 64,0 GB

All default DELL applications installed and up-to-date.

ServiceShell has version 5.7.0.296

List the version of Dell SupportAssist as shown in Installed Apps.

Hello,

sorry for my delay. In the meantime, I started removing Dell applications from my system in the hope that it would fix the problem. However, the issue still exists. Dell SupportAssist is no longer installed. The currently installed Dell applications are:

• Dell Command Update 5.7.0
• Dell Core Services 1.14.151.0
• Dell Optimizer 6.3.3.0
• Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update 5.5.16.0
• Dell SupportAssist Remediation 5.5.15.2
• Dell Trusted Device 7.2.1.0

I believe that ServiceShell.exe is part of "Dell Core Services".

I have attached a screenshot of all installed Dell applications on the same XPS 16 system of my colleague, which is experiencing the same problem:

Regards,

Thomas.

Try uninstalling these and retest =

• Dell Core Services 1.14.151.0
• Dell Optimizer 6.3.3.0
• Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Dell Update 5.5.16.0
• Dell SupportAssist Remediation 5.5.15.2

Ok, I have uninstalled all this apps including the Dell Command Update and all others except "Dell Trusted Device". Than I have installed some apps again. Shortley the memory usage was some 100MB. After some minutes the ServiceShell starts with some CPU usage (0%, 1%) and permanent increasing memory usage... stoping at 8.8GB. But I am sure this will grow furhter...

Here my currently installed apps:

 

Are you able to uninstall Dell Core Services but keep the others? If yes do so and retest.

Observed the same today on Alienware M16R2:

This is what I have installed, not use where this file belongs to

Removing the second Dell SupportAssist (the larger one) appears to have done the trick.

It looks like the issue is being caused by the larger Dell SupportAssist Remediation component rather than Alienware Command Center itself. Based on the screenshots, removing that secondary SupportAssist package seems to have stopped the excessive CPU and memory usage tied to SupportAssist OS Recovery Plugin for Alienware Update.

What’s probably happening is:

• Dell/Alienware update services are conflicting during startup or background scans
• SupportAssist Remediation is continuously triggering recovery or monitoring processes
• That process then keeps spawning high resource usage in the background

A few things I’d recommend now to make sure the issue stays resolved:

• Reboot the system once more after uninstalling
• Open Task Scheduler and check if any Dell/SupportAssist scheduled tasks are still active
• Clear leftover SupportAssist services from Startup Apps if they remain enabled
• Make sure Alienware Command Center and BIOS are updated directly from Dell’s support page
• If you still want diagnostics features, reinstall only the standard SupportAssist version later not the Remediation package initially

I’ve seen this happen on a few Dell and Alienware systems where overlapping Dell utilities end up fighting each other after updates. The “Remediation” module in particular tends to be the one that causes background resource spikes more often than people realize.

From your screenshots, it definitely looks like you identified the correct component causing the problem.

Hello,

Sorry, but this problem is still not resolved for me.

As mentioned before, after uninstalling and reinstalling, the issue appears again.

When I start Command Update and check for updates, a newly started ServiceShell.exe process stays at around 100 MB memory usage for a few minutes before it begins increasing memory usage (takes about 10 minutes to reach 14GB... growing further).

Additionally, I do not have an Alienware device, and in our case the problem does not cause high CPU usage, as mentioned above.

Regards,
Thomas

Hello,

one scan for updates increases the memory usage for about 14GB. Here while the second scan ins active:

Im also seeing this for several months now on the following machines.

Alienware M17 R4

Inspiron 3880

Precision 5560

Inspiron 3030s

All with the serviceshell, supportassist issue.

Same issue here with Dell XPS15-9530.

Have to kill the service all the time via procexp

Windows 11 25H2 26200.8457

Dell Update v5.0.0

C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\UpdateService\ServiceShell.exe - eats up to 16GB of RAM.