My Inspiron 8500 is just a week old and it's already running BIOS ver A03. I have a USB 2.0 2.5" disk enclosure with an IBM 20GB TravelStar and it still hangs with the new BIOS everytime the notebook is rebooted. If I connect the disk after I've logged on to XP PRO, it works beautifully. I'm not sure what constitutes a non-compliant USB Storage but mine doesn't appear to be one of these since it works well post boot.

By the way, can someone shed a light as to why the Inspiron 8500 has such a flimsy keyboard while other units such as the Inspiron 1100 comes with a solid-feel keyboard. It's also noisier from the vibrations due to its inherent fitting or design.

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The following updates were made to the A02 BIOS to create the A03 BIOS:

Issues Fixed: 1. Fixed issue in which the system can't boot from a USB hard disk drive (HDD) if an internal HDD and modular bay HDD are also present.

2. Prevent system from spending an excessive amount of time in POST if a non-compliant USB storage device is attached

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