MS CLient Loads First

OK.  I think you need to:

1) Uninstall the client and all client pieces, using add/remove programs (includes NICI and NMAS)

2) Install the client CUSTOM.  Do not take the "typical" option.

3) (Provided you're on modern NetWare) Select TCP/IP only (remove IPX if present).
3a) If you're on old NetWare or aren't using TCP/IP for some reason, select IPX only.

4) Select NDS (not Bindery)

5) De-select any and all optional services that you do not have or use.  That includes NMAS - if you're not using any NMAS methods, be sure to de-select NMAS.

6) Only install NICI if you're using NMAS or doing administrative functions from the PC you're installing it on.

If it still has a problem, post back.

Apparently this is a known problem with the Optiplex GX520 model, as I see other people reporting the same issue. Probably something Dell has pre-installed on the computer is interfering with the client setup. There's a USENET posting on this exact issue that suggests this is caused by a missing registry setting. It's worth a try.
In RegEdit, go to
  HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\GinaDll
and set  its value to be
  NWGina.dll  
Here's the original discussion:
  http://groups.google.com/group/novell.support.netware.client.winnt-2x-xp/browse_thread/thread/f46cb9719d28c26a/4e04de907e06a93f
Here's another person reporting the same issue.
  http://forums.windrivers.com/printthread.php?t=75578 

Here's the text of a .REG file that will apply this setting.
====================================
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"GinaDLL"="NWGINA.DLL"

ShineOn, I have already reinstalled a couple of times with the same settings you suggested it doesn't seem to help.

Billmercer,  The GinaDLL string doesn't even exist so I tried to add it to WinLogin but when I restart it seems to remove it for some reason???

Are you signed on as local Administrator?

If not, do so; if so, try disabling system restore and then adding the reg value.

Speaking of disabling things, have you disabled or uninstalled any of the crap -er- "stuff" that Microsoft and Dell load up your system with, that almost nobody needs or wants?  You might want to start with add/remove programs and get rid of anything extraneous to what your company uses a computer for, especially the "phone home" help stuff that Dell has been tacking on lately, and also remove any Windows items not germane to your situation like Microsoft Messenger and the waste-of-resources "indexing service."

Then, after the requisite reboot, go into Services and disable the services that might be causing you grief.  

After cleaning that mess up, then turn off System Restore, reboot (of course,) then edit the registry per Bill's instructions and try again.

If that fixes it, make sure it sticks through a couple of reboots and then turn System Restore back on and set a checkpoint.

>The GinaDLL string doesn't even exist so I tried to add it to WinLogin but when I restart it seems to remove it for some reason???

This could also be some sort of antispyware/antivirus thing, some of those programs will revert registry changes in an attempt to prevent spyware/viruses from inserting themselves into your boot-up sequence. I'm guessing it came with Symantec "security suite" or something like that? Try disabling all that junk. It could also be something completely unrelated.

If all else fails, reformat and reinstall Windows on the machine. That has fixed the problem for others.

>Speaking of disabling things...

Holy cow! The sheer umitigated gall of these morons in loading down new machines with utterly useless chife is unbelievable. I counted 12 separate icons in the system tray on my sister-in-law's new laptop. Maybe two of them were even slightly useful.
The ones that really get me riled up are the "applications" that do nothing but open up a web page. Brilliant, a whole executable program, complete with special DLLs, just to reproduce the effect of a desktop shortcut.

As for disabling services, it looks like blackviper.com is down, but here's a backup copy of his guide to disabling services.
http://martinz.wordpress.com/research/blackviper/ 

I uninstalled all the junk that came on the computer.  I also uninstalled office 2003 which was the only program I have installed since I took this computer out of the box.  I turned off System Restore and put the GinaDll sting back in but when I reboot it still removes it for some reason.  I thought I was going nuts so I put in a test string with no value and it kept it there without any problem.  

WTF?  If that ain't enuf to drive ya nuts, hey?

Barring any goofy things running in the "run" keys, it almost sounds like a policy thing.

Is there a local group policy maybe that's screwing with your mind, here?  Run GPEDIT.MSC and check the "disable" boxes, then go to Windows\System32 and look for Group Policy folders, and clear out any registry.pol files in them or their subfolders, then reboot and try again...

Oops - the "disable" boxes show up when you do a "properties" on the top line in the GPEDIT.MSC panel.

Thank you guys so very much for your help, I was about ready to pack them up and send them back to Dell.  Once I removed the utility for the USB Wireless card I was able to reinstall the client, I still had to modify the registry by adding the GinaDll string but this time it stayed.  I have rebooted it several times to be sure and it still is working.
thanks Again

I wonder if that's one of those utilities that wants to use its own GINA before it lets anything else do its thing... kind of a workaround to the "gotta have Windows up before Wireless networking will function" issue that WIFI in general has.

I'll bet if you looked into the USB wireles utility's registry entries there'd be something in there with MSGINA in it, and if you'd changed that to NWGINA it'd have worked, too... ;)

Could be... I've reported the issue to Novell, so maybe they will add it to their knowledgebase. I also attempted to file a bug report with Dell, though no telling where that will end up.

That may be true, I only bought four of these so the next one I take out of the box I will look at the registry and let you know if I can change it,  however, when I was trying to figure out what the problem was I did a search of the registry several times trying to find the string MSGINA and came up with only one but it wasn't in HKLM or even under microsoft, but I will take a look and let you know what I found.

May not be in the registry then.  It could be hard-coded into the software (ugh) or in an .ini or .dat file - and if the latter, could be uneditable, also ugh.

We're talking DELL here, so my guess is it's hard-coded in the executable.