New XPS Destop Total Fail at Start Up.

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@joe53 wrote:

I purchased an XPS Desktop 8930 in late 2019, with Win 10 Pro.

1. My attempts to activate it today were dismal. I was able to connect to the net via both wifi and a cable, register at Microsoft and at Dell 

2. So I did a hard shut down and restart.

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1. Which were you doing ... Activating Windows or registering with Microsoft and/or Dell ? The reason I ask is because none of that is required during First-Time-Setup . The objective there is to just get through it so Windows can finish setup and finish installing properly.

I often just create an (old school) local-account. Now that I think about it, sounds like you went down the other path with an (online) Microsoft Account. Somehow, you didn't already have one, so you were trying to create one then?

2. Yeah, that is really hard on Windows. That can easily damage your Registry and/or corrupt Windows in various ways. I certainly would not want to do that during Windows-10 First-Time-Setup on a machine I was responsible for . If a desktop, I even go so far as having it connected to a good UPS-Battery.

I suggest you try Safe-Mode or otherwise treat this like a Recovery Mode situation.

First. be sure ePSA Diags (outside Windows) still completes successfully.

If you can barely get back into Windows, do things like :
- Check Drive-C for errors
- Create your Recovery drive (on a 32gb USB-Flash-Drive)
- Finally, maybe.use the Reset function. That should lead you back to original Dell-OEM software load (if not damaged) ...  and you can repeat the First-Time-Setup.

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@joe53 wrote:

I purchased an XPS Desktop 8930 in late 2019, with Win 10 Pro. My attempts to activate it today were dismal. I was able to connect to the net via both wifi and a cable, register at Microsoft and at Dell (a much resented invasion of privacy) but the registration with Dell was not easy, and I could not close the screen. I could not even shut off the PC or restart.

So I did a hard shut down and restart. Now I'm staring at a generic Win 10 background screen with no files or folders, no useful taskbar I can find, and no useful programs I can open. My screen is useless. I am getting no error messages.

I've been using and installing Dell PCs for over 20 years, and this is the first I could not install. Considering it is a top of the line system, I'm very disappointed. Any suggestions are appreciated.

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Apologies if this is too basic or something you already tried (I can't tell if you were even able to log into windows), but if you are in windows, have you tried: (1) right clicking the mouse and adjusting the display resolution.  (2) Alternatively, perhaps the GPU drivers were updating in the background and the new drivers are causing the errors, if it looks like that may be the case, are you able to type windows + X to get the pop up screen, then open device manager, and roll back the drivers? 

@joe53   - Reboot and immediately power off when you see the F2/F12 prompts in the lower right corner of the screen. Then immediately power on and off again, as above. After the 3rd on/off/on cycle, Windows should automatically enter repair mode.

You'll be presented with various options on that screen. Since you don't have any personal files on the PC, you may just want to do a full Reset.

As for the Dell account, just use the same one you use to log in here, and for MS, choose "local account". You don't need to have an MS account, unless you plan to download apps (AKA: junk) from their store and you can always sign up for that later.

Thanks to all for responding.

The sequence of events I recall is a successful verification and establishment of wifi, registration at Microsoft's website (I had previously registered there years ago with a now defunct email, which I successfully updated) which went well. It was the next prompt to register with Dell when things went south. I could find no way to opt out of Dell's registration. Prompts did not work well, and the screens started to freeze. Drop-downs did not work. At no time did I see any indication that Win 10 was installing.

I was not able to access Safe Mode (with or without networking) via any route, but I was able to access (via f12 at startup) ePSA diagnostics- which found no hardware problems, including the 4 hour memory check. Dell's phone support says that the warranty only covers hardware, and not software. Does anybody else here see a problem here, where Dell delivered software fails out of the Box? My other Windows 7 Home and Windows 10 Pro systems work well on my home network.

Currently my XPS desktop shows a generic Win 10 background, a Recycle Bin that is half off-screen, an Edge icon that does not work, and the top half of a taskbar which is non-functional. That is it. I can open task manager but it does not work. I cannot refresh the desktop. Basically this system is dead in the water. Obviously the OS and drivers did not fully load, despite my following the prompts.

Ron , I tried your instructions to no avail. I can't "reboot", I can only perform a hard shutdown, then a start.

It is obvious to me that that this Win 10 Pro Installation was borked, for whatever reason. Dell Phone Support is sending out a technician, but advises me that my warranty only covers hardware (not software) failure.

I expect Dell to resolve this problem.

Yeah, I'd be really upset too.  But since you don't have any files on the PC, it may be faster/more efficient for you to head over to Microsoft, create a free bootable windows 10 flash drive, and start fresh with a clean install of Windows.  You also get to lose the canned bloatware.  That's one of the first things I did when I got my system from Dell last year. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 

Thanks r72019:

I might try that, but for now I will await the Dell technician visit.

Speaking of bloatware, I forgot to mention that I nixed some permissions for McAfee AV in my preliminary start-up. It would not surprise me if this contributed to my problem.

@joe53  - Sorry, I used "reboot" to mean powering the PC on.

Turn monitor on first, and leave it on. Then power PC on. When when you see the Dell "splash" screen immediately force power off by pressing the power button and then immediately power on and force power off. After the 3rd on/forced off cycle in a row, do one more power on, and it should automatically launch the Win 10 repair dialogue.

FWIW, my new XPS wouldn't boot out of the box when it arrived in Nov'19. In my case, the video card was dislodged from its slot. Didn't appear to have the retention "hook" at the lower corner locked into the x16 slot. Once I fixed that, it booted up and completed the Win 10 installation...

Hope they get yours sorted quickly!

EDIT: I missed the post that you nixed McAfee. Wouldn't be bit surprised if that's why this happened. You should have accepted, and assuming the PC booted properly, you could have gotten rid of McAfee. I left everything intact for first few days after I got it to boot to make sure it worked. And only then I NUKED the bloatware.

Glad you got it sorted...

How in the world did you get a left-handed mouse as the default setting?? Don't think I've ever heard that problem before now.  Have to make a note to self just in case... Maybe yours fell through the Looking Glass. 

If you couldn't access Settings, how did the tech spot that rodent issue? Good job on his/her part!

Now that the hair-pulling is over, I hope you don't have any other problems and you enjoy your speedy new  toy...