Dell SupportAssistant was preinstalled on my machine. It was the easiest way to find Dell's customized driver updates since they are difficult to find (which of the many network drivers does my machine need?). It's sad that it has problems, but it's supposed to make maintenance easier. HP has something similar.
You only have that issue if you search by the model of your PC. For Dell, search by the service tag (short string of letters and numbers) and you will get the drivers for only the hardware that PC shipped with. For HP enter the serial number.
Not withstanding the vulnerability outlined by the article, the concept and utility has merit. For vast amount of users, sorting out chipset drivers is a hard problem.
It may come preinstalled but in this case the author wiped the computer, reinstalled Windows and then voluntarily installed the software while visiting the Dell support site checking for updated drivers. It is also able to be uninstalled which the original comment suggested it could not be.
Dell SupportAssist comes pre-installed on most new Dell machines. The only reason it wasn't installed on my machine is because the drive I used was not prepared by Dell. Your average Dell user will have SupportAssist installed though you are right that it can be uninstalled.
