Older Dell desktops randomly freezing

Posted by Inner-Relative-7268@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 11 comments

I have three systems from three different locations that are older Optiplex’s running Windows 11 pro that have recently started randomly freezing up. No rhyme or reason. I’ve run stress tests on them for hours without issue then it will just freeze out of the blue. I’ve tried swapping memory. I’m wondering if it might be something with windows 11 or a recent update. Has anyone else seen this?

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11 Comments

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Whoddit@reddit

I have had this problem since... 1y. I upgraded to 32GB RAM and still have it.... but a few days ago I uninstalled all Customer... Dell b0llshits... and "OH, miracle," the freezing is gone... And I have more than 160 open tabs in Chrome... Dell G15 i5, nVidia.

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k1m404@reddit

We have a fleet of OptiPlex 5270 AIOs (9th gen i5s) and have started experiencing this on a few - installing a new SSD in the failing units seems to sort - even though the SSD passes the UEFI diagnostics etc.

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sysopslab@reddit

Try updating the BIOS and all Dell drivers. A surprising number of random freeze issues come down to outdated firmware or a buggy driver. Sometimes a faulty driver or a memory‑leaking application can run fine under stress tests but still cause instability over time. And definitely check the Event Logs or use Performance Monitor under Computer Management to collect performance data over a longer period. That usually gives you a clearer picture of what’s happening right before the freeze.

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TheJesusGuy@reddit

Remove support Assist. Also, define "older".

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Jkabaseball@reddit

I had this happen to my 7440 at home. I ended up replacing the hard drive and reinstalling windows. All RAM and hard drive came back fine, but I could not figure out what in Windows was causing it. I did not have any of the Dell apps installed at the time. Removed this months updates as well.

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crwoo@reddit

do they get hot?

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Inner-Relative-7268@reddit (OP)

No. I have tried removing the cover just in case. It’s so random it’s super hard to diagnose.

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