XPS 8940, constant freezing and locking up

Dell recent Bios update is known to cause problem sometimes . Therefore do not update unless absolutely necessary.

if there is no better solution try downgrade bios slowly to older version before Oct 23 if it allows you to do so.  You need to enable it first in bios.  Go slowly stepwise backwards. Since this is a retrograde flash, do it only when you have no other choice.  Read this carefully and do it at your own risk.

8940 bios most recent

@redxps630​ Thank you.  I though about trying to do this but did not know where to find old bios.  What do you mean by "enable it first in bios"  Is this a setting in bios?

Yes 8940 bios has this setting under Maintenance tab

@JackKL​ 

The BIOS setting to change is not exactly obvious. At least on my PC, I had to disable the "UEFI firmware capsule update" setting to allow for BIOS downgrades.

Larry

Thank you Larry.  I'll try to find that.

I too have this problem. Same issue. Computer freezes when it wants to, sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes after a few hours. Sometimes it'll go half a day with no problem and I think: mysteriously solved! But nope. Same issue comes again.

I suppose I'm preaching to the choir here, but the Dell online support has actually been thorough - to a point. I've updated the BIOS 3 times (same version), I've scanned the entire system, I've reloaded the operating system per Dell instructions. No change.

Frustrating: get online with a tech assist rep, get help, system locks down, restart required, you're back on line with a different rep who doesn't know what was already done. Result: lather, rinse, repeat.

MOST frustrating: No one at Dell has floated the idea of downgrading my BIOS. Why we have to get onto forums like this to resolve an issue is beyond me. But you know what? The last person I was online with actually asked me to video my computer to capture when it freezes. 

What? A video showing when the mouse suddenly stops responding, the keyboard doesn't respond, and me manually powering down? Um... nope.

If I don't get anywhere with the Dell online help, I'll look into downgrading the BIOS.

I also have this issue.  The only workaround so far has been to downgrade my nVidia drivers, and use the version available from the Dell site (31.0.15.3141 released in June 2023) instead of the latest RTX update from nVidia.  I've tried to downgrade the BIOS to a version that worked beforehand, but part of the upgrade fails to rollback, so going back, even with capsule updates disabled doesn't help in my case.  Hope this helps.

There are lots of other reports of the same thing. See for example 

https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/xps-desktops/xps-8940-freezing-again-after-almost-a-year-without-freezing/650c74c82ae49d628fae48ed

Dell has been causing systems (both laptop and desktop) to freeze because of updates for years already.

I do believe the pre-installed (and constantly updated) Dell Support software it the major cause.

I know for fact if you go in and stop all the Dell services in Service Manager and set them to "manual" startup that on the laptops it stops the freezes from occuring.

I have an Alienware 17 R3 that I thought was freezing due to a "critical" BIOS update, but it was, in fact, the Dell services causing it.

I also have a Inspiron 7386 that literally just yesterday started doing the "freeze" thing and there was no BIOS update.  The only thing that "auto updated" was the Dell Support Assist software and it caused freezing on the machine I am writing this on now.  I uninstalled all the Dell support software (not the drivers, just the Support Assist stuff) because I just do not have time to mess around and disable a ton of stuff... As of 7pm last not I have not had a single freeze and have used this laptop for at least 7 hours since.

I don't know if it is an "oversight" on Dells part, or a methodology to frustrate owners into upgrading thier systems, but I find it far too circumspect that they release updates they cause freezing and user frustration.  I would have to imagine SOMEONE at Dell knows of these issues, yet they don't do anything to fix it because all of these systems are "older" and it would make sense they want to sell new systems.

Sorry, but it is far too obvious a ploy. 

@reeve11​ This problem is completely unacceptable. I have had the same crashing problem for well over a year. It occasionally improves when a new BIOS update comes out. But the current update is worse. It's rare that I can go for an hour without the computer freezing up.

Interestingly, when my 1-year warranty was up (and the freezing problem only occurred every few days), I inquired as to extending the warranty on the computer. The price I was quoted was for a 1-year extension was 80% to 90% of the price of a new computer.

I believe that this problem is far more common than Dell acknowledges.

I have bought at least 10 Dell higher-end computers for myself and wife over the past 20-years. I can't conceive of ever buying another Dell after this type of shoddy treatment.

@Mike in Aptos

I dealt with my problem for 18 months. I leave my PC on 24/7 and would wake to it frozen occasionally. After each of the 2 BIOS updates I've installed since I've had my PC (Oct 2022), each one exacerbated the problem and made it more obvious, with the last one creating daily lockups.

I've not had a single lockup in the 16 days since I posted that message. Not a single one! This solved an obvious problem for me, there's no doubt in my mind. I hope it works for everyone else as well. 

Inmcidentally, I stopped buying Dell for over 20 years because of their shoddy product. I decided to give them a try again, and this is my first PC in over 20 years. This one works fine now, but Dell seems to create problems for themselves and there won't be another one in my house. The tech support is expensive and poor.