Dell XPS 15 Laptop: i7-13700H, Intel A370M, 16GB, 512GB SSD, 15.6" 1200p $1080 (or less) + free s/h

First let me say I have been a big fanboy of Dell ... up until about 3 days ago.

Bought my son an XPS 17" laptop for college 3 months ago ... it just came up with a blue screen and would not boot on Sunday 10/10/2023. I had purchased the extended support plan with "premium 24x7" support and accidental coverage. I called them on a Sunday at 7pm for support assistance, and the automated response told me to call back the next business day. Forgot to mention that this was the Sunday just before mid-terms started (the next day). WTF Dell?!

Still in the process of trying to get it restored (3 days later).

Hope your experience is better than mine. I will be thinking twice before buying from Dell again.

BTW, My Dell Inspiron 1705 from 15 years ago still runs like a champ; albeit a lot slower than the new XPS, but still ...

Specs:
- 12th Generation Intel Core i7-12700H (24MB Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 14 cores)
- 17.0" FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit Display
- 64GB Memory (2x32GB) DDR5 4800MHz
- 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
- NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3050 4GB GDDR6 [60W]
- Windows 11 Pro, English
- Power Supply, Black 130W Type-C Power Adapter
- 6-Cell Battery, 97WHr (Integrated)
- Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6 1675 (AX211), 2x2, 802.11ax, Bluetooth(R) wireless card
- Backlit Black English Keyboard w/ Fingerprint Reader
- Platinum Silver exterior, Black interior

Accidental Damage Service - 1 Year
Support - 1 Year ProSupport for PCs NextBusinessDay OnsiteService after RemoteDiagonsis - for business
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty - 1 Year

Do you recall what the blue screen error message was?

Recovery
Your PC/Device needs to be repaired.
The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \windows\system32\winload.efi
Error Code: 0xc0000098

You'll need to use recovery tools ....

I forgot to mention that it happened after a windows update completed on the machine the night before. My son went to start it up the next morning, and this ever since. Windows 11 Pro, installed by Dell from the factory. It is also running SupportAssist, but can't get to SA since it won't boot at all.

I had a client this week with a similar issue. Turned out the boot record was corrupt. I use the free version of Macrium Reflect 8 and made a recovery USB drive, booted from that, and there is a "boot problem fixer" in there (it has performed miracles in the past for me) and that fixed it.

I wonder if Windows Update is the issue because this client hasn't had a problem, her PC is on 24/7 and only a Windows Update would cause it to reboot (and fail to boot)?

Thanks for the information - that really helps! I concur that it was related to the Windows update. We have tried the standard Recovery process, but no success. I will give the Macrium Reflect 8 free version a try.

I appreciate the insight - thank you!

4k screen cost $600 more 😬 Doesn't really need 4k but definitely can benefit from 3k

I'm i the business of fixing problems and not once has Windows Recovery fixer ever fix a boot record issue.

Macrium has saved my client's bacon many times. Good luck.