Notifications getting stuck on screen, taskbar freezes then restarts itself

Alright, I've kind of begin to obsess over this a little bit. I've initiated the return for my laptop, but if I can keep it, I'd really like to.

The issue of which I speak is on video here

Basically, Windows will spit out a notification from the right side of the screen, whther it's a Cortana reminder, Office issue, calendar notification, etc etc and when you click the "x" to dismiss it, it doesn't go away. Instead, it freezes there, and the freezing spreads to the system tray, causing icons beneath it to become unresponsive, then the to the left side of the task bar where the start menu will no longer open, nor will Cortana.

If you wait long enough (and sometimes tap the Windows flag on keyboard), the entire taskbar will "refresh" (as you can see in the video) and the issue disappears.... until your next notification.

The OS build I'm using is the latest stable, non insider build. It was sourced from the Dell.com/support site using the Drivers & Downloads > Operating System section, and then made bootable to a USB drive. The drivers that are installed are the ones from the Dell.com/support site for my system tag. No drivers from Windows Update.

This issue also happened on a version of Windows 10 I downloaded and made bootable using the Microsoft Media Creator Tool, which downloads 10 from Microsoft's servers...

Has anyone seen this before? is there a fix? I have this feeling it's related to the hybrid graphics card, on-board video vs the Nvidia trying to sort out which to use and it just gets stuck, but I tried setting it to only use the on-board graphics, and it still happens.

If I can't sort it, I have to return it while I still can.

 

First time posting. Just wanted to say my XPS 13 9350 was also having the exact issue from day one. Like you I had to press the Windows key so the explorer would restart. Problem with that was videos would not play (browser, VLC, PowerDVD, basically nothing) it would try to load but nothing ever happened. My temporary solution was to restart it (very annoying). Tried multiple clean installs but it didn't fix it. I think what fixed it was latest driver for the iGPU. I'm still keeping an eye on just in case.

 

Thanks for the reply.. I had that issue as well - youtube videos, websites with flash on them. Even in Msft Edge Chrome, Firefox, the works. Going to try another reinstall with drivers from their manufacturers, not Dell. It'll be the 5th windows install on this thing