Dell OptiPlex GX50 User manual

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Dell™ OptiPlex™ GX50 Systems
User’s Guide

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.”
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2001 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Computer
Corporation is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text:
Dell , the DELL logo, Inspiron , Dimension , Latitude , Dell Precision ,
DellNet , and OptiPlex are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation; Intel is a registered
trademark and
Celeron is a trademark of Intel Corporation; Microsoft, Windows NT, MS-DOS,
and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; 3Com is a registered
trademark of 3Com Corporation;
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation;
NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. As an
ENERGY STAR partner, Dell Computer Corporation has determined that this product meets the
ENERGY STAR guidelines for energy efficiency.
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 Computer Corporation disclaims any
proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
Models: DHS, DHP, and DHM
January 2002
January 2002January 2002
January 2002 P/N 005VJ
P/N 005VJP/N 005VJ
P/N 005VJ Rev. A03
Rev. A03Rev. A03
Rev. A03

Contents iii
Contents
Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
When Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Ergonomic Computing Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1About Your Computer
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Front Panel Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Speaker/Headphone Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Power Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Floppy Drive Access Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hard Drive Access Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Connecting Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Parallel Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Mouse Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
USB Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Integrated Network Adapter Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Network Cable Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Line-In Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Line-Out Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Microphone Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Serial Port Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Keyboard Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Video Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Inside Your Computer
Inside Your ComputerInside Your Computer
Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

iv Contents
System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Removing and Attaching the Computer Stand . . . . . . . . . . 35
2Advanced Features
LegacySelect Technology Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Manageability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Dell OpenManage IT Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation. . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chassis Intrusion Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Security Cable Slot and Padlock Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Password Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
System Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Setup Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Disabling a Forgotten Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Computer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Changing the Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Additional System Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
If You Have a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Jumper Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Software Installation and Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3Installing Upgrades
Opening the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Closing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Installing an Expansion Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Contents v
Removing an Expansion Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Expansion Card Cage (Small Desktop Computer Only) . . . . . . 74
Removing the Expansion-Card Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Replacing the Expansion-Card Cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Installing DIMMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Removing DIMMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Front Panel Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Removing FrontPanel Inserts—Small Form-Factor and SmallDesktop
Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Removing Front Panel Inserts—Small Mini-Tower Computer . . 88
Replacing Front Panel Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Internal Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
IDE Drive Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Connecting Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Detaching Hard Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Reattaching Hard Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Adding a Second Hard Drive — Small Mini-Tower Computer . 107
Floppy Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Detaching Floppy Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Installing a Floppy Drive and Reattaching Cables . . . . . . . 116
CD Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Detaching CD Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Removing a CD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Installing a CD Drive and Reattaching Cables . . . . . . . . . 127

vi Contents
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4Microsoft® Windows® XP Features
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Help and Support Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
New User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Switching to Classic View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Clean Desktop Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Taskbar Grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Notification Area Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Application and Device Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Program Compatibility Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Using System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Restore Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Driver Rollback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
User Accounts and Fast User Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
How to Use Fast User Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
What Happens When a Fast User Switch Occurs? . . . . . . . 147
Special Considerations With Fast User Switching . . . . . . . 147
How to Turn Off Fast User Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
How to Add Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Home and Small Office Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Internet Connection Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Contents vii
5Technical Specifications
6Solving Problems
Finding Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Serial or Parallel Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Floppy Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Hard Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Expansion Card Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Recover From a Program That Is Not Responding . . . . . . . 178
Restart a Computer That Is Not Responding . . . . . . . . . . 179
Repairing a Wet Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Repairing a Dropped or Damaged Computer . . . . . . . . . . 180
Hardware Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Computer Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
System Board Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Resetting a Damaged System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Before You Start Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Running the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Advanced Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Advanced Testing Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Messages and Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Computer Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Computer Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

viii Contents
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Diagnostics Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Front Panel Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Back Panel Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Operating System Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Input Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Memory-Resident Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Program Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Memory Address Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Interrupt Assignment Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
BIOS Recovery Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
7Getting Help
Help Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Technical Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Help Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . . . . . 213
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Dell Contact Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
8Additional Information
Regulatory Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
IC Notice (Canada Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
CE Notice (European Union) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Contents ix
Battery Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
CCIB Notice (China Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
EN 55022 Compliance (Czech Republic Only) . . . . . . . . . 237
VCCI Notice (Japan Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
MIC Notice (Republic of Korea Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Polish Center for Testing and Certification Notice . . . . . . . 241
Wymagania Polskiego Centrum BadaÒ i Certyfikacji . . . . . 241
PozostaŠe instrukcje bezpieczeÒstwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
BSMI Notice (Taiwan Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
NOM Information (Mexico Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Información para NOM (únicamente para México) . . . . . . 246
ENERGY STAR®Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Limited Warranty and Return Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

xContents