XPS 8950, BIOS 1.0.8, slow startup

Did you try disabling Fast Startup in Windows? That's not the same thing as Fast Boot in BIOS setup.

You can't change BIOS to AHCI without configuring Windows first. So change BIOS back to RAID, and hopefully it will boot again. Assuming it does boot, you have to follow these steps to change to AHCI:

1. At the desktop, open a Cmd window, run as administrator

2. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter

3. Restart the computer and tap F2 to enter BIOS setup.

4. Change the SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI.

5. Save the change and exit Setup. Windows will automatically boot in Safe Mode.

6. Open Cmd again, as in step #1.

7. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and press Enter

8. Reboot and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

And I'm still wondering what happens to BIOS Time if you uninstall Realtek...

@marsdavid Since the Last BIOS time is based upon hardware initialization, I would try the other things first before trying a clean install unless Windows is not installed on an SSD. 

Are you logged into an account with administrator privileges?  According to this site, that option should be there in Win 11.

Is Hibernation enabled on the Advanced Power Settings screen for your active power plan? If not, enable it, reboot PC and look for the option to "Change settings that are currently unavailable" again.

You could also try running these commands to see if they can fix any Win 11 issues:

1. At desktop, open a CMD prompt window, Run as administrator

2. At the prompt, type in: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press Enter
Be sure to include a space in front of each / and copy any error messages when that's done.

3. Assuming no unfixed errors in  DISM, at the CMD prompt, type in: sfc /scannow and press Enter.
Be sure to include a space in front of the / and copy any errors when that's done.

4. Assuming both commands are "successful", reboot PC and look for the option to "Change settings..." in the Power plan again.

@RoHe I had hibernation off since I usually sleep or shutdown. With hibernation on, I saw the Fast Start. I tried as was suggested. No appreciable difference. I did unplug HDD and DVD. Went from about 20 seconds to 12 seconds. Not bad. A step in the right direction. 

Thanks to all for help. I will provide updates in the coming days as to my journey to save seconds.

@marsdavid  What's the Boot Time when both DVD and HDD are connected again?

If disabling and then re-enabling Fast Startup decreased the Boot Time to ~12 sec (with DVD and HDD connected), it sounds like there might have been a pending Microsoft update that couldn't be installed with FS enabled.

If Boot Time is routinely around ~12 sec from here on, I suspect that's the best you're ever going to get. Boot Time depends on identification and initialization of the hardware, and new PCs have so much more stuff these days, that it's slower than you might expect. 

As I said, my XPS 8930 routinely has been showing Boot Times of ~12 sec with its 9th Gen CPU and 16 GB of RAM, while your PC is more "advanced", especially with its 12th Gen CPU and probably more RAM.

NOTE: If Boot Time suddenly increases again, it's possible there's another pending Microsoft update, so just disable Fast Startup, do a full power-off shutdown, boot up and then re-enable Fast Startup again. 

marsdavid,

You state as comparison, "On previous machines". Were those previous machines XPS 8950? Were they Dell?

@marsdavid  Did you check BIOS setup to make sure Windows Boot Manager is first in the boot options list?

If it isn't first, BIOS is going to look at each drive, typically starting with DVD or HDD to find one that's bootable. Since they'll both be checked ahead of your actual SSD boot drive, that could slow the boot down.

Did you try uninstalling Realtek Audio in Device Manager since a recent Realtek driver caused slow boot times on the XPS 8930. This might be a similar issue on the XPS 8950.

And, IMO, a 5 sec boot time is probably just not a reasonable expectation...

@RoHe Windows boot manager is first. I uninstalled Realtek Audio. This did not change Boot Time. 

@KillerPooh 

I removed my SATA HDD from inside the machine and placed it in an external enclosure. This helped speed up startup as well as not putting stress on internal power and cooling. Since it is primarily used for backup and archive this works great for me. Performance is good as it is using a USB interface. I have a Sabrent enclosure. Only $25. Here is Amazon link: Amazon.com: Sabrent USB 3.0 Tool-Free Enclosure for 2.5” and 3.5” Internal SATA Hard Drives (EC-KSL3) : Electronics

In your situation you would need 2 enclosures if you want both hard disk to be external.

Hi All,

I am also seeing longer than expected bootup times on my new 8950 (12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K), 32 GB RAM, 2 TB M.2 SSD (Dell Supplied) and added a 10 TB SATA II and a 14 TB SATAII hard disk.

From the time the screen goes black (doing a reboot from Windows) until a spinning ring appears takes around 18 seconds.  The spinning Wheel is visible for about 6 seconds and afterwards I can log in.

Hello, I see you are looking for technical assistance. If you need our help, you can start a private message with us and we will be happy to assist you.

I had an issue with slow boot after a BIOS update a while back on my 8950. I reverted back to the older BIOS and then installed the newer version again and all was well. Maybe give that a try??? I wish there wasn't so many BIOS updates.... it just seems that makes more chances for something to go catastrophically wrong. There are some other threads you might wanna check out about installing BIOS updates to minimize the risk. My start up time is 7.9 sec, still kinda slow in my opinion but not worth complaining about and maybe due to the fact that I have 3 hard drives?

I just tried this, but the virtual assistant is confusing a NO BOOT situation with a SLOW BOOT situation, so this was no help at all.

I may just try this. I have nothing to lose at this point. Thank you for responding.