You can check support.dell.com to see if there are drivers for 8.1, but unless you have a license for 8.1 from some other source, you won’t have a way to activate 8.1. Systems licensed for Windows 10 do not automatically allow you to activate older versions. It’s also unlikely that 8.1 would be meaningfully faster than Windows 10. You have a small version (11”) of the low end (3000 Series) of Dell’s entry level consumer product line (Inspiron). The reason that system is slow is because it uses a Celeron, Pentium or Core m Series CPU, 2-4 GB of RAM, and either an eMMC card or spinning hard drive for storage rather than a proper SSD. If you want a low-cost system for basic tasks that's still somewhat fast, you might want to consider a Chromebook, since Chrome OS has much less "overhead" than Windows, so it will perform significantly better on a given hardware platform, assuming of course your needs can be met by Chrome OS.
Thank you for explaining all of this and I appreciate it since Im not a fan of chromebooks due to their inability to run windows exe programs I will stick to windoes 10 and I appreciate the explanation of why its slow thank you
@Torracat5678 the documentation for the Inspiron 11 3168 is here, and the Setup and Specifications document only lists 2GB and 4GB for the that system. In fairness, that doesn't necessarily mean that 4GB is the max that's actually supported. Sometimes those specs only show what Dell actually offered from the factory, and the Service Manual (also available at that link) confirms that the system has a physically removable memory module as opposed to the memory chips being permanently soldered onto the motherboard. So if you can't get any solid confirmation about max memory, I guess you could always try buying an appropriate 8GB module and seeing if it works. The Setup and Specs document indicates that the 3168 uses a DDR3L 1600 MHz module. If an 8GB module doesn't work, you could return it.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
October 26th, 2019 13:00
You can check support.dell.com to see if there are drivers for 8.1, but unless you have a license for 8.1 from some other source, you won’t have a way to activate 8.1. Systems licensed for Windows 10 do not automatically allow you to activate older versions. It’s also unlikely that 8.1 would be meaningfully faster than Windows 10. You have a small version (11”) of the low end (3000 Series) of Dell’s entry level consumer product line (Inspiron). The reason that system is slow is because it uses a Celeron, Pentium or Core m Series CPU, 2-4 GB of RAM, and either an eMMC card or spinning hard drive for storage rather than a proper SSD. If you want a low-cost system for basic tasks that's still somewhat fast, you might want to consider a Chromebook, since Chrome OS has much less "overhead" than Windows, so it will perform significantly better on a given hardware platform, assuming of course your needs can be met by Chrome OS.
Torracat5678
1 Rookie
•
31 Posts
0
October 26th, 2019 14:00
Quick question based on the videos and comments does my computer support 8 gigs of ram
Torracat5678
1 Rookie
•
31 Posts
0
October 26th, 2019 14:00
Thank you for explaining all of this and I appreciate it since Im not a fan of chromebooks due to their inability to run windows exe programs I will stick to windoes 10 and I appreciate the explanation of why its slow thank you
nyc10036
4 Operator
•
5.6K Posts
0
October 26th, 2019 14:00
I usually check Crucial.com
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
October 26th, 2019 19:00
@Torracat5678 the documentation for the Inspiron 11 3168 is here, and the Setup and Specifications document only lists 2GB and 4GB for the that system. In fairness, that doesn't necessarily mean that 4GB is the max that's actually supported. Sometimes those specs only show what Dell actually offered from the factory, and the Service Manual (also available at that link) confirms that the system has a physically removable memory module as opposed to the memory chips being permanently soldered onto the motherboard. So if you can't get any solid confirmation about max memory, I guess you could always try buying an appropriate 8GB module and seeing if it works. The Setup and Specs document indicates that the 3168 uses a DDR3L 1600 MHz module. If an 8GB module doesn't work, you could return it.