Trying to solve the 12-second or so booting delay with BIOS A08 (well documented in these forums) I installed BIOS A03. While it booted faster, it displayed a "Keyboard Failure" message after the Dell logo went away (keyboard works fine once in Windows). I got a little spooked by that so I reinstalled A08 but now I still have the "Keyboard Failure" message upon restarting the computer. The good news is if I shut down, wait about 30-60 seconds before powering back up, all is well until the next restart.
Since I have discovered the workaround, functionally there is no issue, however, seeing that "Keyboard Failure" message upon every reboot is disconcerting. I know I can turn off the warning, but I'll still know something is not right.
BTW, I'm running Win 7 Pro, not 8. I've reloaded/saved the default BIOS settings and no joy.
I'm pretty certain I have only myself to blame. But the root cause of my mischievous actions (delayed booting) is still inexcusable on Dell's part.