How to Install Dell PC Audio Drivers

When a computer fails to produce any sound, it is usually due to a missing driver. Drivers are instructions that tell the processor and operating system how to use a specific device built into the motherboard or installed on a PCI slot. Without the proper driver, the computer cannot use the sound card to produce sound. You can locate and reinstall the driver for any Dell brand PC

Instructions

Note the make and model of your Dell PC desktop or laptop. Look for this information on the front of your machine and on any label on the back of the tower or bottom of the laptop. Find your Dell Service Tag number as well. Dell produces dozens of different configurations for each main model, so you must know your specific configuration model number.

Go to the Dell Support website. Do a search for your specific make and model. Search for the driver packages for your computer. You can allow the Dell Support site to download and install a Driver Scan tool on some models. The scanning tool will search your computer's components and produce a listing of drivers for your machine. You can also look for the driver collections without this tool.

Find the Dell drivers listed for your on board sound card. Read the labeling carefully on these drivers. "Close" is not good enough in most cases. Each driver version is different in some significant way.

Click on the "download now" button for the right driver. When the program asks you whether you want to "Save" or "Run" the file, choose "Save." Save the file to your C:\Dell or C:\Drivers directory.

Open the driver file and click on "Run" or "Install." Some drivers will automatically deploy after you have downloaded them to your machine. If during this deployment, your computer discovers the driver is not correct for your sound card, you will see a message to this effect: "Device Not Found," or "Incorrect Driver." Go back to the Dell Support site and try another driver.

Go to "Start" and "Run." Type "dxdiag" into the Run box. When the diagnostic screen opens, go to the "Sound" tab. You should see your sound card listed if the driver was installed correctly. Click on "Test" to make sure your sound card is now operating. Check to make sure any external speakers are plugged into the green ports on the back of your tower; they are "powered," so make sure they are turned on. If the sound test fails, or the sound card is not listed, you still do not have the correct drivers. Return to the Dell Support site and try again.

Download a free program called "Everest Home Edition," if you are having trouble finding the correct driver. Everest will identify your sound card and might be able to provide you with a direct link to a driver download site.

Visit driverguide.com if you are still having troubles. Do a search in their listings for the sound card driver you need. Driverguide.com is a free service but you will be exposed to advertising.

Reboot after your sound driver passes the dxdiag test. Rebooting also works to finish the installation of sound drivers; if you think you have the right driver, but there is still no sound, try rebooting.

How to Troubleshoot a Dell LCD Monitor

Dell LCD monitors display the video as directed by a computer's video card. Like other LCD monitors, Dell LCD monitors suffer from issues such as blank screens, illegible text, dead pixels and poor picture quality. Many of these issues can be rectified by troubleshooting problems outside of the monitor, such as illegible text and poor picture quality. The other remaining issues are problems with possible physical or software settings in the operating system or video card settings.

Laptop Troubleshooting and Repair - Dell

Power Failure

If your laptop doesn't turn on when you hit the power button, the power system is a logical place to begin the troubleshooting process. The laptop power system can be viewed as three separate parts: The A/C adapter that gets plugged into a power outlet on one end and into the laptop on the other end, the laptop motherboard or power regulation daughter card that monitors and distributes power to the laptop components, and the battery. The vast majority of laptops manufactured these days can operate without the battery installed. In some cases, the manufacturers will suggest that you remove the battery and store it somewhere cool if using the laptop in one location for extended periods of time, as in weeks or months.

One of the oddities about troubleshooting laptop power failure as opposed to PC power failure is that the battery gives the laptop an independent power system for as long as the charge lasts. If the PC in your home is plugged into a bad power outlet or its power strip is accidentally switched off you'll quickly figure out why. But if the power strip gets turned off while you are operating your laptop, or a breaker trips, or the local power grid suffers a brown out, you might not even notice until the battery runs down. That's why it's important to not jump to conclusions about laptop battery failures, and to try charging the battery under different conditions before giving up and buying a new one. Just because the battery didn't charge while the laptop was plugged in doesn't mean the battery is bad.

Video Failure

Assuming that the video processor on the motherboard is working properly and sending the LCD instructions as to which colors to allow through in which screen points (pixels), the most common failure for laptop displays is a dead or intermittent inverter. When you can only see a very, very faint image of your operating system desktop on the screen, it means that the video system is working, but the LCD isn't getting any backlighting. The usual culprit if you don't have an LED backlight is the inverter, especially if you didn't note any strange tinting to the laptop display in recent operation, but it's not easy for the do-it-yourselfer to determine with 100% accuracy whether the failure is the CCFL lamp or the inverter.

Some display problems aren't difficult to troubleshoot at all. If you notice an inky stain slowly spreading across your LCD over days or weeks that you can't wipe off, the LCD itself is failing. Dead and stuck pixels often appear on LCDs over time causing point failures in the display. There's nothing you can do to fix them, so just tolerate them if possible. If the laptop is fairly new, the LCD may be under warranty and the manufacturer normally has a specification for how many dead pixels a LCD can accumulate before they have to repair it. Other physical problems that may require LCD replacement are cracks and chips on the surface. Horizontal or vertical lines or swathes of either a single color or dead pixels usually mean the LCD will have to be replaced.

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How to Solve Sleep Mode Problems on a Dell Computer

When Microsoft patched the power-saving features of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista, certain Dell computers were affected by various issues where the computers would go into sleep mode and be unable to come out of it or error out and not go into sleep mode. Sometimes the computers would go into sleep mode and wake up only when a USB mouse was jostled. Pressing keys on the keyboard would not wake the computer because the keyboard would stop functioning.

Windows XP Service Pack

1.      Open the Dell support page on your Internet browser. See the Resources section for a link. Make sure to have your seven-digit alphanumeric (letters and numbers) service tag. Place that information into the "Choose by Service Tag" option.

2.      Make sure that the option for the "Operating System" is correct.

3.      Go to "+Bios" and click on the "+" symbol. Click on "Download" at the far right, save and run the downloaded file.

4.      Restart your computer after installing the file.

5.      Test the "Power-saving" feature once you have rebooted.

If Section I Does Not Resolve the Issue

6.      Go to "Display Properties" by right-clicking in an open area on your desktop and left-clicking on "Properties." Click on the "Settings" tab.

7.      Check if the "Display" midway down is saying "Plug and Play Monitor on..." If it is not, go to the "Device Manager." Left-click on the "X" in the top right corner of the "Display Properties" menu.

8.      Go to "Start," left-click, and then open the "Control Panel" (or "Settings" and then "Control Panel" depending on your system is set up).

9.      Select "System," go to the "Hardware" tab, and left-click on it. Left-click on "Device Manager" about 1/3 of the way down that page.

10.  Look at "Monitors" and see a "+" symbol. Left-click on it once and see if it has an exclamation point,"!," with a yellow circle around it. If it does, right-click on the "Plug and Play Monitor" and left-click on "Update Driver."

11.  Choose "Yes, this time only" and then left-click on "Next." The wizard will update the monitor drivers automatically, if possible. Restart if necessary once updated.

12.  Test the"Sleep" mode again. The computer should go into sleep mode and then wake up successfully.

Dell Help and Support: How to Troubleshoot a Dell LCD Monitor

Dell Help and Support: How to Troubleshoot a Dell LCD Monitor: Dell LCD monitors display the video as directed by a computer's video card. Like other LCD monitors, Dell LCD monitors suffer from i...


 Dell Support Call Us +1-855-517-2433 (Toll Free)

Why laptop runs hot and turns off or freezes?

My laptop runs very hot and eventually turns off or freezes – this is one of the most common complaints I have been receiving from my customer for many years. Why it’s happening? Is there an easy fix for that?
Most likely this problem is heat related. Take a look at the following picture.
Any laptop has a cooling module which consists of heatsink and cooling fan. When laptop is working, the processor (CPU) heats up and because of that the heatsink is getting hot too. At some temperature level, the fan kicks in and cools down the heatsink.
The problem starts when the laptop cooling module collects too much dust inside. Usually dust collects between the fan and heatsink. Dust clogs the heatsink and kills normal airflow inside the cooling module. Eventually, the processor gets very hot and the laptop turns off unexpectedly or freezes. This problem can be fixed by cleaning the laptop cooling module.
Cleaning laptop cooling module.
Some laptops give you an easy access to the heatsink and fan. In laptops like that you can access the cooling module through the bottom cover.
In my example I had to remove the cooling module. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to remove the fan and access the heatsink. In some laptops you can remove the fan without separating the heatsink from the CPU.
After I removed the fan, I found a thick layer of dust inside the heatsink. Cleaning the heatsink should fix any heat related problems.
Apply thermal paste on the processor.
If thermal paste on the processor dried out, you should replace it with fresh thermal paste.
Remove old thermal paste from the processor and heatsink using alcohol swab.
WARNING: In some laptops the heatsink also covers the graphics chip. The part of the heatsink which covers the graphics chip might have thermal pad on it instead of regular thermal paste. Do not replace thermal pad with thermal paste! Do not apply thermal paste on the thermal pad! Just leave thermal pad alone and apply thermal paste only on the processor.
I usually use Shin-Etsu thermal paste which is relatively cheap and performs well.
What if cooling module cannot be accessed easily?
In some laptops the cooling module is buried deep inside the case and cannot be easily accessed and removed. In order to remove the cooling module it’s necessary to disassemble the whole laptop but it’s only for experienced users.

1. Blow air into the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop.
2. Blow air into the grill on the side of the laptop.
Switch direction a few times until all dust is gone. Most likely this quick cleaning will fix your laptop overheating problem.

if you facing any problem Call Dell Support: 855-517-2433