New Dell Bios rendered XPS 8900 desktop unusable

I have downloaded the previous bios version and copied it to a USB stick but that one i cannot get to boot . I think they're are steps that i am not doing to get it to work

I can enter bios setup no problem , secure boot is disabled and i run Win 7 on the Legacy setting .  ACHI was enabled but after the BIOS update it changed to Raid .

I have not tried disconnecting anything at this point but i will .  I did run all diagnostics by using F-12 and it says no issues.

I can boot from a USB or CD and i have done that with a Windows 7 repair disk that allowed me to restore previous images and after that completed when i log in i still get stuck in the same place which is "Windows is starting" screen but thats where it freezes forever.

Version of Windows?

If it says "Starting Windows", then it completed the POST so that probably means BIOS is ok. If you reboot and *immediately* press F2, can you open BIOS setup? Is Secure Boot enabled or disabled in BIOS setup?

Have you tried disconnecting all devices, except mouse, monitor and keyboard?

Reboot and *immediately* press F12.. Look for the option to run the diagnostics and run them, including extended hard drive tests. Copy error message(s), if any.

What happens if you boot from a bootable USB or CD/DVD? Connect the USB or insert CD/DVD in the drive and then power PC on. *Immediately* press F12 and look for the option to boot from USB or CD/DVD, whichever you're using.  If it boots from USB or CD/DVD, then the problem is with Windows and you may need to run a repair.

You can download the files and tools to create a bootable USB to repair Windows for free from the Microsoft site.

If you can open BIOS setup  what version does it show, 2.1.10 or 2.2.1? Either way, it doesn't sound like the motherboard got damaged by flash updating BIOS.

You can't just revert to the previous version of BIOS. And force reverting comes with its own risks of bricking the motherboard.  So I would not try that...

Do you have a solid state drive (32-GB) that's used as a cache by Windows? If you have that drive, then BIOS needs to be set to RAID, assuming Win 7 was installed for RAID. If you don't have a cache drive, or even if you do, but Win 7 was installed without being setting up for RAID, BIOS needs to be set to AHCI.

So I would change BIOS to AHCI and that may solve this problem. Even if it doesn't, making that change won't cause any harm, and you can always change back to RAID, if needed.

Bios shows version 2.2.1, Win 7 was installed on a SSD a Samsung 850 Pro .  Thats the only hard drive i have connected .  I changed it back to ACHI but it made no difference .

Computer still goes no further than the "Windows is starting"  screen .  If i could revert to BIOS version 2.1.10 everything would be good again i believe but can't seem to do that .

Even taking the battery out and leaving it out while pressing the power button doesn't work and the same for using the jumper .

Computer is 5 days out of a year old and it's unusable.  I am on disability and could barely afford food let alone fixing the computer .

UPDATE:

While in BIOS setup to check RAID vs AHCI, make sure Secure Boot is Disabled and Compatibility Support Module (CSM) and Legacy ROM Options are both Enabled.

Be sure to save the changes before exiting setup and see if it boots this way. If not, try the things in my previous post.

Since it says BIOS v2.2.1, the flash update worked, and reverting to the previous version is NOT going to fix this problem. This is a Windows 7 problem, and not an uncommon one. You can probably fix it with a little time and some patience, at no cost.

If you took the battery out, BIOS reverted to the default settings. If RAID is the default (the service manual doesn't say), then it's not going to boot that way with only a single SSD installed. You'll have to go into BIOS setup and change that to AHCI again before going any further.

Try these in order listed:

Power off and disconnect all peripherals except mouse, monitor and keyboard, and then try to boot. If that works, power off normally and reconnect peripherals one at time and reboot until you find the offender.

Reboot and immediately press F8. Look for Advanced options and choose "Last Known Good Configuration".  If it boots that way, shut down normally and reboot again.  If it boots OK the second time, you should be good to go. But then back up your personal files on external media ASAP.

If Last Good doesn't work,  reboot and press F8. Select Safe Mode+Networking as the boot option. If this works, click Start>Run>(type in) msconfig  (press Enter). Click the Startup tab and make note of all items checked to run at startup. Then uncheck all of them. Exit msconfig and reboot normally (not in Safe Mode). If it boots now, go back into msconfig  and put a check next to your antiviral software (eg Microsoft Security Essentials, McAfee, Norton, whichever you use), exit msconfig and reboot normally. Keep doing that until you either mark all the same ones that were originally marked and it still boots normally, or you find the offender.

Do you have your original Dell Widows 7 Reinstallation DVD (not some backup you created)? If Last Good doesn't work, put the Dell DVD in the drive, reboot and press F12.  Look for the option to Repair Windows and see if that fixes this.

If you don't have the original Dell Win 7 DVD, you can create a bootable USB (on any PC) with the OS file on it for free to repair Win 7 on the XPS8900. You will need your Microsoft Product key (sticker on the PC) to download the file from Microsoft.  Then boot from that USB and run a repair.

www.microsoft.com/.../windows7

I decided to boot off a Win 7 copy that i downloaded from Dell's site .  It's installing Windows fresh so i hope this fixes everything .

The copy of Win 7 was from one year ago , does Dell put up new versions with updated bios settings ?

Oh well forget what i said earlier , even a copy of windows won't install , it's stuck on "Completing Installation " for the last half hour .

Usually it takes just a few minutes .

I really don't have anything to save and don't have any apps so reinstalling is no big deal .

Reinstall failed though , it's stuck on "Completing installation? Somethings very wrong , computer can't install Windows apparently .

This is a permanent freeze , if you hit escape it says computer will be unusable but it already is .

You sure took a drastic step by reinstalling Windows because there were still other things to try first, beyond what I'd posted. And I sure hope your personal files are backed up on external media because they'll be erased by the fresh install.  

You're going to have 100's of Windows 7 updates to install once the OS install finishes. So be sure to get those done right away. And then you're going to have to reinstall all your apps too.

(Re)Installing Windows doesn't change BIOS settings. The OS installation will use whatever settings are in BIOS to determine how things get installed, not the other way around. This assumes those BIOS settings are compatible with the hardware that's in the PC.

Post back and let us know how it goes...

Might take longer if you're doing a clean install.  Is BIOS still set to AHCI, Secure Boot off, etc?

Let me see if I can get some help from some of the serious Win install experts...

Bios is set to ACHI and secure boot is off , it's still on completing installation phase , this is obviously frozen , no way it's this slow.

Thanks for your help my friend

Still on the screen of "Completing Installation" , can't believe Dell listed a "Urgent" update and so i download it and it breaks my computer.

This is a monumental inconvenience to me .

You have no idea how outraged i am over this .