Dell Inspiron 3148 Troubleshooting

The touchpad isn’t working or responding correctly.

Carefully clean the touchpad with a bleach wipe so it can respond to your finger correctly.

Go to Control Panel and select Hardware and Sound

Select Devices and Printers and right click the device icon

Select mouse settings

Switch to the Touchpad feature named by manufacturer (ex. ELAN) and click enable device

Try restarting your laptop if the touchpad still isn’t working and if it’s not after startup, refer to this guide for more details

The laptop shuts off unexpectedly during usage.

If running BIOS 1.5.3, you can update to 1.6.0 using this guide and boot it to BIOS setting, Afterwards select Restore Setting and then BIOS Default to resolve this issue.

Keyboard slowly starts to malfunction and stops working.

To troubleshoot your keyboard follow these steps:

1. Restart your device

2. Attempt to use your keyboard

3. Make sure your keyboard isn't locked

4. If keyboard still doesn't work refer to this guide for help

When you start up your computer it will not start at all or if the lights and fans refuse to start

When you restart your computer listen for a series of beeps when it is restarting and refer to this guide and go to 11 and refer to table 1.

Occasionally there is no beep follow this steps to troubleshoot:

1. Disconnect all external peripherals and all external storage devices

2. Remove the AC adapter and unplug the adapter from the wall

3. Ensure all AC adapter connections are tight and replug the charger in

4. Restart your computer to see if it stops again

5. If so refer to this guide for help

The touchscreen does not respond to user input

Ensure the device is off. Using a clean microfiber cloth, gently wipe off any dust, smudges, oil, or debris from the LCD display. Wipe in a circular motion. Do not use any sort of cleaning solution. Any sort of moisture on the screen should be wiped off completely.

If a screen protector has been installed on the device, the device may not be able to register touches to the screen. Ensure the device is off. Remove the screen protector and restart the device.

If the touchscreen is not responding calibrating the screen may solve the issue.

1. In the search box type “calibrate”

2. Select “calibrate the screen for pen or touch input”

3. Select the calibrate button

4. Follow the onscreen instructions

5. Save the calibration data

6. Restart the device

If none of the the above work, click here for a guide on the Dell diagnostics tool for the LCD display.

The amount of time the device runs on a full charge is noticeably decreasing.

Ensure that the battery is in good condition. There are various diagnostic tools by both Dell and Microsoft to assist you. Click here to view a guide of various diagnostic tools. If your battery is healthy, there is likely another issue related to the battery life.

Verify that the battery is being charged correctly by ensuring the AC adapter is recognized by the device. To do so:

1. Restart the device

2. Press the “F2” when the Dell logo appears on the screen

3. Check the “AC Adapter Type” in the BIOS options

a. If the type is none, ensure that the adapter is connected

b. If the type is unknown, further troubleshooting is required. View this guide for more information