Inspiron 7506 2-n-1 (slightly over a year old), Windows 10 Pro, 21H1

 

Before attempting the upgrade Windows PC Health Check app says my laptop meets the requirements to upgrade and the Dell Update app says there are no outstanding updates available. This model is listed in the supported Dell Windows 11 laptop models. Windows 10 prompts for the upgrade itself.

 

I've attempted the new upgrade a handful of times over the course of the last two months. During the upgrade process everything seems to download and install in Windows okay until the process goes to a screen with a Dell logo with a loading circle, somewhere around 40-50% on that screen the loading circle stops moving and the laptop blue screens like clock work. The error on the blue screen gives a stop code of DRIVER_VERIFIER_DMA_VIOLATION before rolling back to Windows 10.

 

Event Viewer lists two System errors around the time of the upgrade:

#1. Volmgr - Crash dump initialization failed! 

#2. WindowsUpdateClient - Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0xC1900101: Upgrade to Windows 11.

 

Looking up Driver Verifier DMA Violation stop code online had me checking a few things that didn't seem to be related - Opening Driver Verifier Manager in Windows and displaying/deleting existing settings indicates that no drivers are being verified. 500GB of available storage space. Device Manager doesn't show any drivers with a caution symbol, but there are a few that show a question mark that get automatically re-added after being uninstalled - they all seem to be mostly Bluetooth related. No peripherals, USBs, or anything plugged in other than the original charger is plugged in. Never used a docking station yet either, even though that seems to be a common issue with this stop code.

 

Receiving guidance on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated. On a side note, if this can't be fixed easily what would the process be like for clean installing Windows in regards to getting prompted for a Windows key? (I believe factory resetting shouldn't require one, but I wasn't sure about a fresh install) Would the Dell apps be available afterwards? - Most importantly Dell Update and Mobile