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Multiple software (?) issues with DELL laptop (Resolved).

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Best Answer BerDov , 20 March 2021 - 02:49 PM

Hello, phillpower2I guess we can close the case. The laptop was working all week. No problems manifested themselves. Thank you very much for your help! Go to the full post »


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#1
BerDov

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Hello all,

 

If this is not the most appropriate forum for the post, please advise where to go.

 

My wife has a Dell Latitude 11 with Win 10.  It presents numerous problems, inconsistently, which is the worst situation.

For example, the external screen goes dark at random. Most often, it comes back after some time. Yesterday, it stayed black, she did hard shut down. Upon startup, the monitor connected, but the sound disappeared. 

In this regard, she was not able to participate in a Zoom session twice at least. The error message read: "Your microphone and speaker is not working. Please check you connection or use a different one. " Everything was fine after a reboot.

Earlier yesterday, a mouse stopped working.

At other times, clicking on an application or a file leads to nothing.

Occasionally, a file or a program cannot be closed by clicking on X in the upper right corner.

All these problems happen at random, which can easily drive one crazy.

 

Can some kind of diagnostic be run?

 

Any help or advice is appreciated.

 


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#2
phillpower2

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Hello BerDov,

 

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

  1. In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.
  2. In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.
  3. Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

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#3
BerDov

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Thank you, phillpower2,

 

I installed and executed Speccy. The report is at

 

http://speccy.pirifo...fA3L14ECJ6DW476


Edited by BerDov, 12 March 2021 - 10:41 AM.

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#4
phillpower2

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Hello BerDov,
 
Noted a couple of things in Speccy and will get to them but for now can I ask you to check the Windows 10 update history to see if the major update below has completed installation;
 
Not Installed
3/11/2021 Feature update to Windows 10, version 20H2
Installation Status: In Progress
Install the latest update for Windows 10: Windows 10, version
 
You are welcome btw  :)

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#5
BerDov

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Not sure when and how this update started, but it required 30 min and several restarts to complete.

 

Done.

 

What's next please?


Edited by BerDov, 12 March 2021 - 12:36 PM.

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#6
BerDov

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Right after the previous was posted, the following message appeared on screen:

 

"Dell Command | Update checks online for the latest BIOS, driver, firmware and Dell application for your system. The application downloads and installs updates as well.

 

To check for updates, click [CHECK]"

 

 

 

Do I need to do this now?


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#7
phillpower2

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It is good that Dell has given you this notification as Dell computers are notorious for liking their own software as opposed to third party updates.

 

Create a new system restore point and only then should you allow Dell`s own utility to check for and install any updates.

 

Tip

If using a computer and not a mobile phone, please avoid adding multiple posts while waiting for us to reply to your last, edit your last post to include anything that you wish to add, this will ensure nothing gets overlooked which can sometimes happen if a thread has more than one page, it also avoids filling up folks inbox  :thumbsup: 


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#8
BerDov

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Thank you!

 

Created Restore Point;

 

Selected ALL (9) Dell updates;

 

So far so good.


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#9
phillpower2

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You are welcome and things look promising, let`s give it a couple of days before considering the issue resolved though and be sure to create a new system restore point for the now stable settings.


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#10
BerDov

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In the ‘System Protection’ tab, ‘Protection Settings’ frame (don’t know if it’s the right jargon), I noticed that DELL SUPPORT is Off.  Don’t know why, maybe I dd it myself when configuring the laptop the first time. Is it OK to keep it this way?

 

Restore point created.

 

I would give it a week before closing the topic, if you don't mind, just to be on a safe side - if such things exists with today's computers.

*

There is another annoying issue. My wife used to have another Dell laptop, from work (never a problem of any kind).  Two external monitors were connected to it via a docking station. The laptop lid was usually closed.

In the current configuration, laptop + external monitor plugged in directly, closing the lid shuts down the external monitor, so she keeps the lid half way down. Someone said it's the way it is. Plugging directly is not the same as plugging through docking station.

 

The other, possibly related annoying issue is that the monitor never goes to sleep, no matter what the Power Setting is. The workaround now is to close the lid, but it should not be that way.


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#11
phillpower2

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Sorry but anything other than addressing what was in your OP is going off topic and you will need to start a new thread once this thread has been concluded.


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#12
BerDov

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Ok; I will report next Saturday, or earlier  if something happens.  Thank you!


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#13
phillpower2

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You are welcome, have a good week.


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#14
BerDov

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✓  Best Answer
Hello, phillpower2

I guess we can close the case. The laptop was working all week. No problems manifested themselves.

 

Thank you very much for your help!


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#15
phillpower2

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Glad to hear it and thanks for letting us know that all is now well with the computer  :thumbsup:

 

You are welcome  :)


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