XPS 8930, freezes for 3-5 seconds

@rjbards  - If they're listed on the Startup tab in Task Manager you can disable them by highlighting and clicking the Disable button in lower right corner.

If they're not listed on the Startup tab in Task Manager, run services.msc from Start>Run and look for them there. Highlight the service, right-click and select Properties. On that screen, set Startup type to Disabled.  Reboot when done...

BTW: If you see Adobe Update Service set to Automatic, change that to either disabled or at least to manual so it can't phone home unless you want it to. And remember to check for Reader updates from time to time after opening Reader. There are a few others like Fax and xBox that you may want to disable too, assuming you don't use those...

Caution: Disabling the wrong service(s) can stop the PC from booting, so manually set a System Restore point first and be careful what you disable.

The services I am focusing on are under Computer Management, Services.

Still pinning it down but stopping the following services stops the freeze. Will keep fine tuning, waiting a good 6+ hours between changes to be sure it has made a difference.

Also using the Freeze logger means I am 100% sure if the issues is persistent or has been remediated.

• Dell Data Vault Collector
• Dell Data Vault Processor
• Dell Data Vault Service API
• Dell Digital Delivery Services
• Dell Hardware Support
• Dell SupportAssist
• Dell SupportAssist Remediation

Stay tuned....

@RoHe 

"If they're not listed on the Startup tab in Task Manager, run services.msc from Start>Run and look for them there. Highlight the service, right-click and select Properties. On that screen, set Startup type to Disabled.  Reboot when done..."

@DellCan @John-Jay 

That was the second option I failed to mention!

Hopefully disabling these services resolves your issue (and other users).

But ...  I have none of the services noted in your post and still have occasional freezes.

I only have a couple of freezes each day so I'll live with it for now.  Hopefully a future update will correct the issue. 

If it gets annoying enough I'll try reinstall of OS.  

Hi, @rjbards , @RoHe , @DellCan , @dustynz ,

Have just used services.msc & have now disabled:-

Dell Client Management Service

Dell Digital Delivery Services

Dell SupportAssist Remediation.

NB:- No other Dell App/Program/Process was listed!

Regards,

John-Jay

Hi @John-Jay 

Great news. Once I get a chance I will do the same.

Please be sure to report any new updates.

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@rjbards wrote:

@RoHe 

"If they're not listed on the Startup tab in Task Manager, run services.msc from Start>Run and look for them there. Highlight the service, right-click and select Properties. On that screen, set Startup type to Disabled.  Reboot when done..."

@DellCan @John-Jay 

That was the second option I failed to mention!

 

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And they may be listed in the Windows Task Scheduler, if you don't find them elsewhere.  Lots of different places to hide things...

Hi @John-Jay @rjbards @RoHe and others

I have now disabled all Dell named apps and services from starting when Windows boots.

Thanks.

Hi, @DellCan , @RoHe , @rjbards , @dustynz / @whoareyou_2009 , & all the others!

So far 24 hours without a problem (I'm keeping my Fingers crossed)! Note:- this is just based on disabling the Dell Apps/Programs/Processes from Start-Up, I haven't yet attempted to install a "Clean-Win10 Installation"

Obviously, my mini-freezes were always Ad-Hoc, so I will wait a few more days before I start feeling a bit more confident!

However, the CPU Usage Graph (from Process Explorer) doesn't seem to be showing quite as many "peaks" - also the Reliability Monitor Graph (from "Control Panel\System and Security\Security and Maintenance\Reliability Monitor") hasn't shown any untoward Errors. Failings or Warnings for 24 hours!!

Regards,

John-Jay

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@rjbards wrote:

Your initial feedback is good to hear; keeping fingers crossed here!

I have been "freeze-free" and "Dell-SW-free" here since 9/27.

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So now start adding the Dell S/W back one app at a time to see if you can identify the offender...

And manually set a System Restore point before installing each app so you can quickly revert.

@John-Jay 

Your initial feedback is good to hear; keeping fingers crossed here!

I have been "freeze-free" and "Dell-SW-free" here since 9/27.

Hi, @RoHe ,

You suggested:- "So now start adding the Dell S/W back one app at a time to see if you can identify the offender... ".

Simple question, assuming that we are NOT talking about a "Must-Have" item of S/W, why try to track down the Offender?

Shouldn't we now be insisting that Dell do this?

Regards,

John-Jay

Fingers crossed, but I have now gone nearly three days without a microfreeze. Here's what I did:

- After Googling around for a Windows-fixer type program, I came across the website tweaking.com, which has a Windows Repair tool. I'm generally suspicious at best of such things, but I downloaded the tool, ran it through Norton's "File Insight", which gave it a "Trusted" rating, and ran it on my computer, following all of the steps it suggested (e.g., completely powering off the computer first, booting into safe mode to run the tool, etc.)

- It ran for quite a while and did things like SFC and scandisk (no errors there), but it also seems to have cleaned up a bunch of other stuff (deleted tons of temp files, old icon '.db' files, old windows update files, etc.)

Whatever it did, it's now been nearly three days and I haven't seen the microfreeze again.

Hope that helps!

(The only negative I've noticed so far from running this is that it seems to have reset many of my default apps; e.g., it reset my default browser to Edge, the default image viewer to Photos, etc. These can easily be re-set as needed.)

@Ajwe 

Great suggestion, it's a highly-rated repair tool. Major Geeks has this to say...

"Tweaking.com - Windows Repair is an all-in-one repair tool to help fix a large majority of known Windows problems including registry errors and file permissions. Video tutorial available.

Some situations this could work for you might be any type of error message you receive where something no longer works like it used to. A very common use for Windows Repair is after a malware infection. While there are a lot of tools out there to help remove the infection, many times you will have issues left over like a disabled Action Center, firewall, anti-virus or even worse, internet connection. We’ve seen these hundreds of times. By booting into safe mode and running this program it can get these problems solved and everything working again. Occasionally you might have to change back some settings you have modified, but it’s worth it.

The program continues to add new features, has no third-party software, no nags, no usage or time limits this truly is a breath of fresh air."