Dell Dimension 2400 Series User manual

Dell™ Dimension™ 2400 Series
CD or DVD drive
activity light
CD or DVD
headphone
connector
CD or DVD eject button
floppy-drive
activity light*
floppy-drive eject button*
hard-drive activity light
power button
CD or DVD
volume
control dial
power light
USB 2.0 connectors (2) headphone connector
service tag
second bay for optional drive
*On computers with an optional floppy drive.
video connector
parallel connector
keyboard connector
USB 2.0 connectors (4)
microphone connector line-in connector
line-out connector
mouse connector
serial connector
PCI card slots (3)
voltage selection switch
power connector
network adapter
connector
diagnostic lights (4)
cover latch

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 Tell Me How help file. To access help files, see page 9.
If you purchased a Dell™ n Series computer, any references in this document to Microsoft
®
Windows
®
operating systems are not applicable.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2003–2004 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarksusedinthistext:Dell,theDELLlogo,Inspiron,DellPrecision,Dimension,OptiPlex,Axim,PowerApp,PowerEdge,PowerConnect,
PowerVault, and Latitude are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel, Pentium, and Celeron are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; Microsoft
and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
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 MTC2
July 2004 P/N F7556 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Connecting a Parallel Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
How to Copy a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using Blank CD-Rs and CD-RWs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hyper-Threading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Booting to a USB Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 Solving Problems
Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Hard drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4Contents
IEEE 1394 Device Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A program crashes repeatedly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system. . . . . 25
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Mouse Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Network Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Printer Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
No sound from speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
If the screen is difficult to read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 Advanced Troubleshooting
Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Starting the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Identifying Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Contents 5
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4 Removing and Installing Parts
Front and Back View of the Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Removing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Looking Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Adding Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Adding a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Adding a Second CD or DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Installing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Standard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
System Setup Program Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 76
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . 77

6Contents
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Safety Instructions 7
Safety Instructions
See your Product Information Guide for safety instructions.

8Safety Instructions
www.dell.com | support.dell.com

Finding Information for Your Computer 9
Finding Information for Your Computer
What are you looking for? Find It Here
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram
• Tips on using Windows
• How to clean my computer
• How to use my mouse and keyboard
Tell Me How Help File
1 Click the Start button and click Help and Support .
2 Click User and system guides and click User’s guides .
3 Click Tell Me How .
• Express Service Code and Service Tag
• Microsoft
®
Windows
®
License Label
Express Service Code and Product Key Label
These labels are located on your
computer.

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 use Windows XP
• Documentation for my computer
• Documentation for devices (such as a
modem)
Windows Help and Support Center
1 Click the Start button and click Help and Support .
2 Type a word or phrase that describes your problem and click the arrow
icon.
3 Click the topic that describes your problem.
4 Follow the instructions on the screen.
What are you looking for? Find It Here