Dell Dimension 9100 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Dimension™ 9100
FlexBays (2) for optional
floppy drive or optional
Media Card Reader
hard-drive activity light
power button
microphone connector
headphone connector
CD or DVD activity light
CD or DVD eject button
diagnostic lights
USB 2.0 connectors (2)
cover latch release
Service Tag
power connector
USB 2.0 connectors (5)
network adapter
sound-card connectors (5)
card slots for
PCI Express x1 (1), PCI Express x16 (1),
PCI Express x4 (1), PCI (3)
Model DCTA

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 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 and Pentium, and Intel SpeedStep 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 DCTA
March 2005 P/N D8663 Rev. A00

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
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Playing CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Using Blank CD-Rs and CD-RWs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Connecting Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting Two Monitors With VGA Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Connecting One Monitor With a VGA Connector and One Monitor
With a DVI Connector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Connecting a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Changing the Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Hibernate Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4Contents
IEEE 1394 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2 Solving Problems
Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Battery Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Media Card Reader Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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 . . . . . 36
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Contents 5
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
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4 Removing and Installing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Turn Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Front View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Removing the Computer Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
System Board Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

6Contents
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
PCI Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Drive Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Removing the Drive Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Removing the Drive-Panel Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Replacing the Drive-Panel Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Replacing the Drive Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
General Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Adding a Second Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Removing a Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Installing a Media Card Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Removing a CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Installing a CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Replacing the Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
System Setup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Contents 7
Clearing Forgotten Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 117
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 118
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

8Contents

Finding Information 9
Finding Information
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
NOTE: This document is available as a PDF at
support.dell.com.
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram

10 Finding Information
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
• 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. The Express Service Code is not
available in all countries.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here