Dell PP29L User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

Dell™ 500 Owner’s Manual

Model PP29L

book.book Page 1 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 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.

___________________

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and Wi-Fi Catcher are trademarks of Dell Inc.;

Intel is a registered trademark and Celeron is a trademark of Intel Corporation in United States and

other countries.; Microsoft and Windows are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft

Corporation in the United States and/or other countries; Bluetooth is a registered trademark owned by

Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by Dell under license.

Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming

the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and

trade names other than its own.

Model PP29L

July 2008 P/N U739D Rev. A03

book.book Page 2 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

Contents 3

Contents

Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1 About Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2 Setting Up Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

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

Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 30

Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . 31

Windows Easy Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . 37

book.book Page 3 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

4Contents

3 Using the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Adjusting Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Switching the Video Image From Your

Computer Display To a Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate . . . . . . 40

4 Using the Keyboard and Touch Pad . . . . 41

Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . 43

Dell™ QuickSet Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . 43

Adjusting Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5 Using a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Dell QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Microsoft®Windows®Battery Meter . . . . . . . 49

Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

book.book Page 4 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

Contents 5

Power Management Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Configuring Power Management Settings . . . . . . . 51

Accessing Power Options Properties . . . . . . . 51

Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

6 Using Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Playing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Copying CD and DVD Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

How to Copy a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Using Blank CD and DVD Media . . . . . . . . . . 58

Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

7 Using Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

ExpressCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

ExpressCard Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Installing an ExpressCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Removing an ExpressCard or Blank . . . . . . . . . . 63

book.book Page 5 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

6Contents

Memory Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Memory Card Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Installing a Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Removing a Memory Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 65

8 Setting Up and Using Networks . . . . . . . 67

Connecting a Network or Broadband

Modem Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Setting Up a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

What You Need to Establish a WLAN

Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . 68

Setting Up a New WLAN Using

a Wireless Router and a Broadband Modem . . . 69

Connecting to a WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

9 Securing Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Security Cable Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

If Your Computer Is Lost or Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

10 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Dell Technical Update Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

book.book Page 6 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

Contents 7

Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Optical drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . 81

Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

ExpressCard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

External Keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Unexpected characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The computer does not start . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . 90

A program stops responding or

crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

A program is designed for an earlier

Microsoft®Windows®operating system . . . . . 91

A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

book.book Page 7 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

8Contents

Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . 96

No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . 96

No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Video and Display Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . 99

If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . 99

Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 100

Troubleshooting Software and Hardware

Problems in the Microsoft®Windows®XP

Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Using Microsoft Windows System Restore . . . . 103

Starting System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Using the Operating System Media . . . . . . . . 105

11 Adding and Replacing Parts . . . . . . . . . 107

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 108

book.book Page 8 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

Contents 9

Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Removing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Replacing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Replacing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Removing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Replacing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Removing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Replacing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Removing Memory Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Replacing Memory Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Wireless Mini-Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Removing Mini-Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Replacing Mini-Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless

Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Removing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Replacing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

book.book Page 9 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

10 Contents

12 Traveling With Your Computer . . . . . . . . 125

Identifying Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Packing the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Travel Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Traveling by Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

13 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 128

DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 129

Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 130

Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

14 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

book.book Page 10 Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:00 PM

This manual suits for next models

Table of contents

Other Dell Laptop manuals

Dell

Dell Inspiron 16 7620 User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude 3320 Manual

Dell

Dell Latitude 5300 Operation and maintenance manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron 600m User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude E6430s User manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron N3010 User manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Series User manual

Dell

Dell Vostro 5590 Operation and maintenance manual

Dell

Dell G15 5511 Operation and maintenance manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron PD598 User manual

Dell

Dell LATITUTE D610 User manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron 5400 2n1 Operation and maintenance manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude UY691 User manual

Dell

Dell Alienware M11xR2 User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude D810 User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude 3340 2-in-1 User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series User manual

Dell

Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series User manual

Dell

Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 User manual

Dell

Dell Chromebook 5190 2-in-1 User manual

Dell

Dell Vostro 5391 User manual

Dell

Dell 3330 User manual

Dell

Dell Latitude CPi A-Series User manual

Popular Laptop manuals by other brands

HP ze2401xt - Pavilion Notebook PC datasheet

Velocity

Velocity NoteMagix M10 quick start guide

Toshiba

Toshiba A105-S2236 Specifications

HP ENVY 17 Maintenance and service guide

Winbook

Winbook LM user guide

HP PROBOOK 4520S Maintenance and service guide

Sony

Sony VAIO PCG-FX270 Specifications

Sony

Sony VAIO PCG-R505JLK user guide

Lenovo

Lenovo THINKPAD X32 Setup guide

HP Compaq tc4200 Software guide

Toshiba

Toshiba mini NB300 specification

Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkPad X201 Tablet Manual

Lenovo

Lenovo THINKPAD X31 Manual

Sony

Sony VGN-T240P VAIO Specifications

Compaq

Compaq Armada E700 Series reference guide

Fujitsu

Fujitsu Lifebook A6230 Specifications

Acer

Acer Aspire ONE 722 Service guide

Toshiba

Toshiba L300-EZ1524 Specifications