Batch of 60 laptops (precision 5680) hard freezes when camera is initiated

Since the February 2026 Windows Update cycle, we have identified a critical stability issue affecting a batch of about 60 enterprise laptops (primarily Dell Precision 5680).

The systems experience a total "hard freeze" (requiring a physical power-button reset) immediately upon initializing the integrated webcam in applications including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and on occasions even the native Windows Camera app.

The issue does not occur 100% of the times which makes it difficult to confirm in real time whether an attempted fix was successful or not.

No BSODs are occurring, but the freeze is so sudden that the event logs are not capturing any significant event leading to it.

Environment Details:

• Affected Models: 60 x Dell Precision 5680, 1 x Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1, 1 x Dell XPS 13 9320
• Operating System: Windows 11 24H2/25H2 (Affected following KB5077181 / KB5077179 / KB5079473).
• BIOS and drivers: the affected devices are kept up to date in all respects via scheduled runs of the Dell Command update utility, and for the few that were not up to date at the time the issue was reported, the BIOS and driver update has not resolved it.

The only proven workaround, which is not sustainable to maintain in place, was to roll back from the February Windows Cumulative Updates and blocking their reinstallation.

the issue reoccurs as soon as the CU is installed again, and the March CU that has become available in the meantime is presenting the very same issue.

After a restart its observed that the camera works for random amount of time until it fails again on the next camera initiation. 

These models do not have an NPU. 

Further Troubleshooting Performed (Non-Resolving):

1. Driver Parity: Verified and updated all units to the latest manufacturer-validated drivers (BIOS, GPU, and Chipset). Dell Command | Update: Ran the full "Advanced Driver Restore" and support stacks.
2. Running  sfc /scannow and DISM health checks returns no corruption.
3. Basic Camera feature turned on. 
4. Hardware Acceleration: Specifically turned off in conferencing apps (Teams, Zoom).
5. Teams/WebView2 Reinstallation: Full uninstalls and cache clears for communication platforms.
6. Privacy Settings: Verified camera permissions were enabled for desktop apps.
7. Deleting the camera driver from device manager and reinstalling. 
8. Upgrading to 25H2 the affected devices that were still on 24H2
9. Installing drivers in a specific order did not help
10. Frameserver registry changes did not help
11. Changing PCI express and CPU settings in the power plan settings did not help.
    
    Reached out to Microsoft as well.