Dell XPS /Dimension User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

Dell™ Dimension™ XPS

security cable slot

power connector

padlock ring

modem

cover release latch

fans

diagnostic lights

network adapter connector

USB 2.0

connectors (6)

keyboard connector

PCI sound card

with IEEE 1394

mouse connector

VGA video connector

parallel connector

serial connector 2

serial connector 1

USB 2.0 connectors (2)

headphone connector

IEEE 1394 connector

card slots

DVI video connector

G0550bk1.book Page 1 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

Notes, Notices, and Cautions

NOTE: A NOTE 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

Dell™ Dimension™ 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, DellNet, and Dimension are trademarks of Dell

Computer Corporation; Intel, Pentium, and Celeron 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.

Model WHL

June 2003 P/N G0550 Rev. A01

G0550bk1.book Page 2 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

Contents 3

Contents

Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

CAUTION: Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

When Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

When Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Ergonomic Computing Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Battery Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1Using Your Computer

Opening the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Connecting Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Configuring Graphics Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Settings and Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Removing the Graphics Card Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

About Serial ATA Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

About Your RAID Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

RAID Level 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

RAID Level 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Copying CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Using Easy CD Creator Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Using Blank CD-R Discs or Blank CD-RW Discs . . . . . . . . . 28

Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

How to Copy a CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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4Contents

Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

2Optimizing Performance

Intel®Performance Acceleration Technology . . . . . . . . . . 32

DDR Memory and Processor Front-Side Bus . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Overclocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

3Solving Problems

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

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

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

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

Floppy drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

CD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

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

DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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

E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A program is designed for an earlier Windows

operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

G0550bk1.book Page 4 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

Contents 5

Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Other technical problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

General hardware problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

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

Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

4Advanced Troubleshooting

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

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

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

Starting the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Dell Diagnostics Main Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

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

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

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

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

G0550bk1.book Page 5 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

6Contents

Using Windows®XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Creating a Restore Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State . . . . . 70

Undoing the Last System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . 71

Reinstalling Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Before You Reinstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Reinstalling Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Reinstalling Drivers and Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

5Removing and Installing Parts

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

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

Front View (Doors Open) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

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

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Precautionary Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Opening the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

DDR Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Memory Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Installing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

PCI Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Installing a PCI Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Removing a PCI Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

G0550bk1.book Page 6 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

Contents 7

AGP Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Removing an AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Installing an AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Microprocessor Airflow Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Removing the Microprocessor Airflow Shroud . . . . . . . . . 105

Installing the Microprocessor Airflow Shroud . . . . . . . . . 106

Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Installing the Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Removing the Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Removing the Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Replacing the Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Removing the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Replacing the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Closing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

6Appendix

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Standard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

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8Contents

Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . 129

Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . 129

Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Regulatory Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Limited Warranties and Return Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Limited Warranty for Dell-Branded Hardware Products

(U.S. Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

"Total Satisfaction" Return Policy (U.S. Only). . . . . . . . . . 136

Limited Warranty Terms for Dell-Branded Hardware Products

(Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

"Total Satisfaction" Return Policy (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . 139

Dell Software and Peripherals (Canada Only). . . . . . . . . . 140

1-Year End-User Manufacturer Guarantee

(Latin America and the Caribbean Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Intel®Warranty Statement for Pentium®and Celeron®

Processors Only (U.S. and Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

G0550bk1.book Page 8 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

Finding Information for Your Computer 9

Finding Information for Your Computer

Dell provides the following support options to help you quickly find answers

to your questions and problems:

• Dell Solution Center — Double-click the Dell Solutions Center

icon on your Microsoft®Windows®desktop for documentation,

tools, troubleshooting information, and links to online support

resources.

• Dell Support on your Windows desktop (U.S. only) — From the

Dell Solution Center, click Dell Support for additional

documentation, tools, and troubleshooting information.

• Dell Support on the Internet — The Dell Support website

(support.dell.com) provides online tools, including a Knowledge

Base, Frequently Asked Questions, Hints and Tips, Software

Reinstall Guides, Dell Community Forums, and Dell Customer

Care.

• Dell Technical Support — E-mail or call technical support

personnel for Dell hardware or operating system issues that you

cannot resolve using the Dell Support options.

Use the following chart to determine where you can find information on a

particular topic.

What are you looking for? Find It Here

• How to access tutorials and other how

to information

• How to get a copy of my invoice

• How to extend my warranty

• How to access Dell Support on my

Windows desktop (U.S. only)

• Additional documentation, tools,

troubleshootinginformation,andlinks

to online support resources

Dell Solution Center

On your Windows desktop

G0550bk1.book Page 9 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

10 Finding Information for Your Computer

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

• Latest drivers for my computer

• Answers to technical service and

support questions

• Online discussions with other users

and technical support

• Documentation for my computer

Dell Support Website — support.dell.com

The Dell Support website provides several online tools, including:

• Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and tips, articles from

technicians, and online courses

• Community Forum — Online discussion with other Dell customers

• Upgrades — Upgrade information for components, such as memory,

the hard drive, and the operating system

• Customer Care — Contact information, order status, warranty, and

repair information

• Downloads — Drivers, patches, and software updates

• Reference — Computer documentation, product specifications, and

white papers

• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram

• Additional information about setting

up my computer

• How to troubleshoot and solve

problems

• How to remove and install parts

• Technical specifications

• How to contact Dell

Owner’s Manual

What are you looking for? Find It Here

G0550bk1.book Page 10 Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:55 PM

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