W11 on Vostro 5581 (25GFK) - Black screen with mouse cursor 2023 edition

Just had to say, thanks. Vostro 5581 black screen upon boot. Sometimes it was at the lock screen (no picture) or it would just boot to black screen with cursor. Updated drivers and bios, same problem. Tried clean install, same problem. Disabled the Integrated Sensor Solution and back to normal without any problems. This seems to be something that has been a problem on here for some time. So, thanks again for resolving a problem I spent hours trying to fix.

This problem continues still at this date.

Just picked up again one Vostro 5581 laptop from end customer. Unfortunately they end up paying for lack of DELL support.

I can not believe that DELL does not have a driver/bios fix for this. Somebody at DELL must have upgraded these to W11.

Driver version for "Intel(R) Integrated Sensor Solution" is 3.1.0.3920 which comes with W11 installation (via updates). That is also latest on DELL support page. We have literally recycled perfectly working laptops before we found this so called "solution"

I wonder how many laptops globally will be thrown away for this. While Vostros are value models, they are still pro/company laptops which should get proper long term support.

I will try to escalate this on one laptop which I have (was going to recycle it earlier) to DELL support. Frankly I do not have high hopes but you never know.

@mmaenpaa​ 
Have the same Problem Vostro 5581 after W11 updrade : Found this:
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>.
Have you tried this System-BIOS für Dell Inspiron 5480/5488/5482/5580/5582- und Vostro 5481/5581-Systeme | Treiberdetails | Dell Deutschland
Downdgrad BIOS to 2.15 (Disable Bitlocker)  and upgrade to W11 ?

Solução simples:

Espere ele ligar, ele leva ate 2,30 Horas. Espera ele VAI ligar uns levam 1hora, outros 2 horas. Dai funciona. Após isso vá em personalizar, tela de bloqueio, escolha um imagem simples e desabilite qualquer efeito neste recurso. Pronto. era isso.

I also have this issue.  It is very frustrating and has wasted a huge amount of my time.  I cannot update the firmware, as per Dell's solution to this issue (it fails whichever way I try to do it, including using /forceit) but it sounds like even the firmware update may not solve this.  I would try disabling the Integrated Sensor Solution device as suggested above, but I simply cannot get the machine into safe mode.  Is there a known good way to do this on this machine?

Hi,

We had the same issue after upgrading to Windows 11 - Disabling the Sensor works as a work around but flashing the bios to previous version 2.15.1 seems to solve the problem.

@mikew5163​ download the bios file in the link below version 2.15 to a usb stick.

F11 on startup - choose flash bios option and then browse to the file - Flash the bios and you should be good.

Thank you, @TheStook​ !

This is exactly what I have been trying to do (well, I'm upgrading from 2.6.1 rather than downgrading) but it fails as soon as it tries to flash the bios.  And if I try to run the bios exe in an elevated command prompt (in Win 10), it produces errors saying the policy or resource payload is missing.  It seems like the exe maybe just does not contain the bios payload.

Hey @DELL-Chris M @DELL-Nat M  - please look into this despite your position (as noted at the end of this post) regarding laptops that haven't been tested.

I've run into this issue on my wife's Dell Vostro 5581.

The update from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11 Pro went smoothly with the only issue being the 1 - 2 hour wait time at startup in order to be shown the login screen when pressing a key/clicking a mouse (it was just a black screen with mouse cursor otherwise - see picture below).

Went into Device Manager, then System Devices and then right-clicked on Intel Integrated Sensor Solution and selected Disable Device.

This did resolve the issue - but only temporarily.

When the 5581 was upgraded to Windows 11 it was upgrade to 22H2. So, when Windows 11 upgraded to version 24H2 - it enabled the Intel Integrated Sensor Solution again which caused a wait time of 1- 2 hours before logging in.

So I was after a more permanent solution. The Dell laptop was up to date with everything so I wasn't sure what to do and didn't want to try using drivers not from Dell for the Intel Integrated Sensor Solution.

It is interesting, though, on 24H2 that instead of a black sreen at sign in you are now shown a "Please wait" with the rotating circle of dots (see pictures below).

Then I found this thread.

Thank you. The downgrade to firmware 2.15.1 does appear to have rectified the issue.

To do the downgrade I simply downloaded the first file that runs on Windows (not the one bootable via usb) and when I ran it I was given a message that I was downgrading. All went well.

I think you do have to make sure that the setting in the UEFI/BIOS that allows downgrading has to be enabled though. I can't recall where that is exactly at this stage but it is in there.

I really don't know why UEFI/BIOS 2.15.1 fixes this issue and earlier/later versions bring it back. This is something that does need to be looked into.

Edit: I have seen that the Dell Vostro 5581 - while valid to upgrade to Windows 11 by Microsoft - is NOT on the list of tested laptops here: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-au/000187485/dell-computers-tested-for-upgrade-to-windows-11#Vostro-NB-W11-22H2

And as per Dell's post here: https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/windows-general/faq-windows-11/647f9466f4ccf8a8de6ae17d

The above Dell article designates Dell computers that will be tested/validated/supported by Dell for upgrade to Windows 11. If your PC model is not on the approved upgrade list above and you install Windows 11:
- Dell support can only assist you in running hardware diagnostics. They cannot assist with any Windows 11 issues
- There will not be any Windows 11 drivers provided by Dell

So there's that as well.

Hi,

My experience with Dell Vostro 5581 and Windows 11. 

I started with a fresh installation of Windows 11 25H2 and then I stumbled upon the same issue as described here (black screen instead of lock/login screen). The device has the latest BIOS (2.18.0) and my resolution was to download the "Intel Integrated Sensor Solution Driver" from a different model.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-lv/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=h11y8 - after installing this driver, the issue was resolved. There was no need to disable the "Intel Integrated Sensor Solution" device or downgrade BIOS.

@esters​ Thanks for the suggestion. Does this solution still work for you? Because after one restart I had a black sreen again. Guess I will go for downgrading the BIOS.

@user_a35061​ 

Hi, after multiple restarts I cannot reproduce the issue with the updated driver. I also have Hibernation disabled (powercfg -h off). Hope that helps.

This type of engineering flaw from Dell is quite annoying when it occurs, because even though they have a forum like this to map improvements based on customer usage, they don't pay due attention. Today is November 2025, and in my repair shop I received a Vostro 5481 with this problem, losing almost the entire day trying everything, until I found this post that saved all the work:

Solution:
1. Install or Update Windows 11
2. Go to Device Manager > System Devices > Intel Integrated Sensor Solution
3. Right-click and select the DISABLE option.

After that, you can install and update normally, and the machine will restart and shut down normally and quickly.

@RaphaelMaria​ Just so you know - I did try this - but found that it was re-enabled again after a subsequent Windows Update. The only solution was for me with my Dell Vostro 5581, downgrading the BIOS/UEFI from 2.18.0 to 2.15.1 actually fixed it as I no longer have to disable the "Intel Integrated Sensor Solution" in Device Manager.