Dell Studio XPS 7100 User manual

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Dell™ Technology 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.
____________________
Steps pertaining to Microsoft®Windows Vista®and Windows®XP refer to
Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows XP Professional edition respectively in
default view.
NOTE: Steps may vary depending on the version of operating system
installed on your computer.
represents Windows Vista Start button.
represents Windows XP Start button.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Some of the information
contained in this document may not apply to all Dell systems.
© 2007—2008 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, DellConnect, StrikeZone, Wi-Fi Catcher,
ExpressCharge, and Dell TravelLite are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel and iAMT are registered
trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.; Bluetooth is a trademark owned by
Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by Dell Inc. under license; Blu-ray Disc is a trademark of Blu-ray
Disc Association; Microsoft, Windows, Internet Explorer, Windows Vista, and the Windows Vista start
button logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft 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.
August 2008 Rev. A01

Contents 3
Contents
1 Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Start Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Microsoft Windows Help and Support . . . . . . . . . 24
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Control Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Information About Installed Hardware . . . . . . . . . 26
Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Hardware Devices Installed on Your
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Programs Installed on Your Computer. . . . . . . . . . 28
Wireless Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Dell Support Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Customer Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Warranty Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Dell Forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Contact Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
BIOS (System Setup Program) Settings . . . . . . . . . 31
2 Microsoft Windows Desktop . . . . . . . . . . 33
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

4Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Displaying the Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Customizing the Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Displaying Hidden Icons From the Notification
Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Adding Icons in the Notification Area . . . . . . . 35
Desktop Icons and Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Deleting an Icon From the Desktop . . . . . . . . . 36
Creating and Deleting Program Shortcuts
on the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Shortcut Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Changing the Desktop Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Setting up a Screen Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Start Button (Menu) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Customizing the Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Accessing and Using the Control Panel . . . . . . 45
Customizing Your Computer Settings . . . . . . . . 45
Managing Your Computer Performance . . . . . . 45
3 Monitors and Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Cleaning Your Computer’s Display Screen . . . . . . . 47
Adjusting the Resolution of Your Display . . . . . . . . 48
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Contents 5
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Choosing the Best Display Settings . . . . . . . . 50
Setting the Display Resolution for External
LCD Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Setting the Display for Multiple Monitors . . . . . . . 51
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Using the Ambient Light Sensor in Bright or
Low-Light Environments: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Cables and Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
DisplayPort™ - Features and Benefits . . . . . . . 56
NVIDIA SLI and ATI Crossfire Technologies . . . . . . 56
4 Navigation Devices (Mouse, Keyboard,
Touch Pad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Controlling the Speed of the Mouse Buttons. . . . 58
Controlling the Speed of the Scroll Wheel . . . . . 59
Cleaning a Non-Optical Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . 59
Cleaning an Optical Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Using a Bluetooth® -Enabled Wireless Mouse . . 60
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Circular Scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Single Finger Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Cleaning the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Using a Touch Pointer (Track Stick or
Tablet PC Pen) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6Contents
Turning the Touch Pointer On or Off From the
Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Turning the Touch Pointer On or Off From the
Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Using a USB Pointing Device (Mouse) . . . . . . . . . 64
Troubleshooting a USB Pointing Device . . . . . . 64
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Customizing Your Keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Backlit Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Changing the Input Language of Your
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using the Numeric Keypad on a Laptop
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
General Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5 Printers—Settings and Drivers . . . . . . . 71
Accessing Printer Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Changing Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
For Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
For Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Setting up Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Adding a Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Setting the Default Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Sharing Printers on a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Installing a Printer Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6 Drives and Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Freeing up Hard Drive Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Contents 7
Shadow Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Reducing Hard Drive Space Used by Shadow
Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Solid-State Drive (SSD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Installing Drivers for Media Drives . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Determining Whether a Device Driver is the
Source of a Device Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Replacing a Driver With a Previous Version of
the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Using the Drivers and Utilities Media to Reinstall
a Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Manually Reinstalling a Driver . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Drive Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Optical Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Hard Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Working with RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
RAID Level 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
RAID Level 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
RAID Level 0+1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . 86
RAID Level 5 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled
Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Configuring RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
7 Shutting Down Your Computer . . . . . . . . 99
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Shutdown States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Microsoft® Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8Contents
Ending a Program That is not Responding . . . . 101
Ending a Process That is not Responding . . . . 103
Docking and Undocking Your Laptop Computer. . . . 104
Undocking Your Computer While it is
Running— Hot Undocking . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Undocking Without Shutting Down . . . . . . . . 104
Shutting Down Your Computer When it Fails to
Shut Down Normally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Shutting Down a Stalled or "Frozen"
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Shutting Down a Computer When it Stops Responding
and Displays a Solid Blue Screen . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Starting Your Computer in Safe Mode . . . . . . . . . 107
Restarting Your Computer After a Power Loss . . . . 108
8 Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Navigating to Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Selecting and Opening Files . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Selecting a Group of Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Selecting Several Random Files . . . . . . . . . 111
Opening and Saving a File . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Opening a Graphic Image (Picture or Art) . . . . 112
Finding Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Searching for a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Renaming Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Printing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Deleting Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Contents 9
Sharing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Sharing Files With Password Protection. . . . . . 115
Restricting Access to a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Transferring Files and Settings to a New Computer . . 116
Transferring Files From a Computer Running
Windows XP to a Computer Running
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Transferring Files Between Computers Running
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Backing up Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Running Backup When the Settings Have
Been Preconfigured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Running Backup With Hidden Drives. . . . . . . . 119
Restoring Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
9 Managing Applications (Programs) . . . 121
Installing Applications on Your Computer . . . . . . . 121
Installing Applications From a CD or DVD With
Microsoft®Windows®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Installing (Downloading) Applications From the
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Installing Applications From a Network . . . . . . 122
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

10 Contents
Removing Applications From Your Computer . . . . . 123
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Ending an Application When it Does not
Respond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10 Maintenance Tasks (Enhance
Performance and Ensure Security) . . . . 125
Performing Maintenance Tasks to Increase
Computer Speed and Ensure Security . . . . . . . . . 125
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Before You Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Cleaning the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Cleaning Optical Drives and Optical Drive
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Managing Your Computer Performance . . . . . . . 127
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Performance Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
System Setup Based Performance Tuning . . . . 129
Software Based Performance Tuning . . . . . . 129
NVIDIA Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
NVIDIA Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Cleaning Up Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Defragmenting Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Detecting and Repairing Disk Errors . . . . . . . . . 133
Scanning for Viruses and Spyware . . . . . . . . . . 133

Contents 11
11 Power (Power Settings, Power
Protection Devices, and Batteries) . . . 135
Setting Power Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Power Protection Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Surge Protector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Power Line Conditioner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) . . . . . . . . 141
Laptop Computer Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Using Your Laptop Computer for the
First Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Preserving the Life of a Battery . . . . . . . . . . 142
Replacing a Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Checking the Battery Charge. . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
US Department of Transportation (DOT)
Notebook Battery Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Dell™ ControlPoint Power Manager . . . . . . . . 146
12 Networks (LAN, Wireless,
Mobile Broadband) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Local Area Networks (LAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
What You Need to Set up a LAN . . . . . . . . . . 151
Setting up a new LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) . . . . . . . . 153

12 Contents
What you Need to set up a WLAN . . . . . . . . 153
Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . 154
Reinstalling Software and Drivers for Your
Wireless Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Setting up a new Wireless Local Area
Network (WLAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Ad Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Mobile Broadband (or Wireless Wide Area Network)
Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Establishing a Mobile Broadband Network
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Checking Your Mobile Broadband Card . . . . . 160
Connecting to a Mobile Broadband Network . . 160
Activating Mobile Broadband Service . . . . . . 160
Managing the Network With the Dell Mobile
Broadband Card Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
WiMAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
WPAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Managing Your Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Securing Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Securing Your Wireless Local Area Network
(WLAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Ensuring Security When Using Public Wi-Fi
Networks (Hotspots) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Locating Networks With the Dell Wi-Fi Catcher™
Network Locator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Scanning for a Wireless Network . . . . . . . . 167
Enabling the Network Locator . . . . . . . . . . 167
Managing Networked Computers With Intel®
Active Management Technology . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Contents 13
13 Accessing the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
What you Need to Connect to the Internet. . . . . 171
Web Browsers for Viewing Internet Sites . . . . . 172
Web Addresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Setting up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . 173
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Troubleshooting Problems Connecting to the
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Web Browser Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Setting the Browser Home Page . . . . . . . . . . 175
Setting the Way the Browser Displays
Web Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Saving Space by Setting the way the Browser
Logs Viewing History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Increasing Computer Speed by Limiting the
Number of Open Internet Windows . . . . . . . . 177
Using Accessibility Options for Visual
Impairments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Internet Security and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Increasing Security for Your Computer While
Accessing the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Protecting Your Privacy While Accessing the
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Spyware and Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Spam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Phishing Scams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Shopping Securely Over the Internet . . . . . . . 183

14 Contents
Controlling Pop-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Controlling Unwanted Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Content Advisory/Parental Controls . . . . . . . . . . 185
Bookmarking Favorite Websites . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Searching for Information on the Internet . . . . . . . 186
Changing the Internet Communications Protocol
(TCP/IP) Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Printing a Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Freeing up Space and Protecting Your
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Clearing Browser History . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Deleting Temporary Internet Files . . . . . . . . 188
Decreasing the Size of the Temporary Files
Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Maintaining Privacy by Blocking and Deleting
Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
14 E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Setting up a new E-mail Account . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Managing and Organizing E-mail Messages . . . . . 192
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Securing Your E-mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Reducing Spam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Viruses and Phishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Contents 15
Avoiding E-mail Attachments. . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Viewing E-mail Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Sending E-mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Creating a Contact Group (Mailing List). . . . . . . . . 198
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Backing Up E-mail Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
15 Multimedia (CDs/DVDs, 5.1 Audio,
MP3s, TVs, Digital Cameras, and
Projectors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Disc™ Media . . . . . . . . . 204
Playing a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc Media . . . . . 204
Copying CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc Media . . . . . 205
5.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Setting up the 5.1 Audio Connections . . . . . . . 207
Laptop Media Devices (MP3 Players). . . . . . . . . . 208
Connecting a Laptop Media Device (MP3 Player)
to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Setting up the Laptop Media Device to Sync in
Windows Media Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Setting up the Laptop Media Device the First
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

16 Contents
Copying Audio and Video Files to Your Laptop
Media Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Playing Media Using the Dell Travel Remote . . . . . 210
Adjusting the Volume on Your Computer . . . . . . . 210
Enabling S/PDIF Digital Audio Through the Media
Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Enabling S/PDIF Digital Audio in the Windows Audio
Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Setting up the Cyberlink (CL) Headphones . . . . . . 211
Using a Digital Camera With Your Computer . . . . . 212
Using Windows Media Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
16 Connecting Your Computer to a TV and
Adjusting Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . 215
Accessing a TV With Your Computer Using a
TV Tuner Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or Audio
Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Determining What you Have and What you
Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Identifying the Connectors on Your
Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Identifying the Connectors on Your TV . . . . . . 219
Determining the Combination of Cables and
Adapters you Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Physically Connecting Your Computer to a TV or
Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Performing the Basic Connection Steps. . . . . . . . 224

Contents 17
Selecting the Correct Input Signal From the
TV Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
TV Menu Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
What to do If the TV Does not Recognize a
Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Evaluating Suggested Connection Configurations . . . 229
Enabling the Display View for the Computer and
the TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Verify the Connection to the TV . . . . . . . . . . 239
Verify the Input Signal for the TV . . . . . . . . . . 239
Set up the TV as a Display Device . . . . . . . . . 239
Configure the Display Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Dual Independent Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . 241
Swapping Primary and Secondary Displays . . . . 242
Switching the Display Image . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Configuring Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Setting Display Resolution With the Windows
Display Properties Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Accessing the Settings tab of the Display
Properties Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Accessing Additional Functions With the
Advanced Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Accessing the Video Card Control Features . . . . 245
Getting Help for Video Display Resolution
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Adjusting Display Settings With the Vendor Video
Card Control Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Using the Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Using a Video Card Wizard to Configure
Display Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

18 Contents
Using a TV Wizard to Configure Display
Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Getting Help for Video Card Control Panels . . . 249
Troubleshooting Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Where to Find Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Resolving Common Problems. . . . . . . . . . . 249
17 Security and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Protecting Your Computer—Using Administrator
Rights, User Groups, and Passwords . . . . . . . . . 251
Administrator Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
User Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Smart Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Fingerprint Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Facial Recognition Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Using a Firewall to Secure Your Computer . . . . . . 255
Turning On Windows Firewall. . . . . . . . . . . 255
Encrypting Files and Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Using Antivirus Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Maintaining Security When Using a Public
Wireless Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Reducing the Risk of Getting Computer Viruses . . . 257
Dealing With Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Blocking all Cookies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Avoiding Spyware and Malware . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Contents 19
18 Microsoft®Windows®XP Pro
Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Enabling Remote Desktop on the Host Computer . . . . 261
Installing Remote Desktop Client Software. . . . . . . 262
Calling From a Remote Location. . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
19 Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . 265
Using Microsoft® Windows® System Restore . . . . . 265
Starting System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Undoing the Last System Restore . . . . . . . . . 266
Enabling System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Using Dell™ PC Restore and Dell Factory Image
Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Windows Vista: Dell Factory Image Restore . . . . 268
Using the Operating System Media . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Before you Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Reinstalling Windows XP or Windows Vista . . . . 269
20 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Power Lights for Desktop Computers . . . . . . . 273
Diagnostic Lights for Desktop Computers . . . . . 274
Diagnostic Lights for Laptop Computers . . . . . . 275
System Messages for Desktop Computers. . . . . 275
System Messages for Laptop Computers . . . . . 276
Windows Hardware Troubleshooter . . . . . . . . 280
Running the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . 281

20 Contents
Dell Support Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Solving Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Optical Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . 289
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Keyboard Problems for External Keyboards . . . 292
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . 292
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . 299
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems for Laptop
Computers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Power Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Dell Technical Update Service . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
21 System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Viewing System Settings With the System Setup
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Entering the System Setup Program . . . . . . . 308
Working With Options on the System Setup
Program Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Changing the Boot Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . 309
Performing a One-Time Boot . . . . . . . . . . . 310