Intel® Driver & Support Assistant FAQ

It's a rearchitected version of the previous Intel® Driver Update Utility. Improvements allow it to:

• Easily identify drivers installed by Intel and third-parties
• List available driver updates
• Scan for system and device information to assist with customer support troubleshooting
• Host the main interface on the Intel Support website
• Provide a more integrated support experience to users
• Combine several Intel support tools (Intel® Driver Update Utility, Intel® System Identification Utility, and Intel® System Support Utility) into one location
• Provide links to other support information

The Intel® Driver & Support Assistant supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7*, Windows 8* and Windows 8.1*, and Windows® 10.

If your OS is not supported, visit the Download Center to look for available drivers.

Typical installation, loading, and analysis takes approximately three to six minutes using a broadband Internet connection (DSL/Cable).

Graphic Drivers

The utility detects integrated Intel® Graphics Controllers for desktop and laptop computers. You can also manually identify your Intel Graphics Controller.

If you have an Internet device using the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 500, go to the Download Center for drivers.

For all other graphics controllers, contact your computer manufacturer or place of purchase for drivers support.

Audio Driver for Intel® Desktop Board

The utility detects audio devices for Intel® Desktop Boards purchased through a retailer.

Intel sells desktop boards to computer manufacturers who may customize the drivers. The utility does not detect these drivers.

Wireless Networking

The utility detects active Intel® Wireless Products.

It does not detect discontinued products. Contact your computer manufacturer or place of purchase for support.

Wired Networking

The utility detects add-in Intel® Ethernet Adapters and Intel® Desktop Boards with integrated network connections purchased through a retailer.

Intel sells wired networking cards to computer manufacturers who may customize the drivers. These drivers are supported only by the computer manufacturer.

Chipset INF

Note: Unless you are installing an OS, you do not need to install the Intel® Chipset Device Software.

Learn about the Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility

Intel® NUC and Intel® Compute Stick

You can use the utility to update all drivers on an Intel® NUC or Intel® Compute Stick. If you want to get the latest drivers for the Intel® NUC or Intel® Compute Stick from another PC, you can use the Search Manually feature.

You can download the application from the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant page.

No. The Intel® Driver & Support Assistant only collects system and device information. We are committed to protecting your privacy. See our Privacy Notice for more information.

The Intel® Driver & Support Assistant is available in the following languages:

• Chinese (Simplified)
• Chinese (Traditional)
• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Russian
• Spanish

To install the utility:

1. Download the utility to your system.
2. Run the set up program by double-clicking Intel® Driver & Support Assistant Installer.exe.
3. Read and agree to the license terms and conditions.
4. Select Install.
5. Click the Launch button; the tray icon starts and automatically opens default browser.
 

The app launches from the tray icon. Launching is not available in the Start menu at this time. There is no desktop icon.

By default, the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant places downloaded drivers in your Downloads folder. Typically, that folder is found at:
C:\Users\username\Downloads (replace username with your user name)

To change the location for downloaded drivers:

1. Right-click the Tray Icon
2. Click Settings.
3. Select Download Directory, and change the location.
   
4. Click Save Changes to save the new location.

Once the application is installed, you can right-click the tray icon and choose Check for new drivers. Launching is not available in the Start menu at this time. There is no desktop icon.

1. Click Start.
2. Open Control Panel.
3. Select Programs.
4. Select Programs and Features.
5. From the list that displays, click Intel® Driver & Support Assistant.
6. Click Uninstall.
7. A new window will open offering to uninstall the program.

• You have an older component
• Your component is discontinued or is not supported
• You have a component not produced by Intel
• You have a customized driver pre-installed by the computer manufacturer
• The component is not in our database

Upon release of Intel DSA v3.0, there is a known issue affecting some systems when trying to upgrade from Intel DUU v2.9 to Intel DSA v3.0. If this issue if affecting your upgrade from Intel DUU to Intel DSA, try these steps:

1. Uninstall Intel DUU or Intel DSA via Control Panel.
2. Delete all old log files from C:\ProgramData\Intel\DSA.
3. Restart the system.
4. Go directly to Download Center and do a fresh install of IDSA.

If you have Intel DUU version 2.6.1.4 or 2.6.2.3, released between August and December 2016, and you've tried running Intel DUU but received a message similar to the one shown below, the auto-upgrade feature was disabled. You must manually download and install the newest version posted.

1. Go to Control Panel and uninstall the Intel® Driver Update Utility.
2. Go back to Intel DSA and download the new version. The newest version enables the auto-upgrade for future versions.

Until Intel DSA goes to a version that is truly auto-update, this might impact some users wanting updated installer versions as well as IDUU users trying to use the old application.

For most users, there is no need to uninstall older Intel DUU versions. New Intel DSA should easily install over the old Intel DUU program. If you do experience issues updating, refer to the previous question above.

Some computer manufacturers install custom drivers.

See some common error messages and how to resolve them.

• Use the Give Feedback option at the bottom of most Intel Support pages.
• Submit a question through the Intel Communities site.

Tips for giving us helpful feedback to improve the tool and fix problems:

• Provide specific information on system type, OS, browser, and details on exactly what seems to be the issue
• Attach debug log files found at C:\ProgramData\Intel\DSA

System reset instructions to reset to previous drivers can be found here.

Information about your computer's performance is used to make improvements that may benefit you in the future. For example, if the data shows that a driver is not performing as expected, we can use that information for future driver updates.

When you install the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant, check the box on the first installation screen, Yes. I would like to participate.

The Intel® Driver & Support Assistant still automatically detects and installs new drivers for your computer. System performance information is not collected or sent to Intel and no performance information from your computer is used to improve future products.

We may collect information about how you use your system to provide you with the best products, services, and experiences possible. The information collected is not used to identify or contact you. You can change this setting at any time in the Control Panel by selecting Intel® Product Improvement Program and then selecting Yes or No.

The information collected may include your:

• Device manufacturer
• CPU model
• Memory and display configuration
• OS version
• Software version
• Region and language settings
• Regional location and time zone
• Device and software usage (e.g. number of times used, duration of use, etc.)
• Feature usage
• Randomly generated unique identifier (GUID) that is stored on your device.

This information is used to help us understand how well our products perform over time, determine how useful they are, detect issues, and identify future product improvements. The information collected does not include the actual content you create or view and is not used to identify or contact you.

The Intel® Product Improvement Program uses reasonable organizational, technical, and administrative measures to protect the information collected against unauthorized or unlawful access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. You can see our privacy notice for more information.

The information collected may be shared with authorized business partners who are required to keep this information confidential and only use it for the purposes described above.

Data is collected for one week after you run Intel® Driver & Support Assistant the first time so that we can determine how your system is performing.

We continue to periodically monitor your system until you opt-out. Periodic monitoring allows us to detect when your system or drivers are performing poorly.

We keep the data for a maximum of three years. Each time you upgrade drivers and software with Intel Driver & Support Assistant, the data collected is compared with the data collected in earlier reports using the unique identifier on your computer.

No.

Yes. You can stop participation anytime and no more data will be collected and shared with Intel.

To stop participation:

1. Right-click on the Intel Driver & Support Assistant Tray Icon.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Product Improvement Program Participation.
4. Check the box next to No, I do not want to participate in the program.
5. Click Save.

Yes. You can join using the Intel Driver & Support Assistant Settings option in the tray icon.

To join the program:

1. Right-click the tray icon.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Product Improvement Program Participation.
4. Check the box next to Yes. I want to participate in the program.
5. Click Save.