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May 22nd, 2024 20:19

Dell OptiPlex 3060 SFF - Windows 11 Stability Issues

OptiPlex 3060 Small Form Factor

OptiPlex 3060 Small Form Factor

Hello Dell Community,
I'm having a big problem on my Dell OptiPlex 3060 SFF. I find that when I use programs like the Windows Photos App, after a while it will just freeze and crash to the desktop. I've also had this happen on File Explorer when using the Gallery.

And on the Dell OS Recovery Tool where it fails to download an ISO Image for my OptiPlex 3010 and this tool is important for my PCs and I need it working. I never had a problem with it up until a few days ago where it just wouldn't work properly. I tested a different ISO Image for my OptiPlex 3060 both the SupportAssist and Windows Installation Version and it starts downloading no problem although when I tried the OptiPlex 3010's ISO Image after reinstalling the tool as I thought that would fix the problem. It was able to download I believe the whole image but then it crashed and went back to square one. I did try this tool on a 2021 Dell Inspiron Laptop with an 11th Gen Intel Processor and it worked with zero issues whatsoever.

So could someone please explain to me why my OptiPlex 3060 is unstable and can't seem to run apps I was once able to run without any issues? Thank you. I have a video showcasing the problem if it helps but I'm not sure if I can show my PC Service Tags on this Community Forum.

6 Professor

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7.7K Posts

May 23rd, 2024 05:06

Was once working and now not.  Try replacing the size 2032 CMOS battery.  Bad batteries affect BIOS and therefore affects PC operation.  My PC always froze on YouTube when the battery was bad.

If by chance that doesn't take care of it,something I'd be suspect of if this was the case all the while - How much RAM is in the 3060?  Not enough RAM will cause programs to crash.  Win10, and I imagine Win11 also, operates better with 8GB or more RAM than 4GB.

Best bet when having to reload is use the Microsoft site to download Windows to a flash drive.

(edited)

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23-05-2024 12:40 PM

@bradthetechnut​ I'll have a look at replacing my CMOS Battery, I didn't know that they could affect PC Operation.

My OptiPlex 3060 has 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 RAM in Dual Channel and I am running a copy of Windows 11 that was downloaded straight from Microsoft and not Dell.

6 Professor

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7.7K Posts

May 23rd, 2024 23:48

Sounds good.  When my PC froze on YouTube, eventually it just wouldn't boot and gave me BSOD, or it would crash and give me BSOD.

1 Rookie

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31 Posts

May 24th, 2024 11:52

@bradthetechnut​ I didn't know your OptiPlex 3060 had worse stability problems. Anyway, apart from perhaps the CMOS Battery and the RAM you suggested, do you think it's just old hardware on Windows 11 or the OS itself that is the culprit what other theories do you have that might be causing my situation?

6 Professor

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7.7K Posts

May 25th, 2024 02:44

My PC currently is a Precision 3620.  Previously owned Optiplex's 7010 and 755 (both MT's) and currently own a 790 DT.

An Optiplex 3060 8th gen is fine for Win11.  But since it's 5 or more years old, the battery likely needs replacing (or at least test) and shouldn't be sidestepped.  Other theories won't work with a bad battery. 

16GB RAM is definitely enough, unless you were to use apps that demand more.  But it shouldn't be crashing on just working with photos and File Explorer.

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May 25th, 2024 17:47

@bradthetechnut​ I see. I'll have a look into replacing the CMOS Battery soon. I thought that thing needed changing every 10 years as a couple of days ago, I swapped the CMOS Battery in my OptiPlex 3010 as the system is 11 years old.

I do have a ton of photos on my computer on a 2TB HDD that's in the system and my Boot Drive is a 250GB WD Blue M.2 SATA SSD and I believe the bottleneck for my system is the SSD as my PC can support an M.2 NVMe Drive but it's using an M.2 SATA SSD with speeds up to 550MBps and sometimes this computer experiences some slowdowns navigating the OS and I think it's my SSD hitting its limits.

6 Professor

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7.7K Posts

May 27th, 2024 02:10

I kind of doubt it's the M.2 SATA SSD.  Regular SATA SSD's are still fast.

Change the battery first and we'll go from there.  If afterwards, you still suspect the SSD and want to change to an M.2 NVME SSD, I'm not sure what else the culprit would be either.  Impossible to diagnose directly from here.

1 Rookie

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May 27th, 2024 11:22

@bradthetechnut​ Alright, I'll first get the CMOS Battery replaced and we'll see what happens.

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