Dell Dimension DMC User manual

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Dell™ Dimension™ 4600 Series
*On computers with an optional floppy drive.
CD or DVD drive
activity light
CD or DVD
headphone
connector CD or DVD eject button
floppy drive 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
PCI card slots (3)
keyboard connector
USB 2.0 connectors (6)
microphone connector*
line-out connector*
serial connector
voltage selection switch
power connector
center/LFE connector*
integrated video connector**
mouse connector
line-in connector*
parallel connector
network adapter connector
diagnostic lights (4)
video connector***
cover latch
surround connector*
optional sound card connector
(see the setup diagram)
*On computers with integrated sound.
**On computers with integrated video.
***On computers with a video card.
Model DMC, MTC2

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 21.
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,DellNet,Inspiron, Dell Precision,Dimension,OptiPlex, PowerVault,PowerApp,PowerEdge,
PowerConnect, Axim, 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; 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 DMC, MTC2
July 2004 P/N G7279 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
Finding Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Finding Help Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Floppy drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CD drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4Contents
Problems writing to a CD-RW drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hard drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A program crashes repeatedly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A program is designed for an earlier Microsoft® Windows®
operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Other technical problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
General hardware problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
IEEE 1394 Device Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Mouse Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Network Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Printer Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
No sound from speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
If the screen is difficult to read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Contents 5
3 Advanced Troubleshooting
Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Starting the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Identifying Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4 Adding Parts
Front and Back View of the Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Removing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Looking Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adding Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Adding or Replacing the AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Removing an AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Installing an AGP Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Adding or Replacing a Second Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Adding a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Adding a Second CD or DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

6Contents
Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
DDR Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Memory Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Installing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 88
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . 88
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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

8Safety Instructions
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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 the Microsoft
®
Windows
®
operating system
• 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 XP 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