Dell Dimension 4500 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

Dell™ Dimension™ 4500

HINT: A HINT indicates important information that helps you make better

use of your computer.

NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of

data and tells you how to avoid the problem.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage,

personal injury, or death.

For a complete list of abbreviations and acronyms, see the Tell Me How help

file. To access help files, see page 26.

____________________

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Computer

Corporation is strictly forbidden.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude, OptiPlex, Dell

Precision, DellPlus, and DellNet are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation; EMC is the

registered trademark of EMC Corporation; Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel

Corporation; Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Othertrademarksandtradenamesmaybeusedinthisdocumenttorefertoeithertheentitiesclaiming

themarksandnamesortheirproducts.DellComputerCorporationdisclaimsanyproprietaryinterest

in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by method claims of

certain U.S. patents and other intellectual property rights owned by Macrovision Corporation and

otherrightsowners.Use of this copyright protection technology must be authorized by Macrovision

Corporation, and is intended for home and other limited viewing uses only unless otherwise

authorized by Macrovision Corporation. Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited.

April 2002 P/N 9N756 Rev. A00

Contents 3

Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

When Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

When Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Battery Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1Setting Up

Connecting a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Parallel Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Installing the Printer Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Turning Off the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2Solving Problems

Finding Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Finding Help Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4Contents

Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Floppy drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

CD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Problems writing to a CD-RW drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A program is designed for an earlier Windows

operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Other technical problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

General hardware problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Contents 5

3Advanced Troubleshooting

Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Using System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Creating a Restore Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State . . . . . . 51

Undoing the Last System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Using Windows®XP Device Driver Rollback . . . . . . . . . . 53

Using the Dell Dimension ResourceCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . 54

Reinstalling Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4Adding Parts

Front and Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Reattaching the Front Door and Hinge Arms . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Reattaching the Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Reattaching the Hinge Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Opening the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Looking Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Installing and Removing Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Installing a Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Removing a Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Removing a Memory Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Adding a Memory Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

6Contents

Adding or Replacing the AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Card Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Card Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Adding a Second Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Closing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

5Appendix

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Standard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

System Setup Program Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . 95

Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . 95

Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Contact Numbers and Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . . . . . 111

Regulatory Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

NOM Information (Mexico Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Limited Warranties and Return Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

One-Year Limited Warranty (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Two-Year Limited Warranty (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Three-Year Limited Warranty (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Four-Year Limited Warranty (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

One-Year Limited Warranty (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Two-Year Limited Warranty (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Three-Year Limited Warranty (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . 131

Contents 7

"Total Satisfaction" Return Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . 135

One-Year End-User Manufacturer Guarantee (Latin America and the

Caribbean Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

8Contents

Safety Instructions 9

Use the following safety guidelines to protect yourself and your computer.

When Using Your Computer

CAUTION: Do not operate your computer with any cover(s)

(including the computer cover, filler brackets, front-panel inserts,

and so on) removed or opened.

• Your computer is equipped with either an auto-sensing voltage selector

or a manual voltage selection switch. Computers with an auto-sensing

voltage selector do not have a voltage selection switch on the back

panel and automatically detect the correct operating voltage.

Computers with a voltage selection switch on the back panel must be

manually set to operate at the correct operating voltage. To help avoid

damaging a computer with a manual voltage selection switch, be sure

that the voltage selection switch is set to match the AC power

available at your location:

– 115 V/60 Hz in most of North and South America and some Far

Eastern countries such as South Korea and Taiwan

– 100 V/50 Hz in eastern Japan and 100 V/60 Hz in western Japan

NOTE: The voltage selection switch must be set to the 115V position

even though the AC supply in Japan is 100 V.

– 230 V/50 Hz in most of Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East

NOTE: Auto-select power supplies do not require a voltage selection

switch. Your power supply may not have this switch.

Also be sure that your monitor and attached devices are electrically

rated to operate with the AC power available in your location.

• To avoid shorting out your computer when disconnecting a network

cable, first unplug the cable from the network adapter on the back of

your computer, and then from the network jack. When reconnecting a

network cable to your computer, first plug the cable into the network

jack, and then into the network adapter.

10 Safety Instructions

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•To help avoid possible damage to the system board, wait 5 seconds

after turning off the computer before disconnecting or connecting a

non-USB device from the computer.

•To help prevent electric shock, plug the computer and device power

cables into properly grounded power sources. These cables are

equipped with three-prong plugs to help ensure proper grounding. Do

not use adapter plugs or remove the grounding prong from a cable. If

you must use an extension cable, use a three-wire cable with properly

grounded plugs.

•To help protect your computer from sudden, transient increases and

decreases in electrical power, use a surge suppressor, line conditioner,

or uninterruptible power supply.

•Be sure that nothing rests on your computer’s cables and that the

cables are not located where they can be stepped on or tripped over.

•Do not spill food or liquids on your computer. If the computer gets

wet, contact Dell (see page 95).

•Do not push any objects into the openings of your computer. Doing so

can cause fire or electric shock by shorting out interior components.

•Keep your computer away from radiators and heat sources. Also, do not

block cooling vents. Avoid placing loose papers underneath your

computer; do not place your computer in a closed-in wall unit or on a

bed, sofa, or rug.

When Working Inside Your Computer

Before you open the computer cover, perform the following steps in the

sequence indicated.

CAUTION: Do not attempt to service the computer yourself,

except as explained in this guide and elsewhere in Dell

documentation. Always follow installation and service

instructions closely.

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