Dell Dimension 5150C User manual

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Dell™ Dimension™ 5150C
Owner’s Manual
Model DHP
*Not present on certain computers.
front-panel
door (push to
open)
power button
power light
diagnostic lights
headphone connector
front-panel door (open)
microphone connector
optional floppy drive or
Media Card Reader*
network connector
IEEE 1394 connector
voltage selection switch
USB 2.0 connectors (5)
center/LFE connector
modem connector
CD or DVD drive light
USB 2.0 connectors (2)
IEEE 1394 connector
power connector
integrated video connector
S/PDIF-out connector
microphone/side-surround sound connector
PCI Express x16 card slot
PCI Express x1 card slot
line-out connector
line-in connector
rear-surround sound
connector
hard-drive activity light

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.
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.
© 2005–2006 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,Latitude,PowerEdge,PowerVault,PowerApp,
DellNet, and PowerConnect are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel, Pentium, Intel SpeedStep, and Celeron are registered trademarks of Intel
Corporation; Microsoft, Windows, and Outlook 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 DHP
September 2006 P/N WD300 Rev. A03

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Connecting a USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Connecting a TV (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Changing the Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Playing a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Using Blank CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Hibernate Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Understanding Intel®Viiv™ Technology (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4Contents
Using Intel®Viiv™ Quick Resume Technology (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Enabling the QRT Feature in System Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Enabling the QRT feature in the Operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2 Solving Problems
Troubleshooting Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Battery Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Media Card Reader Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 35
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Contents 5
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3 Troubleshooting Tools
Diagnostic Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 Removing and Installing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Front and Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Front View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Back View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Removing the Computer Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
System Board Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

6Contents
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
DDR2 Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Addressing Memory With 4-GB Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Connecting Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Drive Interface Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Power Cable Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Connecting and Disconnecting Drive Cables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Removing a CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Installing a CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Removing a Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Installing a Media Card Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Floppy Drive (Optional). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Replacing the Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Replacing the External Modem Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Replacing the Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Contents 7
5 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
System Setup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Clearing Forgotten Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 110
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 110
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

8Contents

Finding Information 9
Finding Information
NOTE: Some features may not be available for your computer or in certain countries.
NOTE: Additional information may ship with your computer.
What Are You Looking For? Find it Here
• Warranty information
• Terms and Conditions (U.S. only)
• Safety instructions
• Regulatory information
• Ergonomics information
• End User License Agreement
Dell™ Product Information Guide
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram

10 Finding Information
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
• Microsoft Windows License Label
Service Tag and Microsoft Windows License
These labels are located on your computer.
• Use the Service Tag to
identify your computer
when you use
support.dell.com or
contact technical
support.
• Enter the Express Service Code to direct your call when
contacting technical support.
• Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and tips, articles
from technicians, online courses, frequently asked
questions
• Community — 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, service call and
order status, warranty, and repair information
• Service and support — Service call status and support
history, service contract, online discussions with
technical support
• Reference — Computer documentation, details on my
computer configuration, product specifications, and
white papers
• Downloads — Certified drivers, patches, and software
updates
• Desktop System Software (DSS)— If you reinstall the
operating system for your computer, you should also
reinstall the DSS utility. DSS provides critical updates
for your operating system and support for Dell™
3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel
®
Pentium
®
M
processors, optical drives, and USB devices. DSS is
necessary for correct operation of your Dell computer.
The software automatically detects your computer and
operating system and installs the updates appropriate
for your configuration.
Dell Support Website — support.dell.com
NOTE: Select your region to view the appropriate support
site.
Corporate, government, and education customers can also
use the customized Dell Premier Support website at
premier.support.dell.com.The website may not be available
in all regions.
What Are You Looking For? Find it Here