How to install Dell Mobile Connect 3.0 on any devices

With the announcement of Dell Mobile Connect 3.0 which supports screencast for iOS device, I would like to give this software another shot.

Per Dell, these are the requirements for the software to run:

"Product Requirements Available on Dell consumer XPS, Inspiron, Vostro and Alienware PCs with Bluetooth purchased in January 2018 or later. PCs purchased before January 2018 are not supported to ensure the highest level of quality you expect from Dell. Companion mobile app is compatible with iOS 10 and above and Android 6 and above."

In order for Dell Mobile Connect to run, you need the following three components:

1. Dell Mobile Connect PC from Microsoft Store

2. Dell Mobile Connect driver from Dell support

3. Dell Mobile Connect iOS/Android from App Store/Play Store

(As of 3/31/2020, the most current version for all three components are 3.0.9268)

If you go to Microsoft Store right away for an unsupported device, you'll be unable to download for compatibility reason. To get around this, you have two options:

1. Download appxbundle other people have installed and intercepted from Microsoft Store.

I have seen version 1.0.x and 2.0.x available on other forum/blog (Note that the above three components don't have to match to run, you can run PC version 2.0.x with 3.0.9268 driver and mobile app with no problem, you just don't get new functionality such as screencast for iOS)

2. Force adding machine ID to registry, copy following code and save it as "Add_SCMID_RegEdit_for_DMC.bat" and run as admin.

@echo off
setlocal

echo:
echo Setting OEMID in RegEdit...
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Store" /v OEMID /f /t REG_SZ /d DELL
echo:

echo Setting SCMID...
echo Fetching System Model Name
for /f "tokens=2 delims==" %%a in ('wmic computersystem get model /format:list') do set SYSMODEL=%%a
set SYSMODEL=%SYSMODEL:  =%
echo System Model Name is "%SYSMODEL%"

if not "x%SYSMODEL:Alienware=%" == "x%SYSMODEL%" goto modelAlienware
if not "x%SYSMODEL:Vostro=%" == "x%SYSMODEL%" goto modelVostro
if not "x%SYSMODEL:XPS=%" == "x%SYSMODEL%" goto modelXPS
if not "x%SYSMODEL:Inspiron=%" == "x%SYSMODEL%" goto modelInspiron

:modelAlienware
echo System model contains the name Alienware
set SYSNAME=Alienware
goto modelFinish
:modelVostro
echo System model contains the name Vostro
set SYSNAME=Vostro
goto modelFinish
:modelXPS
echo System model contains the name Xps
set SYSNAME=Xps
goto modelFinish
:modelInspiron
echo System model contains the name Inspiron
set SYSNAME=Inspiron
goto modelFinish
:modelFinish
echo System Name is %SYSNAME%

set SCMID=DELL_%SYSNAME%
echo SCMID to be set is %SCMID%

echo Setting SCMID in RegEdit
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Store" /v StoreContentModifier /f /t REG_SZ /d %SCMID%

This code will add machine name into the system, I actually have a legit Dell XPS 9360 with a brand new Windows 10 PRO installed (no Dell exploded software thus unrecognizable by Microsoft Store), the code recognizes the correct machine ID, YMMV for other custom machine:

msinfo32:

You should be able to install Dell Mobile Connect from Microsoft Store with the above code.

The second step is to download Dell Mobile Connect driver from Dell support site. I got "Dell-Mobile-Connect-Application_4N5PR_WIN_3.0_A00.EXE". Don't install from this. Extract the file with 7z, get "DellMobileConnectDriversSetup_9268.exe" and install from it.

After installation, you need to set the phone to discoverable mode and pair Bluetooth to the PC. If you have difficulties in pairing, just restart the PC and the phone and retry.

For phone, message, file sharing, everything is done via Bluetooth. While the screencast is done via Wifi. It's best to use 5G wifi, otherwise the image quality is very poor.

I have both Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 11 paired. Unfortunately, you can only pair one phone at a time. The android has a bit more functions such as better file sharing including access to files (iOS you can only access pictures and videos), a dedicated wechat button, screencast seems easier than iOS.

Android support is just more well rounded. There is a mouse cursor enabled by default and you get the standard three button for navigation. While for iOS, you have to enable assistive touch to get mouse support, without it, it's impossible to navigate through the interface.

Final thoughts:

The Dell Mobile Connect is certainly by far the one of most mature solutions if you want to narrow the gap between iOS and windows PC, except the Huawei ecosystem.

The software is actually not developed by Dell, but by a company called Screenovate Technologies Ltd, they just give a Dell skin to the software.

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