Solved: Dell Optiplex 960 hangs at Starting Windows 7

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boshenska

Dell Optiplex 960 hangs at Starting Windows 7

We have had a few Dell Optiplex 960 desktop PC's run into a problem. It seems that when you choose to Restart Windows 7, the PC will hang at the "Starting Windows" logo. The only option at that point is to hold the power button to shut down the PC. You can then power the PC back on and it will boot normally. But if you have to perform a restart again, the pc will once again hang at "Starting Windows." I have checked for viruses, hardware problems, etc and found no issues. We once spent hours on a chat with Dell....the final fix was to send a new motherboard. BIOS updates for this model have addressed this issue....but we still run into it from time to time. One of my techs recently noticed that if you pull the LAN cable from the PC, it will boot. This reminds me of the problems we sometimes had with Windows XP and hanging at "Applying Computer Settings." If anyone has any thoughts, it would be appreciated.

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Lee W, MVP🇺🇸

If BIOS updates resolve, it sounds like something faulty with the NIC portion of the motherboard. You could also look into updating your NIC drivers.

shudman🇬🇧

At "Starting Windows" timeframes, it is unlikely to be a driver, so BIOS is likely to be your issue. I would hassle Dell some more.

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boshenska

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I will attempt the NIC driver update first....then attempt the second NIC card. I will let you know the results. Thank you for the input.

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boshenska

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NIC driver update: no change
Disabled onboard NIC: PC boot fine erverytime after selecting Restart from the Start Menu
So it seems to be an issue with the onboard....but this only has happened on a few Dell 960's....not sure what the problem could be

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boshenska

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I installed the seperate NIC card. I disabled the onboard NIC in the BIOS. PC boots and restarts everytime with the onboard disabled. I then re-enabled the onboard NIC.....it took 20 minutes for the PC to boot after the Restart. But Device Manager shows the onbaord NIC to have a Code 10...could not start. It is a Intel 82567LM-3 Gigabit Network Connection.

BitsBytesandMore🇺🇸

Well ... then we know the problem is with the "On-board" NIC.

There is no way to repair it other than replacing the motherboard. If it is not under warranty, it is not worth the cost of replacing considering that a new NIC is so cheap. The other approach of reinstalling the driver (which could have been the main problem) unfortunately proved unsuccessful.

Well... at least you now know how to deal with this issue.

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boshenska

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Yeah....what is curious though is that I placed the hard drive in 3 different 960 chassis and they all had problems. We either have a bad "batch" of 960's or soemthing else is going on. But Dell's answer one time was a motherboard.....seems like they know something but do not want to give out that information. Maybe BIOS A10 will solve the problem....the latest was A09.

BitsBytesandMore🇺🇸

I agree with you. A bad BIOS could certainly be the case. It could also be a bad driver download; many times I've encountered bad driver downloads on the manufacturer's website (the download was good but the file posted on the website was damaged). Did you try updating the driver with the CD that comes with the computer?

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boshenska

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I replaced all the motherboards in the problem Dell 980s. Seems to have corrected the issue....but what a pain!!!

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The Microsoft Legacy Operating System topic includes legacy versions of Microsoft operating systems prior to Windows 2000: All versions of MS-DOS and other versions developed for specific manufacturers and Windows 3/3.1, Windows 95 and Windows 98, plus any other Windows-related versions, and Windows Mobile.