Troubleshooting

Wondering what to do with your laptop that has suddenly stopped responding? Read on. Today, we bring you the troubleshooting steps on how to fix this issue. We understand that this issue can take a number of forms but we would like to focus more on what you need to do in the event that the issue is caused by a software glitch. Just like a desktop, your Dell Inspiron laptop can succumb to almost every issue that a lot of desktop users encounter. We hope that you'll find our suggestions helpful. Before we proceed to the main topic though, we would like to remind you that we accept requests for assistance regarding their Windows computers. If you have a problem that you can't seem to find a solution to, send us your issue by following the link at the bottom of this page. Just remember, windows problems can sometimes be difficult to diagnose so kindly make sure that you give us very detailed description of the problem. You want to mention relevant history that may have led to the issue. The more information that you can provide, the higher the chance of us diagnosing the issue more efficiently. We also expect that you mention whatever troubleshooting step/s that you may have done before contacting us in order to prevent repeating them in our article. Again, the more details you can give us, the faster it is for us to pinpoint the cause and its corresponding solution. Identifying the symptoms Average users tend to clump together issues that may have distinct causes. This can lead to some confusion on what specific set of troubleshooting steps to take. Before you do some concrete troubleshooting steps, be sure to identify which exact problem you may be having. Every time a user says a “laptop is not responding,” it can mean any of the following: device is freezing or stuck device has become so slow and appears to not do anything device has no power or completely dead device can't boot or won't load the operating system Dell Inspiron laptop is stuck or frozen If you find yourself with a non-responsive laptop, the first thing that you want to do is to ask yourself what you did immediately before it happened. Were you playing a game or trying to open a program? Were you in the middle of working on a document when the PC decided to stop responding to any command? If your Dell Inspiron laptop suddenly stopped responding out of nowhere when you were at the middle of something, it's possible that the program may be simply crashed. Closing and relaunching it may fix the temporary bug. The main symptom in this case is the unusual behavior of your laptop to suddenly stop working. Dell Inspiron laptop is slow Sometimes, a computer can encounter software errors after uninterrupted use for a long time. A slow system can sometimes give the appearance similar to being stuck or frozen. The only difference in this case is that you may notice slight progress in tasks at hand. For example, you may notice the cursor stutter or move at a very slow pace across the monitor everytime you remove it. In this situation, your Dell Inspiron laptop is actually responding albeit in a very slow pace. Dell Inspiron laptop has no power This is an extreme case and is usually signaled by total non-response from the get go. This situation cannot be mistaken since nothing will work regardless of what you may be doing. If your Dell Inspiron laptop won't turn on at all even after charging it and pressing on the power button countless times, you certainly have a No Power issue. Dell Inspiron laptop can't boot or won't load the operating system Another similar issue to ones mentioned above is a case wherein Windows can't seem to load properly. In this situation, your laptop may actually power on but it's either stuck in a blue screen, or it may show an error message telling you that Windows can't load. How to fix a Dell Inspiron laptop that is stuck or frozen Computers may encounter software errors from time to time so if an operating system is not equipped to handle it, it may simply freeze and stop working altogether. If you find your Dell Inspiron laptop stuck or unresponsive while loading something, or when you're in the middle of a task, here's how to fix it: Close the program Windows errors can be caused by a wide variety of factors so there's no way that we can discuss all of them. However, if you noticed that the system seems to crash or stop altogether only when using a particular program, closing it should be the first thing that you must do. If you can't close it normally by clicking on the x icon at the top, you can do so via Task Manager. Here's how: Go to the Home screen. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. Under Processes tab, look for the program in question. Click the problematic program, then click on the End task button at the bottom. Restart your Dell Inspiron laptop Most minor bugs can easily be fixed by performing a restart. Make sure you do this as well. Simply press and hold the Power button of your laptop for at least 15 seconds. This will ensure that you turn the device off completely. Uninstall the program If your computer continues to get stuck or frozen after a reset, you should consider removing the problematic program from the system. To uninstall a program, follow these steps: Uninstall a program in windows 10 Click Start Selct All Apps Find the app or program you wish to uninstall Right click on that app/program and click Uninstall (if you do not see uninstall then it may be a default app) Uninstall a program in Windows 8/8.1 Go to the Start Screen Press the Windows Key, or hover the cursor in the bottom-left corner of the screen until a small image of the Start Screen appears. Once the icon appears toggle over to the Start Screen. Locate the application you would like to uninstall and right click on the icon. A check-mark will appear in the right corner to indicate an application has been selected. Click Uninstall on the toolbar that appears at the bottom of the screen. Uninstall a program in Windows 7 Click on the Start button. When the Start Menu opens click on the Control Panel menu option. When the Control Panel window opens click on the Uninstall a program option option under the Programs category. Select the program you wish to uninstall/remove from the list presented. Restart to safe mode If your laptop seems to freeze randomly and not only when using a particular program, you should try to check first if the cause is due to a program you installed. You can do that by restarting your laptop to safe mode. In this mode, only basic services and programs will be allowed to run. If your Dell Inspiron laptop works normally when on safe mode, one of the third party programs you installed must be causing the problem. Restart to Safe Mode in Windows 10 Open Settings by pressing Windows key + I. If you can't open Settings via Windows key + I, click on the Start button, then look for Settings. Click Update & Security. Click Restart now. Once the PC has restarted Choose an option screen, click on Troubleshoot. Click Advanced options. Click Startup Settings. Click Restart. After your PC restarts, you'll see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode. Or if you'll need to use the Internet, select 5 or F5 for Safe Mode with Networking. Restart to Safe Mode in Windows 8 Click Settings. Click Change PC settings. Click General. ClickAdvanced startup. Click Restart now. Enter the proper mode by using the numeric key or function key F1~F9. You can enter from the 3 options -- (4) Enable Safe Mode, (5) Enable Safe Mode with Networking, (6) Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Reinstall Windows It may sound extreme but reinstalling Windows is often the go-to option for PC owners having slow performance problems. While drastic, it's an effective way to fix whatever software-related issue that causes the system to slow down significantly. Keep in mind though that this solution will not help at all if the reason for the slow down is hardware in nature. Like cars, your PC ages and slows down after some time. Normal wear and tear should be gradual though and should not be a reason for sudden significant change in performance. Because this procedure only affects Windows, any slow down caused by hardware malfunction or wear and tear will remain unaddressed. For instance, if your computer appears to stutter or freeze due to low or insufficient RAM, reinstalling Windows will not fix anything at all. If you haven't tried reinstalling Windows before, make sure to follow this link. Install updates To minimize bugs and issues, we highly recommend that you keep your programs and operating system up-to-date. By default, Windows is set to download and install updates. If you changed this default behavior, be sure to manually check for updates. We are here to help If you are having a problem with your Windows computer, don't hesitate to let us know about it. We understand how frustrating computer problems can be so, more so if you can't find the right solutions at all. Our blog exists to help PC users and Windows community deal with their problems effectively. To engage with us, just fill out the questionnaire in this link and wait for our articles to be published. In order to help as many people as possible, we only provide our solutions via posts so please don't expect that we will respond to your emails or private messages. By making all posts public, we can share our solutions to other users in a more efficient manner. We cannot guarantee a quick response so if your issue is time sensitive, please find another way to resolve your problem.

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