Fix for the PCD5SRVC.PKMS Issue in Dell Support Center

Sat. Dec. 01, 2007

Customers like Matt K., Aggrey Ellis, John P., Peter F. Goddard, and others commented about a blue screen error that references PCD5SRVC.PKMS. This is indeed caused by a Dell Support Center (DSC) error. It has now been corrected. Since I alerted the development team, they been working to address the issue. I asked them to explain the issue and what customers need to do to correct it—here's what they told me.

Update, 12-6: I just posted more details on how to uninstall and reinstall Dell Support Center. I hope this helps any of you who are still having problems with it.

First, let me apologize for this issue—we know must be frustrating.  Here's what happened: we recently released an update to Dell Support Center  that includes a number of enhancements, including a new diagnostic tool.  As part of the diagnostic process, DSC identifies the hardware components of your system and based on what's there. After that, we send a customized set of hardware diagnostics to your computer for use in troubleshooting.

The PCD5SRVC.PKMS process creates the component list.  A code error created a situation where, on some systems, the process could run at the same time under two different sets of credentials—both as a user and as a service.  When this occurs, it results in a conflict that creates the issue that several of you have commented on.

We've fixed the issue. If you install DSC, it will sync with the server, get the fixed update and you won't have the problem. DSC is scheduled to check for updates on a periodic basis, so if you have the application installed now, it should get the update in the next 24 - 72 hours.

Again, we do apologize that Dell Support Center caused a software conflict on some systems.  Our goal is to provide you with the best service and support tools. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope that you will considering reinstalling Dell Support Center on your system. 

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Only published comments... Saturday, December 01, 2007 12:30 AM
by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger
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Wes Brown said:

I have to many problems with dell,this is the last one that i will buy.

Have decided will buy HP from now on 

December 1, 2007 12:13 PM
Richard Christie said:
This is a disgraceful bug. My poor Dad, who is trying to become computer literate, has been bamboozled by this bug. I've wasted hours of my holiday at home trying to understand what is going wrong. And now I find out the bug is due to Dell? Support updates should NEVER crash a computer. Don't you test this garbage before you unleash it on the world? I'm uninstalling this DSC crap, hopefully my Dad's computer will now work again. Shame on you Dell.
December 1, 2007 2:01 PM
Allan Grimshaw said:
I agree with the others. My only upside is I recognized what piece of software was causing me the problem, so I uninstalled it. The last 2 versions of DSC have been garbage. Before the bug that has been mentioned was released, the DSC software would open up Windows Explorer after booting up. They fixed that one, and now your PC will crash on boot up. Great stuff. The other issue with the DSC stuff is it will slow down the bootup time on your PC.
December 1, 2007 5:56 PM
Don said:
After the last update to the Dell Support Center software on my wife's laptop there were simply too many errors and problems occurring. She looks to me to maintain it so can get her work done. I was finally able to "fix" the problem by removing any vestige of Dell Support I could find on the computer. Runs great now. The DSC software is a good idea, but ONLY if it can be implemented without causing problems on users machines. Otherwise, no matter how well intentioned, it creates more ill will than good.
December 2, 2007 2:32 AM
Eric said:

Like apparently everyone else who has left a comment on the other post, tonight my mother experienced this blue screen on the laptop I purchased for her last christmas. Being the default remote support person for my mother, I had to tease the information out of her to figure out what was wrong, and what a shock, yet another incident of shoddy support from Dell.


I am _exceptionally_ disappointed with myself for this. Myself, not Dell? Well, I know that Dell's consumer products are crap, yet I ignored this knowledge when I decided to buy my mother her laptop. Next time I will remove Dell from consideration.

I look forward to buying from one of your competitors this holiday season.

December 2, 2007 3:00 AM
Greg Bourgault said:

I agree with Wes...this is my third Dell and will be my LAST Dell! 

 Exactly one year and three days (gee how convenient since the warranty is one year) after I received my "new" computer we had a hard crash/blue screen/catostrophic failure. 

 Since I was on a trip my wife called tech support and for the meager fee of 39 bucks, they told her how to boot and operate in safe mode...which is worthless since you can't print etc!  I have since returned home and have been trying to get tech support ALL day with no callback yet to try and find some sort of resolution for this problem.

Planned obsolescence...down to the second! GARBAGE!!

December 3, 2007 3:50 PM
Barry Bornstein said:
Help, My machine continues to get a blue screen - my ability to work is based on the availability of using my machine - how do I fix the            PCD5SRVC.PKMS problem.
December 4, 2007 5:43 AM
T. Catt said:
This happened to me during the AT&T DNS issue which knocked out internet service (for Bellsouth and AT&T DSL customers) across the southeastern US. I really wasn't sure what was causing the BSOD problem, but got by since my system was dualboot with Ubuntu.   The problem hasn't happened to me since internet service was restored, so I guess DSC has updated my user account.
This morning my wife used her account in XP and got the same BSOD complaining of problems with PCD5SRVC.pkms
What does this mean?  Does DSC need to be updated for each user on a machine in XP?
Is there a way to force DSC to update (or update all the accounts)?

Also DSC does indeed slow down system startup (at least in XP).

I don't think Dell is a bad company, but this piece of software does have problems. 
December 5, 2007 4:41 PM
Andy said:
Today is the 5th of Dec and the problem still occurs. What a great bug fix!
December 5, 2007 4:45 PM
Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger said:

Barry, T. Catt and Andy: Sorry for the frustration this has caused. I just posted more details on how to unistall and reinstall Dell Support Center.

I hope it helps. If not, and you still have problems with Dell Support Center, please feel free to e-mail me directly (click on the link to do so).

December 5, 2007 4:45 PM
Rick said:
Please make sure you are not rebooting your system until a syncronization has occured.  If you reboot the system before the bug fix is downloaded through the updater you will end up in the same situation.  An easy way to know that the first syncronization has occured is to click on the alerts tab.  If there are alerts in the directory then you should be syncronized.
December 6, 2007 8:21 AM
A Malinowski said:
Dec 08,2007 - after BSOD,  new version of DSC was downloaded. New version is crashing my "ms windows xp pro"  with the same problem: "pcd5srvc.pcms".
December 8, 2007 12:58 PM
Michael Sweney said:
So WHAT is the fix?  I used to only buy IBM, but switched to Dell when they whnt China.(Lenovo), I have now purchased two Dells (laptop and a desktop).  I have beeen satisfied until this!  I found nothing on their web site to hellp me on this "known" problem.  I am in the process of purchasing a new Lalptop and Dell was my choice until this.  I have been lookling at Sony Vaio, which has better price and options than  a  equivilent Dell.  I am losing faith in Dell support which is most important to a customer.  
December 12, 2007 6:46 PM
Phil Tanner said:
Yes I spent ages trying to stop this problem. Why on earth can Dell not inform of a "known problem"
December 17, 2007 6:50 AM
Dave Horton said:

Since about the 19th of December I found that my Dell Inspiron 6400 Laptop CPU was working overtime and the cursor constantly showed busy. I discovered that DSC.exe appeared in Task Manager Processes many times (80 plus instances). Trying to end the processes simply ensured new instances appeared.

 I entered safe mode and renamed DSC.exe then re-booted and uninstalled. Everything now works with the older Dell Support 3.4.

 

December 22, 2007 10:12 AM
Eric Brewer said:
Mr. Menchacha:  No the problem is not fixed.  Either there is something wrong with the update function or with my update.  The stop error is still happening.
December 23, 2007 10:57 AM
Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger said:

Eric: If you're still having problems, can you please send me a direct e-mail at: lionel_menchaca@dell.com?

I can have someone follow up with you.

January 9, 2008 7:45 AM
Keith Petersen said:
I too had problems with the Dell Support Center.  I uninstalled it as you suggested, then downloaded the latest version.  When I tried to install it the installer said "This is not a Dell System" and warned that it may not work.  I cancelled the install, re-downloaded DSC and tried again - same problem.  Apparently the old version removed something in my system that identifies it as a Dell Dimension 8400.  Now I cannot get the Dell on-line web-based checkup to work either because it thinks my system is not a Dell.
January 10, 2008 4:33 PM
Al Eason said:

Dell Support Center is a catastrophe, the original version that came with the computer purchase all of a sudden stopped working all together. Be mindful that I purchased this system not even a year ago. When I try to open the DSC, It would start to open then just stop. I ran the repair software, to no avail. I then uninstalled that version and tried to install the new version and it did the same thing-started to open and then just disappear.  I called dell technical support for help and got the run around being referred from one department to the other. This is rediculous, and I thought Dell was the cadilac of computers. (Bad thought)  Now be mindful that I have reinstalled the DSC several times and it still won't open. All other programs work fine on my Dell computer except this piece of crap. So I uninstalled the DSC. 

February 17, 2008 6:46 PM
Jim Neeland said:

 DSC has been a complete disaster, and is now removed from my Dell laptop, never to return.  Over the last couple of weeks, my laptop has been getting slower and slower, with taskmgr consuming high CPU percentages most of the time, and the machine becoming virtually useless.  Despite various firewalls and a good virus checker, it seemed like I had a nasty virus, and I spent two days solid trying to find the virus, with no luck (the various virus scanners ran too slowly to completely test my system!)  Eventually, I removed DSC from the registry 'Run' list, and WOW! the system is back to performing great.
 

March 20, 2008 1:30 PM
Darek Bona said:

Dell Support Center is a ridicule, absolute frustration and a major pain the rear. It is crappy software that just eats your memory and slows down the computer. I wanted to get rid of it, but uninstalling is not possible due to errors popping up and reinstalling is not possible since DSC is already installed. Insane! Will have to format.

April 24, 2008 10:43 AM
Alan Carter said:

Dell Support Center is a good program in theory but poorly executed in reality.  Its intent is to make life easier for non-geek users but instead it only creates havoc by forcing them to contend with error codes and malfunctions.  I currently own two Dell systems but I will no longer buy any Dell products due to their horrendous customer service and their use of customers as guinea pigs when fielding programs such as DSC. 

June 7, 2008 2:04 PM
GKBHAT said:

Dell support center doesnot connect even after reinstalling

July 22, 2008 1:15 PM

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