Pro 16 Plus PB16250, Pro Max 16 MC16250, Windows 11 24H2, stability issues

Question

Hello,

My company recently purchased 10 new Dell laptops in preparation for Windows 10 end-of-life:

5 × Dell Pro 16 Plus PB16250
5 × Dell Pro Max 16 MC16250

Unfortunately, all 10 devices are experiencing daily system freezes under Windows 11 24H2. The symptoms include:

Applications (e.g. Edge, Chrome) stop launching
CMD and PowerShell open but remain black with no prompt
Already-open applications continue working, but the system becomes unresponsive (or without net support, eg. Outlook doesn't send/receive)
Shutdown, restart, and sign-out actions begin but then hang indefinitely
Only recovery is a hard power reset via the Power button

All updates have been applied:

Windows 11 24H2
Dell Command Update 5.5 (drivers and firmware)
Dell Support Assist 4.8 diagnostics and BIOS checks (no hardware issues detected)

Some laptops are connected to Dell Pro Smart Dock SD25, others are not. The issue occurs regardless of docking, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet connection.

Given that both models are newly released, I suspect a driver or firmware incompatibility with the new hardware that may be causing part of Windows to crash silently.

I would appreciate any insights from Dell staff or other users:

Has anyone encountered similar issues with these models or this OS version?
Are there recommended logging or auditing tools I can run to capture more information before the system freezes?
Would performing a Windows reset be advisable, even though the machines are brand new?

Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions.

SandroRiz · Accepted Answer

I hope yes... there are two days that users don't have freeze. I would wait another day before to claim victory

Guilty: ESET

Resolution: install new graphic driver 32.0.101.8132 and new NPU drivers 32.0.100.4220 taken from Intel Website
Second Guilty: DELL that doesn't offer these new drivers via Dell Command Update

SandroRiz · Answer

I was able to record a video...https://youtu.be/lPdIQuD1CZ8

SuirAdmin · Answer

Hi,

I can confirm I am suffering the exact same issues on Dell Pro Plus 16 PB16250 laptops, Apps freezing and not opening, Restarts taking hours and needing to be Hard reset in order to restart (leading to Bitlocker requests).

SandroRiz · Answer

@SuirAdmin​ I'm sorry for you, but at least I'm not crazy and not alone and hopefully someone of Dell should start to investigate. I've tried to uninstall all the DELL software as recommended by many people in this reddit thread, but I have always a freeze once a day by many users (and strange, always around 4PM, 5PM)Next move will be to try without our antivirus/Firewall (ESET Endpoint Security); do you perhaps have the same software installed?Finally to format and reinstall windows from microsoft's ISO...

SuirAdmin · Answer

I've already factory reset Windows 11 back to out of the box specification and still suffered the same issue on this. Also using Eset Endpoint but no difference with this. Seems to occur on all of the same model.

SandroRiz · Answer

@SuirAdmin​ Are you saying that also WITHOUT Eset Endpoint you have the freeze?

SuirAdmin · Answer

Not at the moment, too much of a risk to let an enduser in the field use it without Eset. Just need time to test and use a laptop at the moment without Eset, will let you know how it goes for me tomorrow.

SandroRiz · Answer

@SuirAdmin​ FYI... yesterday a user without it, has NO freeze...If you arrive at the same conclusion, Two clues make a case.

SuirAdmin · Answer

@SandroRiz​ I hope its not Eset - that would not be a good outcome!

SandroRiz · Answer

@SuirAdmin​ Don't say to me, that I just renewed for 3 years for 80 users... a lot of money!

anavacerrada · Answer

Wow, i have the same problem in all Dell Pro 16 at my company. We also have Eset. Once a day and necesary put bitlocker....

SandroRiz · Answer

BTW, asking copilot if there are other cases, it leads me to this thread that is very recent
ESET Endpoint AV causing degraded performance with KB5063878 ? - ESET Endpoint Products - ESET Security Forum

anavacerrada · Answer

Hi, Have you managed to resolve the issues?

marek.surek · Answer

I bought approximately 2 weeks ago Dell Pro Max 16 Premium with Arc Pro 140T and Nvidia RTX 2000 Pro with Windows 11 Pro. I was very excited as it is superb specification and Dell next business day warranty, but .... I struggle every day to make it work. It freezes, goes to black screen with only mouse visible and I have to use Ctrl + Shift + Windows Key + B to restart graphic drivers (sometimes it helps and sometimes not). Except stability issues I'm very disappointed with stability as this is workstation class where stability is one of the main benefit why customer pays extra. Another thing is really unpredictable performance (except graphic card). Many times it freezes for couple of seconds or have other numerous driver bugs which drives me crazy. Previously I had 8 year old Dell XPS 15, but it seems that it is equally fast as this new notebook at least my feeling is that Dell Pro Max is not faster for basic usage than my 8 years old laptop. I hope they will make it work as soon as possible because it could be my last Dell laptop.

PS: I have no ESET. I'm SW developer and I use WSL2, Java, Docker containers, ... Currently I don't use any graphic professional SW like CAD, AI tools etc. Just common backend programming.

SandroRiz · Answer

I completely understand your point. I also have an XPS 9520, and after testing some of the new Dell Pro Max models—despite PassMark benchmarks claiming they're faster—I honestly didn’t notice any real difference compared to mine.

Back in February, I bought a Precision 5690 for our CTO (3.5k€!), and we went through three months of issues: BSODs, Wi-Fi not working, and three motherboard replacements. And every "new" motherboard was actually refurbished—you can tell by the A0x code on the label. If I add up the hours both I (CIO) and our CTO wasted on that machine, I could easily invoice Dell over 10k€!

Talking with CIOs and IT managers from other (larger) companies, it seems Lenovo and HP aren’t doing much better. Only Microsoft, with its Surface line, offers a replacement service that actually works—but as we know, the model range is quite limited.

Dell (through a vendor) has the advantage of being highly customizable in terms of components. For example, although we're based in Italy, we often need German keyboards and English OS setups—and Dell can deliver that with relatively short lead times.

Dell Pro Max Laptops

Pro 16 Plus PB16250, Pro Max 16 MC16250, Windows 11 24H2, stability issues

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