Dell Inspiron DCMA User manual

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Dell™ Inspiron™ 531 Owner’s Manual
Model DCMA
book.book Page 1 Friday, April 4, 2008 12:10 PM

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.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
For a complete list of abbreviations and acronyms, see the "Glossary" on
page 189.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2008 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, YOURS IS HERE,Inspiron,Dell TravelLite, and
Strike Zone are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Bluetooth is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG,
Inc. and is used by Dell under license; Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista, and Windows Vista start
button logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
Statesand/orothercountries;Intel andIntel SpeedStep areregisteredtrademarksofIntelCorporation;
AMD, AMD Athlon, AMD Sempron, and Cool ’n’ Quiet are trademarks of Advanced MicroDevices,
Inc;Nvidiaisaregisteredtrademarkof Nvidia Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
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 DCMA
April 2008
book.book Page 2 Friday, April 4, 2008 12:10 PM

Contents 3
Contents
1 Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Setting Up and Using Your Computer . . . 15
Front View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Back Panel Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Installing Your Computer in an Enclosure . . . . . . . 20
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Playing CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Copying CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
How to Copy a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using Blank CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . 30
Connecting Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Connecting Two Monitors With VGA
Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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4Contents
Connecting One Monitor With a VGA Connector
and One Monitor With a DVI Connector . . . . . . 32
Connecting a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Changing the Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Power Management Options in
Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Power Schemes Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Hibernate Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Power Management Options in
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Power Plan Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Enabling Cool ’n’ Quiet Technology . . . . . . . . . . . 40
About RAID Configurations (For Windows
Vista only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
RAID Level 1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Configuring Your Hard Drives for RAID . . . . . . . 42
Using the Nvidia MediaShield ROM Utility . . . . . 43
Using Nvidia MediaShield . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . 44
Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . . 47
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . 47
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 49
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Contents 5
3 Solving Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . 54
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . 58
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . 59
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . 59
A program is designed for an earlier
Microsoft®Windows®operating system . . . . . 60
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Media Card Reader Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
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6Contents
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4 Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Power Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . 80
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From
Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From the
Drivers and Utilities Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
What is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 84
Resolving Software and Hardware
Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Using Microsoft Windows System Restore . . . . 88
Using Dell PC Restore and Dell Factory
Image Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Using the Operating System CD . . . . . . . . . . 94
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Contents 7
5 Removing and Installing Parts . . . . . . . . 97
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 98
Removing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Power Supply DC Connector Pin Assignments . . . . . 104
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Memory Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . 108
Installing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
PCI and PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Removing the Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Replacing the Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Recommended Drive Cable Connections . . . . . 121
Connecting Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Drive Interface Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Connecting and Disconnecting Drive Cables . . . 122
Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Installing a Second Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . 125
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
CD or DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
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8Contents
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Replacing the Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Removing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Installing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
I/O Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Removing the I/O Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Installing the I/O Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Processor Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Removing the Processor Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Installing the Processor Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Chassis Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Removing the Chassis Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Replacing the Chassis Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Removing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Installing the System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
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Contents 9
A Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
System Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Clearing Forgotten Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Flashing the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . 179
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . 180
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software
and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Definition of "Third-Party" Software
and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
FCC Notice (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 183
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 185
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10 Contents
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 186
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
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