Audio stops working randomly and there is no playback on videos

Hello Hana13

Thanks for writing to us. 

If the issue start post any software or windows update changes, yes you can try doing a system restore and observe. if still the same, please install the audio driver. 

from this link 

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-15r-n5110/drivers

chose your operating system and then select the audio driver accordingly. 

Await your response.s

Regards

Hello,

   I tried doing a system restore and it gave me an error saying system restore could not start. And I tried installing a new driver but the dell detect could not install so I could not figure out which driver to install. I will just use the discs to do just reinstall windows in the near future and hope that these problems go away. Thank you for your help. 

My laptop is 4 yrs old. Should I do a system restore to fix all these problems that keep coming up?

If you are willing to do it, the best thing you can do is to perform a system recovery. That is the process where you restore the laptop back to the original factory configuration, by using either the recovery media (disks) that you would have created when the laptop was new, or using the Factory Image that was on the original hard drive when the laptop left the factory. If the original hard drive has been replaced, wiped clean, or a different operating system installed, then you no longer have the option to use the Factory Restore image, but you could still use the recovery media if you made them.

The instructions for Factory Image Restore are on page 72 of the Inspiron 15R N5110 User Guide. It says 

1. Turn on the computer.
2. When the DELL logo appears, press
several times to access the Advanced Boot
Options window.
NOTE: If you wait too long and the
operating system logo appears, continue
to wait until you see the Microsoft
Windows desktop; then, shut down your
computer and try again.

3. Select Repair Your Computer.
The System Recovery Options window
appears.
4. Select a keyboard layout and click Next.
5. To access the recovery options, log on
as a local user. To access the command
prompt, type administrator in the User
name field, then click OK.
6. Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
The Dell Factory Image Restore welcome
screen appears.
NOTE: Depending upon your
configuration, you may need to select
Dell Factory Tools, then Dell Factory
Image Restore.
7. Click Next.
The Confirm Data Deletion screen
appears.
NOTE: If you do not want to proceed
with the Factory Image Restore, click
Cancel.
8. Select the check box to confirm that you
want to continue to reformat the hard
drive and restore the system software to
the factory condition, then click Next.
The restore process begins and may
take five or more minutes to complete.
A message appears when the operating
system and factory-installed applications
have been restored to factory condition.
9. Click Finish to restart the computer

The greatest advantage of performing a system recovery is that afterwards the laptop will work exactly as good as it did the first time you started it up, unless any hardware failures have occurred in the meantime. Every single software problem that might have developed over the last 4 years will be fixed.

In addition, all of the factory installed drivers and programs will be re-installed, so you don't have to manually install them.

The disadvantages of performing a system recovery are:

> all of your data will be lost, so you have to make a thorough backup of all data, addresses, bookmarks, e-mails (if you keep them on your hard drive), passwords, etc. On the other hand you should be backing up all of that stuff anyway because you never know when the hard drive is going to suddenly die.

> You also lose all programs that you have installed, so you need to make note of those programs so that you can download them again later, or in the case of purchased programs make sure that you have the installation media. In a lot of cases you can backup the setup.exe files of the programs and re-install the programs later with those files.

> Your Windows operating system will be four years old after the recovery, so Windows Update will have a lot to do, and you might have to restart the laptop several times to get all of the updates installed. After I perform a recovery, which I do about once a year, I always go into Windows Update and change the settings to make Windows alert me before performing any update. That allows me to choose which ones to allow, and generally I only allow the security updates and the major Windows updates, but usually don't allow Windows Updates to update my drivers. I'd rather make the decision about whether drivers need updating myself.

If you do perform the recovery, test the audio immediately (before you go onto the internet, so that Windows Update does not get a chance to make any changes to the laptop before you can test it). Test by playing some audio files from your backup drive. If the audio plays all right then the laptop's audio hardware is fine. If the audio does not play correctly right after a system recovery, then there has been some kind of hardware failure that is preventing it from working. If it does work all right when playing local files, but you get the same problem of no audio when you are on the internet, then that would be caused by some problem with the browser, not the laptop.

Jim,

  Thank you so much! That was very informative. I will attempt this in 2-3 weeks after my semester is over as the laptop works well enough for me to do my school work so I can use it for what I really need at the moment. I will follow all your suggestions in terms of testing the audio out and will post again here about how it went. Thank you again for your help. 

PLS I HAVE A SIMILAR PROBLEM. I restored my Dell inspiron 11-3000 laptop to factory settings because I suddenly lost the whole sound output from both speakers and earpiece.Still the problem persist.I check the speakers they are fine,the drivers which is realtek is installed yet no sound output. I'm running windows 8.Pls what should I do?Kindly help me out. My email is <ADMIN NOTE: Email id removed per privacy policy> WATSAPP NUMBER<ADMIN NOTE: Phone number removed per privacy policy>.Thanks

what should I do?

Hello. If you tested the laptop's audio immediately after performing the system recovery, before making any changes to the configuration or getting on the internet, and the audio did not work, then the audio hardware has failed. Contact tech support to have it repaired if the laptop is still under warranty.

I check the speakers they are fine

Because the speakers are okay, the motherboard might have to be replaced.

If the laptop is no longer under warranty, you can still have audio through external speakers or headphones by getting a usb audio device. There are many different kinds of usb audio devices -- the cheapest is the usb audio jack.

Hi, nice to hear from you. When you say Dell Detect could not install it, do you mean was there any error or was it not able to find the driver?
PM us the system tag# by clicking on my name in blue and then select send a private message. Will provide the direct link for driver.

Hi

Awaiting your response.

Hi Hema,

   I cannot do a system restore. I get an error and it said the side by side configuration cannot be done. I am going to do a system recovery sometime next week and will post here after about how it goes. Thank you.

Hello everyone, 

          I reinstalled Windows 7 today from my recovery discs I made and I am happy to say all the audio issues are gone and the sound works beautifully like it did when I first got it 4 years ago. I can use the volume button and everything. 

Glad to hear it. Thanks for the feedback.