Dell P66F001 Stuck Loading Windows

Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem.

Have you made any changes to Windows 10 before boot problem?

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode?

Have you tried to system restore your Windows 10?


Please boot your computer with Windows Setup Media and from Windows Recovery Environment start the Command Prompt.

Please type below command into Command Prompt and press Enter key.

The following command scans integrity of all protected Windows system files and repairs files with problems when possible.

Code:

Sfc  /Scannow   /OFFBOOTDIR=D:\   /OFFWINDIR=D:\Windows

Please replace partition letter D: with Windows installed partition letter. When computer boots into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment the drive letter assign to Windows partition may not be C: drive letter because Windows 7, 8 , 8.1 and 10 creates a separate system partition when it's installed from scratch. The system partition contains boot files WinRE assigns the system partition the C: drive letter and the Windows installed partition will be assign any other drive letter usually D: drive letter is assign to Windows installed partition. The Bcdedit | find "osdevice" command can be use to find out the drive letter of the Windows installed partition the output of the Bcdedit command is similar to this osdevice partition=D:. The drive letter after partition= is the drive letter of the Windows partition.

@Chris Nicola - "Wiganken and Fireberd, it took me a while, but I did find the Dell recovery options and decided to use them." - I'm glad it worked for you.

In case it helps, the same principle applies to people with HP machines as well . Both DELL and HPs operating systems are customised and can only be installed on those machines. Even the BIOS is customised. That's why you need the service tag number and/or Express Service Code to install. Installing generic Windows 10 may seem to install OK but it will be missing important drivers and be problematic.

Good luck.

[QUOTE=In case it helps, the same principle applies to people with HP machines as well . Both DELL and HPs operating systems are customised and can only be installed on those machines. Even the BIOS is customised. That's why you need the service tag number and/or Express Service Code to install. Installing generic Windows 10 may seem to install OK but it will be missing important drivers and be problematic. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

I do support on the Dell forums. The Dell supplied Windows is not customized, its a standard OEM version. Clean installs of Windows also works, just users must download some specialized model specific drivers like Realtek sound and the Dell Support Assist (if wanted). The Dell recovery that was used installs back to factory disc image and installs needed drivers but the OS is still just standard OEM. That Dell OS' are customized has been a long standing myth.

I have a Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming 5577 model. I don't game but bought it for use in my recording studio. It came with an M.2 SSD and space to add a laptop hard drive or full size SSD. I had a spare SSD and installed that and made a dual boot system. (1) the original Dell disc image on the M.2 SSD and (2) a new clean install on the SSD using a standard Win 10 created with the media creation tool. It installed and Windows installed all needed drivers except the model specific Realtek sound driver. I didn't need or want the Dell support software as this was a minimal install with just the OS, needed drivers and my recording studio software.

The Dell hardware can (and is in many cases) custom implementations, but that is the hardware and driver, not an OS problem.
Two examples are the sound and video cards on Desktops. The video cards on Desktops are, in most cases, low power OEM versions and Dell drivers should be used. Realtek audio, for both Desktop and Laptop requires Dell driver for proper operation and interface with Waves MaxxAudio application. Jack device detection is a function of MaxxAudio. Dell motherboards are custom Dell models, even down to the mounting holes.

Freebooter, thanks for your further comments. I ran sfc /scanow and it fixed some errors. I am puzzled why there were any errors even after the Dell factory reset, but that's life with computers! But after the reset it boots fine now so the issue is solved.

Wiganken and Fireberd, thank you for this further information. I updated the bios and some drivers from the Dell support assistant and everything appears to be running smoothly. Now, I will be better prepared in case I ever need to repair a Dell laptop in the future!

Thank you all again for your help and support.

Kind regards
Chris

Great that its working as its supposed to.

Please mark this as "solved"

If you still have the machine and not handed it back to your friend I suggest disabling the Optional Windows driver updates and tell your friend to only use DELL Support Assist to install drivers for the DELL. It is safer to avoid future problems.

See Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10

wiganken said:

If you still have the machine and not handed it back to your friend I suggest disabling the Optional Windows driver updates and tell your friend to only use DELL Support Assist to install drivers for the DELL. It is safer to avoid future problems.



See Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10

Wiganken, thanks for the advice!

Kind regards
Chris