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May 14th, 2025 01:37
Dell laptop Restarts Multiple Times Before Booting and Doesn't Recognize Charger
Hi everyone,
I have a Dell Precision 5550 laptop, and I’ve been experiencing a persistent issue for the past 8 months. When I power it on, it restarts one or two times before it finally boots into Windows. More recently, it has gotten worse—it now restarts up to 8 times before successfully booting.
Another major issue is with charging. After booting, the laptop often doesn’t recognize the charger and shows a warning that the power adapter is not supported. The only way to get it to charge again is by shutting it down completely and then turning it back on. Restarting does not fix the issue.
Additionally, the laptop restarts on its own if I put it to sleep, and if I hibernate it, it restarts and takes me to a fresh desktop (as if it was just booted).
During this time, I’ve tried many troubleshooting steps:
Updating and downgrading the BIOS
Clean installing Windows
Updating all drivers
Running SupportAssist and performing OS recovery (factory reset)
Installing the latest Dell updates
While these steps sometimes temporarily reduce the severity of the problem, the issue always returns. I suspect it's a software-related issue because the behavior changes slightly after updates.
I'm a software engineering student and rely heavily on this laptop for my studies. Unfortunately, I can’t afford a new one right now. I would really appreciate any help or advice.
Thank you so much!
anne_droid
3 Apprentice
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649 Posts
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May 14th, 2025 09:01
Hi
Please can you confirm the Make Model and OS, along with any configuration details like touch screen, backlit keyboard, SFF or tower etc etc.
So has a hardware diagnostic been run and reported 100% for everything?
Especially the condition of the CMOS coin cell, fit a new one perhaps?
Maybe ensure that Fast Startup is disabled, and avoid sleep and hibernate modes, just doing a clean shutdown each and every time?
(edited)
dell_precision_5550
1 Rookie
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2 Posts
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May 14th, 2025 16:46
@anne_droid
thank you for your reply.
Here are the details you asked for:
🔍 System Configuration
Make & Model: Dell Precision 5550
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10850H @ 2.70GHz
RAM: 32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable)
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (4GB)
Display: 15.6" 4K (3840x2160) Touchscreen
Keyboard: Backlit
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro
🔧 Diagnostics and Health
I ran a full Dell hardware diagnostic (via F12 and SupportAssist).
➤ Result: No errors reported except a battery health warning — it’s degraded, but still holds charge for 2–3 hours.
CMOS Battery: BIOS shows correct date and time, so no clear sign it's failing.
⚙️ Power Settings
Fast Startup: Disabled
Sleep & Hibernate: Still enabled in Control Panel (I haven't disabled them yet)
thanks for help
anne_droid
3 Apprentice
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649 Posts
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May 14th, 2025 21:38
Hi
Possibilities, rather than probabilities.
CMOS coin cell, valid date and time are not set by this, they are 'remembered' so a valid time and date can be set by the Region automatically from the 'network' time on the internet and kept in sync while power is on and for a few minutes after power off.
There may be a problem with the Main Board in regards the charger.
There may be a problem with the hardware controller on the Main Board.
Most everything else you have covered, more than once I believe.
Would you consider dual booting with Linux Mint, an install only needs a few gigabytes, 30 if you can manage, but I have put one for recovery in a lot less, 16 GB is adequate.
This alters the equation in there being no MS OS as the boot loader and then Mint can load run for a few minutes and then shutdown and reboot.
Much as W11 does and if it copies/emulates W11 behaviour it's likely the Machine.
Then you can remove Mint if you so wish.
If in doubt please ask.