Dell Inspiron 13-7353 Troubleshooting

The laptop's keys are sticky or unresponsive or appear to be broken or missing.

If the damage does not warrant the use of a cleaning kit, then use a can of compressed air and blow the dirt out of the keyboard.

1. Take a keyboard cleaning kit and clean the dirt and grime out of the keyboard thoroughly. Using the scrubbing tool included in the kit, scrub the dirt between keys out of the keyboard.

2. Clean up the grime that the tool was unable to clear out using a cleaning solution and wipe off after applying it to the keyboard.

You may need to remove the keyboard from the device manually and thoroughly clean the palmrest keyboard before reinstalling.

Search for and install a replacement key where the missing key is located. For example: The product has shipped to your residence or business without a Windows key. If that is the case, then simply install the key on the blank location by attaching the retainer clips to the key along with the metal hook if needed. Be sure to push the key down evenly on all four sides in order for the clips to perfectly attach to the replacement key.

The keyboard's back light appears to be not working at all or not lighting up at all.

Hold down the Fn key and press F10. You should get varying intensities by pressing F10 multiple times.

1. Press the Windows key and the x keys at the same time.

2. From the menu, select mobility center

3. In the mobility center you should see options for keyboard brightness.

4. If you do not see the keyboard brightness settings, go to Dell Warranty Status and enter the service tag. Click on original configuration to see if your model actually has a backlit keyboard installed.

The keyboard appears to not always register strokes, caps lock or other keys become stuck in the on/off position. Touchpad may be working inconsistently

1. Switch off the computer.

2. Disconnect the AC adapter from the system.

3. Remove the battery from the computer.

4. Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds.

5. Connect back all the peripherals and check for issue resolution

You can use Dell’s enhanced pre-boot system assessment (ePSA) to diagnose hardware issues.

As you power on your computer, tap F12 repeatedly to bring up the pre-boot menu, select diagnostics. Here you can test different components of the laptop to see if they are the problem.

BIOS is a firmware that is embedded onto the System Board of your computer. By updating this software you may fix the keyboard or touchpad issues.

1. Go to the Drivers & Downloads page on the Dell website

Found at http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/1...

2. Click Detect Product to select your device

• Another option is to enter the Express Service Code of your laptop and press Submit.

3. You should now be on the Product Support Page.

• If you are taken to a page with two tabs under Optimize your system with drivers and updates labeled Guide Me and Find it myself, click on the Find it myself tab. Otherwise, proceed to Step 4.

4. Make sure that the correct Microsoft Windows Operating System is next to View all available updates.

5. Select Change OS and select the correct Operating System, such as Windows 10 or Windows 8.

6. Select BIOS and then select Download File.

7. Click Save and save to your preferred location.

8. After it has concluded downloading, select Run and refer to the installation instructions.

The laptop's touch pad is unresponsive or not accepting inputs.

1. The touchpad is dirty or something has been spilled on it.

2. Use a solution that is 50-50 water and rubbing alcohol.

3. Pour solution onto cloth and clean touchpad.

4. Ensure the touchpad is completely clean and dry.

1. Right click settings and type in touchpad.

2. Click enter and click on touchpad settings

3. Under Touchpad, change sensitivity to high sensitivity

Restart the computer to allow the touchpad to recalibrate itself.

1. Ensure that you have the latest driver for the touchpad installed.

2. Adjust the touchpad settings to change the speed and sensitivity.

3. Click on the tab of your operating system (OS).

4. In the search box, type main.cpl

5. Click on main.cpl

6. Click the picture of the touchpad

7. Click sensitivity

8. Click save

9. Turn off the laptop.

10. Ensure that all devices are unplugged (this includes printers, USB drives, external keyboards, etc)

11. Turn the laptop back on.

Refer to the Dell Knowledge Base article Resolve Hardware Issues Using ePSA or PSA Diagnostics and Guide to Error Codes.

You have trouble viewing your screen.

If your screen has a crack or a large scratch on it, it will need to be replaced with a new screen.

The LCD cable will need to be replaced.

If your screen has vertical or horizontal lines across it that make it difficult to see, it is best to replace the screen.

If all else fails, the motherboard will need to be replaced so the screen resolution can be restored.

If your computer has a flickering screen, update your computer to the latest software update.

Attempt to change the Screen Refresh Rate.

1. If you have Windows 8 or 10, right click on the start button in the left corner of your screen. Click on Control Panel.

2. Click Display in the Control Panel, then click on Change display settings on the left of the current window.

3. Click on Advanced Settings at the bottom right of the window open in blue.

4. Click on the Monitor tab and find the setting labeled Screen Refresh Rate.

5. In the drop down menu of the Screen Refresh Rate setting, pick a higher Hertz refresh rate than the current one shown.

6. If a higher setting of Hertz does not fix the problem, continue trying higher rates.

Another option, is to replace the screen.

If you have a dim screen, to make the screen lighter or darker, press the button f12 to make the screen brighter. To make the screen darker, press f11. Both these buttons have a sun looking symbol.

Disable the adaptive brightness to fix dim screen in windows 10.

1. Right click on Start, click on settings.

2. In settings, click on system.

3. In system, on the left, click on display.

4. Once in display, there is a slider labeled Brightness and color, and change brightness. Slide the cursor to change the screen brightness to your liking.

You can also replace the screen, as it may be a hardware issue.

Try to turn on and off your computer.

Attempt to turn off your computer and then connect an external monitor to the laptop. Turn on the external monitor and then the laptop.

If the external monitor is unresponsive, consider replacing your screen.

Your laptop is hot to the touch and may turn off automatically because of this.

Open the bottom of the laptop and clean out the fan.

Turn off the computer and replace the fan.

If your heat sink is blocked or not working, you will need to replace the heat sink with a new one.

Computer programs slow down, and computer runs slower than usual.

If you do not have enough RAM, you can try these options:

1. Close programs you are currently not using.

2. Uninstall programs that you do not use.

3. Condense files into a ZIP file.

4. Update RAM

If your computer has a virus:

1. Run computer in safemode.

2. Delete temporary files.

3. Download malware scanners ( Any antivirus program will work).

4. Run a scan with malware bytes.

If your motherboard is defective or damaged, it is best to replace the motherboard with a new one.

If you have a slow hard drive, and the issue could be an old driver:

1. Search in the start icon for This PC.

2. Search for the device or program that is outdated. Highlight and right click on the item.

3. Click properties and then click update driver.