XPS 8930, running Windows 11, frozen at Dell Logo at startup

Question

Dell desktop PC running windows 11 suddenly will not start properly. It freezes at the Dell logo during startup.

It was left on overnight and when we looked at it in the morning, there was a blue screen and would then it would not restart properly.

I did the diagnostics and it said that the operating system and all of the hardware was fine. How can I address this issue?

I tried to do a reset on the PC. However after it says it has reset it then says Installing but freezes at 1% and the screen goes dark. I left it for over 12 hours, but no change. Finally forced a restart and I am back to the frozen Dell logo at startup.

Any suggestions?

redxps630 · Answer

although we do not know your XPs model we assume it is a 8900 series that came from Dell configured w Win 11, cpu at least 8th gen or newer.

When it freezes at Dell logo, one of the firmware test has stalled. Try replace CMOs battery w a new one and clear CMOs settings if there is a jumper on your motherboard. Uninstall hdd or ssd. You want to be able to pass the Dell logo screen and press F2 to enter bios. If yes, reinstall hdd/ssd, try a clean Win 11 install.

Gobucks82AZ · Answer

@redxps630​ it is an 8930. It came with win 10 and was upgraded to win11 last year and had run flawlessly up until this point. The pc is from 2018. Is it time for a new pc vs pay to have someone do the repairs?

redxps630 · Answer

It is still a good model and can serve another couple of years. You can take it to a computer shop such as geek squad to get repair estimate, or you can DIY. The service manual is available. Before you open it up I would try to use MS win 10 media usb drive to recover the Dell factory Win 10 if possible. I assume you upgraded to Win 11 from within Win 10, and not a clean Win 11 install. Your ssd or hdd should still have a recovery partition to restore to original factory OS.
note if you use a bootable usb flash drive and are able to pass the Dell logo screen, your pc can still pass power on test and you do not need to clear CMOs yet.

try recover the original OS then.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000124379/factory-reset-restore-or-reinstall-microsoft-windows-on-a-dell-computer

Hokie_Shankar · Answer

What is your system configuration? Did you change any hardware?Can you boot in safe mode?

RoHe · Answer

Since you updated to Win 11, the factory Win 10 image may no longer be accessible so that could explain why the reset/installation is failing. Hopefully personal files are all backed up and it may be best to do a clean install using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB to install Win11.

BTW: you probably should change BIOS from RAID to AHCI before starting the clean installation from the USB stick, unless you actually want/need a RAID configuration.

Hokie_Shankar · Answer

I was able to get back to my original win 11 OS on my XPS8930 using the support assist recovery processRestore your Computer Using SupportAssist OS Recovery | Dell US

XPS Desktops

XPS 8930, running Windows 11, frozen at Dell Logo at startup

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