Dell Pro 16 Plus BIOS 2.19.0 plus Intel drivers: no boot

Call: Hold. Pause the Dell Pro 16 Plus (PB16250) BIOS 2.19.0 and this batch of Intel drivers in your Dell Command or Intune rings. This is reported, not confirmed: one admin’s warning post on r/sysadmin plus one more user with a similar story. Dell hasn’t said anything. Two reports isn’t much, but a laptop that won’t boot means a desk-side visit, so it’s worth a pause.

What breaks: After BIOS 2.19.0 goes on together with Intel Ethernet 20.0.3.35, Intel Bluetooth 24.70.0.4 and the Intel NPU driver 32.0.100.4841, Windows won’t boot. The poster got machines back by booting to WinRE, going into Safe Mode and rolling back the Intel drivers. A second user saw a Dell Precision laptop hang at the Dell logo and fixed it by loading last known good settings in the BIOS. That one may not be the same bug.

Who’s hit: Dell Pro 16 Plus PB16250 so far. Another commenter says the trouble started with the AMD PB1*250 units, which we haven’t been able to pin down. It’s not clear yet whether the BIOS or the drivers is the trigger.

Workaround:

• Hold the BIOS and the three Intel drivers on PB16250 until Dell says something or more reports show which piece is at fault.
• If a machine won’t boot: WinRE, then Safe Mode, then roll back the Intel drivers.
• If it hangs at the Dell logo: load last known good or defaults in BIOS setup.
• Keep BitLocker recovery keys handy before you touch BIOS settings.

Sources: r/sysadmin warning post (opens in a new tab)↗⁠.

Sources

• https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1xtdzye/warning_dell_pro_16_plus_pb16250_bios_2190_intel/⁠↗ (opens in a new tab)