Dell Dimension 4500C User manual

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Dell™ Dimension™ 4500C

front door

power button

hard-drive light CD or DVD drive light

USB 2.0 connectors (2)

headphone connector

breakaway hinge

IEEE 1394 connector*

breakaway hinge

PC Card connectors (2)**

* On computers with integrated IEEE 1394 connectors.

** On computers with integrated PC Card connectors.

optional video card connector

(see the setup diagram)

parallel connector

USB 2.0 connectors (4)

microphone connector

voltage selection switch (see page 11)

line-out connector

mouse connector

diagnostic lights (4)

integrated video

connector (see the

setup diagram)

power connector

keyboard connector network connector

line-in connector

serial connector

modem connectors (2)

IEEE 1394 connector

Hints, Notices, and Cautions

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.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

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

file. To access help files, see page 38.

____________________

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, and

Dell Precision are trademarks of Dell Computer 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

other rightsowners.Use of this copyright protectiontechnologymust 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.

June 2003 P/N 6M515 Rev. A03

Contents 3

Contents

CAUTION: Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

When Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

When Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Ergonomic Computing Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Battery Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1Setting Up

Connecting the AC Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Attaching and Removing the Computer Stand . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Connecting a Parallel Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Connecting an IEEE 1394 Device (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4Contents

Copying CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using Easy CD Creator Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using Blank CD-R Discs or Blank CD-RW Discs . . . . . . . . 32

Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

How to Copy a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2Solving Problems

Finding Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Finding Help Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

CD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Problems writing to a CD-RW drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system 44

A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Other technical problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

General hardware problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

IEEE 1394 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Contents 5

Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

PC Card Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3Advanced Troubleshooting

Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Creating a Restore Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State . . . . . . 62

Undoing the Last System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Starting the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . 70

Reinstalling Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6Contents

4Adding Parts

Front and Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Reattaching the Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Opening the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Looking Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Adding PC Cards (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

PC Card Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Installing a PC Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Removing a PC Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Adding Other Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Adding or Replacing a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Removing a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Installing a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Closing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

5Appendix

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Standard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

System Setup Program Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Dell Technical Support Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Contents 7

Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Regulatory Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

8Contents

CAUTION: Safety Instructions 9

CAUTION: Safety Instructions

Use the following safety guidelines to help ensure your own personal safety and to help protect

your computer and working environment from potential damage.

General

• Do not attempt to service the computer yourself unless you are a trained service

technician. Always follow installation instructions closely.

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

grounded electrical outlets. These cables are equipped with 3-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 3-wire cable with properly grounded plugs.

• To help avoid the potential hazard of electric shock, do not use your computer during an

electrical storm.

• To help avoid the potential hazard of electric shock, do not connect or disconnect any

cables or perform maintenance or reconfiguration of this product during an electrical

storm.

• If your computer includes a modem, the cable used with the modem should be

manufactured with a minimum wire size of 26 American wire gauge (AWG) and an FCC-

compliant RJ-11 modular plug.

• Before you clean your computer, disconnect the computer from the electrical outlet.

Clean your computer with a soft cloth dampened with water. Do not use liquid or aerosol

cleaners, which may contain flammable substances.

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

computer before disconnecting a device from the computer.

10 CAUTION: Safety Instructions

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• 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.

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

electrical power, use a surge suppressor, line conditioner, or uninterruptible power supply

(UPS).

• Ensure 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 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.

CAUTION: Safety Instructions

(continued)

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