What is My Dell Downloads?
My Dell Downloads includes Dell preinstalled software not present on Drivers and Downloads such as Dell Webcam Central, Dell Stage, Fingerprint software and McAfee. My Dell Downloads should not be confused with My Dell which is the new name for Dell Support Centre.
My Dell Downloads is a service which came out in 2009/2010 with the release of Windows 7. It is not applicable for Windows XP or Windows Vista systems.
For newer systems (late 2013/2014), My Dell Downloads should be superseded by Dell Digital Delivery see here.
What About Microsoft Products?
Microsoft Products most notably, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office are not available with My Dell Downloads.
For notes on Microsoft Products see here:
Registering with My Dell Downloads
Unfortunately there are multiple issues with Registering with My Dell Downloads so I have provided some more indepth instructions which may help with some of the registration issues.
First close down all instances of Internet Explorer.
Temporarily disable any 3rd party firewall you may have.
My Dell Downloads only works with the 32 bit version of Internet Explorer.
For the 64 Bit version of Windows navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer
For the 32 Bit version of Windows navigate to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer
From here select iexplore, this will open the 32 bit version of Internet Explorer.
InPrivate Browsing will prevent any issues with cookies etc.
Start In Private browsing (press Ctrl, Shift and P):
Go to My Dell Downloads. Select the correct country (it defaults to Singapore) and select continue.
Note it may not work if the incorrect country is selected.
Select [Continue]
Log in or create an account.
If you have already got an account and registered an earlier Dell system you will get a screen like this. To add the new system and select "Add System".
Read and accept the agreement. Select "Register System".
Select [Install] when prompted to install the addon. This dialogue will appear at the bottom of Internet Explorer.
Next select [Yes] at the User Account Control Prompt for SysPro.
You may have to select [Retry] to resend information after accepting the UAC prompt.
Check to do not show the warning dialogue for this program again. Then press [Allow]
At the bottom of the page you should be told the status.
You should now have registered your system.
You will be presented with a list of downloadable software.
Tick the check boxes for all the software you want and then select download now. Select "Run" when the application shows up.
In this example I opted to download the latest versions of Dell Stage for example (there is no point in downloading the earlier versions).
Saving the Installers
The installers should be present in My Documents > My Dell Downloads. As there is a quota of only 3 downloads per file, I advise copying these installers to an external hard drive.
You can install the software by selecting install on the download manager. Alternatively you can open the folders and run the setup files. (the folders go from .zip to normal folders when the software is downloaded).
Regarding the error with Stage Framework, I just closed the My Dell Downloads Download Manager after the other programs downloaded and then selected the earlier version of Stage Framework. It downloaded fine.
When done ensure that you re-enable your firewall if you disabled it.
If you are still having problems registering with My Dell Downloads, contact technical support or make a new post in the Microsoft OS forum.
Worked for me! Just one minor detail, had to add the website to Trusted Sites (IE) for it to work. Was able to get all three downloads that shipped with the XPS 8700 (Mid-2013).
Copied all three to four external sources, so hopefully during the PC's lifetime, won't need to download again. Though all three apps, McAfee & the two CyberLink ones will at some point become outdated, probably within a couple of years.
I wonder if by giving another email address than the original, if the McAfee suite would give me another 1 year version, with an updated installer, two year old Internet security is no good against current threats. Plus I'm no longer running Windows 8, but 7 Ultimate (self clean install).
You can always purchase a retail version of McAfee when the license expires, that way you will not need to use My Dell Downloads. Once McAfee is installed however it should update to the latest version.
I think My Dell Downloads will periodically update the version of McAfee.
If using your system to play the latest Blu-Rays likely you will have to periodically upgrade CyberLink. Its part of the reason why Blu-Rays aren't overly popular.
Thank you for these suggestions. I have tried everything in this post and my screen shows the "examining your computer" message for a split second and disappears but nothing happens after this. What else can I try?
Probably something is wrong with My Dell Downloads (again). What model is this and what Operating System?
It's an Inspiron 15 3537 running Windows 8.1.
If its a Windows 8.1 system then it probably shouldn't use My Dell Downloads, this service is mainly superseded by Dell Digital Delivery. What software are you looking for?