Choppy video and strange keyboard responses after Win FCU for my Dell

Hello to all,

I have a Dell Inspiron 15-3552 laptop, which is equipped the following way:


It came with Windows 10 from the manufacturer, and the problems only began recently after the FCU. Prior to that, although not as fast as a nearly identical laptop I have, one which is equipped with an i3 pentium, it had no problem typing documents and serving as the laptop my child played a couple of driving games on: Asphalt 8 and Asphalt Xtreme.

Following the FCU installation those same games became unplayable. The video went from smooth to a slide-show-esque-stutter. And what's worse, the keyboard steering seemed all fouled up. Sometimes it wouldn't respond to inputs, other times it seemed like there were phantom inputs going on by themselves. It's a real head-scratcher of a problem.

The techs at Microsoft were trying to help with these issues. First they had me roll-back to the previous version. This helped a bit with the frame rate, but not the keyboard input problems. Then I made the mistake of letting them convince me to do an OS reinstall. Now I have 1709 installed again, all the problems it brought with it, and no way to roll back to a previous version.

The amazing thing is, the nearly identical machine I have, which is 12-18 months older and has the i3 instead of the Celeron, received the FCU and has none of the problems this newer 15-3552 laptop did. Crazy, right? And all the Dell people are telling me is that I need to, yet again, to an OS reinstall. I can't seem to make them understand that I've already done so.

Does this sound like something anyone has heard of happening post FCU update? Any ideas on how to diagnose this, and figure out how to correct it?

I'd really appreciate any help anyone might have to offer. Thanks in advance for sharing the benefit of your collective experience.

Hi bro67,

I apologize if I didn't provide enough information.

The smiley face was an expression of the happiness and gratitude I would have for any help with my problem.

The issue is mostly with the games my child plays on this machine; or I guess I should say "played" prior to the FCU, since he hasn't been able to since. It will stream videos, from youtube and such, just fine. And the driving games he used to be able to play are Windows store apps. They can be played against others on-line, but he doesn't really do so, playing instead against the AI. The titles are Asphalt 8 and Asphalt Xtreme by GameLoft.

The computer is only used in my home, and my internet connection is fairly good. Here is a screenshot of a recent speed test:


And as I mentioned before, the laptop specs seem to exceed the requirements:


Before the FCU everything seemed to work fine. It's only since then that I've had a problem. And reinstalling the OS as I was instructed to by the Microsoft tech support representatives hasn't fixed the problem.

The screen resolution is 1366 x 768, and I've tried running the game apps full screen and in a window. There seems to be no difference in the stuttering video in either case. And the puzzling intermittent keyboard response, which controls the way he steers the cars, is the same whether full screen or in a window.

I am surprised to hear that the CPU in the newer machine is actually older than in the machine which was purchased 12 to 18 months prior. I purchased it because that same older machine and another Venue tablet I have seemed to work fine.

I hope I haven't left out anything important and will be happy to provide any more information that might lead to troubleshooting this problem. I appreciate any help you or any other knowledgable person can give me.

I apologize, I thought that I'd answered your questions directly.

When I said the computer is used only in my home, I presumed that would mean to most people that it is only being used on my own, paid for service. And though my wife's iphone and ipad access that same internet connection, there is only 1 other PC on that network, and that machine is problem free. The speed test was performed using the laptop which is having problems, and done using the built-in Edge browser.

The spec I posted was from the Windows store and is for the game my son used to be able to run on this very same machine, with the copy of Windows 10 it came with, but can no longer run now that the Creator's update has occurred. That is where the trouble is with the animation displayed by the game. That is also where the keyboard issues are most pronounced, though when doing just about anything there seems to be a lag time between keystrokes and response by the machine.

As far as I know there are no additional programs running in the background, save for the same McAfee anti-virus software that came with the laptop. If you'd like, I can do a series of screenshots of the task manager showing the various things which are running.

Thanks for the link bro67. The laptop described is the same model, but it has a slightly different processor. But I get your point about researching something before buying.

As I've said all along, the problems I've been describing mostly effect a game my 6 year old plays on the laptop, but some of the keyboard issues show up when using the browser or typing in MS word. These are all things which didn't happen before the update. All of these programs worked fine until then.

I've tried to describe than as clearly as I can, having only witnessed them. And they are problems which didn't exist before the latest update. I've been the route of reinstalling drivers. In fact, I've even reinstalled the operating system. I've done what the people at Dell support have instructed me to do so far, but that hasn't resolved the problem. Which is why I came to this forum.

I appreciate the consideration you've given me so far. And while I don't think that I've been all over the board with this, I do think that perhaps we're not communicating well. To the extent that it's my shortcoming, I apologize.

Thanks for taking the time to listen, and for the advice you have offered. I'll post something in the game thread and see if someone who's interest is focused in that area might have heard of anything similar.

Have a great week.