Dell Dimension C521 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Dimension™ C521
Owner’s Manual
FlexBay for optional
floppy drive or Media
Card Reader
hard drive activity light
power button
microphone connector
CD or DVD activity light
CD or DVD eject button
diagnostic lights
USB 2.0 connectors (2)
Service Tag
headphone connector
power connector
USB 2.0 connectors (4)
VGA video connector (integrated)
network adapter
audio connectors
card slots for
PCI (1),
PCI Express x1 (1)
PCI Express x16 (1)
cover release latch
Model DCNE

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 "Glossary" on page 127.
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.
© 2006 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, Inspiron, Dell Precision, Dimension, OptiPlex, Latitude, PowerEdge, PowerConnect,
PowerVault, PowerApp, XPS, Dell TravelLite, and Dell OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Microsoft and Windows are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. AMD, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, and Cool ’n’ Quiet are trademarks of Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc; EMC is a registered trademark of EMC 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 DCNE
August 2006 P/N RP333 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Front View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Back Panel I/O Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting a USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Playing CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Using Blank CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Hibernate Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Power Schemes Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Hibernate Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Enabling Cool ’n’ Quiet™ Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4Contents
2 Solving Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Battery Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 37
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Media Card Reader Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The screen is difficult to read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Contents 5
3 Advanced Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Power Light and Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Power Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Using Microsoft® Windows®XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Using Dell™ PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Removing Dell PC Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4 Removing and Installing Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Removing the Computer Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
System Board Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
DDR2 Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
General Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Drive Interface Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

6Contents
Power Cable Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Connecting and Disconnecting Drive Cables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Removing a Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Installing a Media Card Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Removing a CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Installing a CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Replacing the Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
System Setup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Boot Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Clearing Forgotten Passwords and CMOS Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Jumper Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Clearing Password Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Contents 7
Dell Hardware Warranty Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 107
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 107
FCC Notice (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

8Contents

Finding Information 9
Finding Information
NOTE: Some features or media may be optional and may not ship with your computer. Some features or
media may not be available in certain countries.
NOTE: Additional information may ship with your computer.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here
• A diagnostic program for my computer
• Drivers for my computer
• My device documentation
• Desktop System Software (DSS)
Drivers and Utilities CD (also known as ResourceCD)
NOTE: The Drivers and Utilities CD may be optional and may
not ship with your computer.
Documentation and drivers are already installed on your
computer. You can use the CD to reinstall drivers (see
"Reinstalling Drivers" on page 53), to run the Dell
Diagnostics (see "Dell Diagnostics" on page 50), or to
access your documentation.
Readme files may be
included on your CD to
provide last-minute
updates about technical
changes to your computer
or advanced technical
reference material for
technicians or experienced
users.
NOTE: Drivers and documentation updates can be found at
support.dell.com.
• Warranty information
• Terms and Conditions (U.S. only)
• Safety instructions
• Regulatory information
• Ergonomics information
• End User License Agreement
Dell™ Product Information Guide

10 Finding Information
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
• Microsoft Windows License Label
Service Tag and Microsoft
®
Windows
®
License
These labels are located on your computer (see "Front View
of the Computer" on page 13).
• Use the Service Tag to
identify your computer
when you use
support.dell.com or
contact support.
• Enter the Express
Service Code to direct your call when contacting support.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here