After a clean installation of the Microsoft Windows 8.1 operating system, you must install the following drivers/software packages in the following sequence.
The list below indicates the recommended order to install the drivers for your system and provides links to additional information about each driver. Drivers are available for download on the Dell Support Website for your system. Before choosing your drivers, ensure the correct Operating System version is selected from the drop down list (ie Windows 8.1 64 bit).
After the Windows 8.1 installation, download and install the following components of the Intel chipset and system devices. Click each item in the list to take you to the specific driver location at Dell's support website:
Check under the System devices category in Device Manager to ensure the drivers installed correctly:
The Inspiron 17/7746 uses either the Intel HD Graphics or the optional nVidia Geforce 845M for the display adapter. Download and install the corresponding display adapter driver from the Dell support website using the links below:
After installation, ensure the adapter shows correctly under the Display adapters category in Device Manager, as shown with the Intel HD Graphics below:
Download and install the Realtek ALC3234 Audio driver from the following link at Dell's support website: Realtek ALC3234 Audio Driver.
Once installed correctly, the Realtek audio adapter will show under the Sound, video and game controllers category in Device Manager:
The storage controller driver can be installed from the following link at Dell's support website: Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver. Once installed correctly, the Intel Rapid Storage driver should appear under the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category in Device Manager:
The following network adapter drivers should be downloaded and installed from Dell's support website:
Ensure the devices installed correctly by verifying the entries under the Network adapters category in Device Manager, as shown below:
The driver for the Realtek card reader can be downloaded and installed from the following link at Dell's support website: Realtek RTS5176 Card Reader Driver. Once installed correctly, the Realtek USB 2.0 Card Reader will show under the Universal Serial Bus controllers category in Device Manager: