Automatic or Manual Updates?

[everbrave]

the Dell support software tool does not report any updates to my new XT. I do not think that all my drivers are up to date, however.
I know, e.g., that the BIOS version has been update.
So, what to do:
a) update-manually?
b) just rely on the Dell Support update engine which checks my computer?

a) would mean that I must check the version of all drivers and tools.
Are there essential updates which I should update manually?
I read somewhere that ATI graphics driver should be updated!

b) could mean that I might miss some updates (Lenovo and HP automatic update does not work properly either!)

How do you mange updates on your XT?

Thanks

[Rob Bushway]

Definitely update the ATI graphics driver for sure, as well as the BIOS ( which you have the A02 ). I'm doing both - checking manually and running the auto tool

[Steve S]

ever: I commented on this before.

For whatever reason, it seems that you have to manually sort through the list of available drivers ( support.dell.com ) and download the ones that have been updated.

The good news is that once you've done this, you can sign up to be notified from that point forward whenever another driver is updated ( see Tech Subscriptions at the support site ).

Since the 20th of March, 4 drivers and the BIOS have been updated. Since your XT was built later than that, you may not need to update all 4...

[everbrave]

Steve,
thanks for the helpful reply.
In deed, e.g.,the installed graphics driver was older than the one on the Dell support site.
I installedthe following updates:
BIOS, ATI, N-Trig in this order.
I was astonished to notice that the Aero performance went from 3.6 (Windows Performance Index) to 2.4 (and , yes, I restarted and waited for Vista to completeall the background tasks).

Did you have a similar experience?

ThankEdited by: everbrave

[Ch00k]

Yes, the same thing happened to me, my score went from 3.5 to 2.4. It is either Vista SP1 or the new display drivers.

I also get an occasional flash of black when using the machine. I'm starting to think ATI aren't up to their game at the moment.

[Rob Bushway]

yeah, that sudden flash happens to me, too. I'm attributing that to ATI, too. It mostly happens when scrolling webpages.

I'm pretty much up to date on all drivers, too.

[everbrave]

I installed the latest driver from ATI web-site. It is version 8.471.0.0. Rotation is supported as well.
This restored the graphics/gaming graphics score to 4.1/3.5.
I will stick with this driver for a while.Edited by: everbrave