No sound

resolve it with BIOS? I don't know what that is and I'm not computer (fixer) savvy.

Hello Nicci. The BIOS is a kind of firmware that reside in memory on the motherboard, not on the hard drive, and it sort of jump starts the computer when starting up.

If you want to update to Bios 1.6.1, click on the link to go to the BIOS page. Scroll down to "Installation Instructions" and click the arrow to expand it. Follow the Download instruction (steps 1 & 2), and the next set of instruction about running the update in Windows (3 steps). Ignore the rest of the instructions. Be sure to have the battery fully charged before beginning the update, and have the laptop also plugged into house power. Do not interrupt the update after it begins, or the computer can be ruined. 

I've been reading about others with the same type of issue and were able to resolve it with BIOS?

Since you have been using the BIOS all this while, it is unlikely that it is suddenly started causing the speakers to fail. In the Inspiron 7353 & 7359 models, owners reported that the speakers stopped working after updating the BIOS. In other words, the new BIOS version was defective. The solution was to go back to the old version of the BIOS.

Can someone tell me in very simple words how to fix the issue.

Need more information to try to figure out what the issue is. Here are the first 2 steps in trying to figure out what is wrong:

> Plug in headphones, ear buds, or external speakers into the headphone jack. Determine whether sound is coming through those.

> Download and install a fresh copy of the Realtek audio driver. Click on the link to go to the driver page. Scroll down to "Installation Instructions" and click the arrow to expand it. Follow the instructions.

Let me know the results of those actions, and also if updating the BIOS fixed it.

Hi Jim, I put in head phones and they work. Weird. What should I do next? The realtek audio driver?

Also, when I plugged my headphone in my laptop starts streaming instructions on how to do different things. I can't find where it is coming from. they are videos from somewhere. It starts out saying "In this video".  Anyone know where this is coming from and how I can shut it off? It plays whether or not I'm listening to something else. 

Yes, install a fresh copy of the audio driver. That will fix any corrupted files that might have occurred, and will also fix any configuration issues.

If that doesn't get the speakers working, then run the ePSA audio test to check whether or not the speaker hardware has failed:

> Re-start the computer and tap the F12 key as soon as it starts to boot up. If the computer boots to Windows re-start the computer and try again.

> Select 'Diagnostics' from the boot menu, then press the Enter key. The ePSA tests should open. If some tests run automatically, cancel them if possible. If not, let them finish running.

> Look for a "Perform Quick Audio Check" button on the bottom right side of the ePSA main menu screen (see screen shot below). Press the button and listen for the tones from the speakers.

> If you do not have the "Perform Quick Audio Check" button then do this. Start the PSA tests and when it performs the color test it will ask you if you see the color bars on the screen. Deliberately fail the test by answering no (press the "n" key) instead of yes. When you do that the PSA test will emit a series of beeps. Listen for the beeps.

> If you don't hear the beeps or tones through the speakers, that means that the speakers have become disconnected or have failed.

I don't know what the streaming video is all about. I had not heard of that before.

I be be off line until tomorrow morning.

For the videos or popup notifications, check Settings-System-Notifications & actions, to see if something there, like the Windows Welcome Experience or Tips, might help.