Dell XPS 710 User manual

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Dell™ XPS™ 710
Owner’s Manual
Model DCDO
book.book Page 1 Friday, October 27, 2006 4:02 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.
Abbreviations and Acronyms
For a complete list of abbreviations and acronyms, see the "Glossary" on page 169.
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, Dell XPS,Inspiron,Dell Precision,Dimension,OptiPlex,Latitude, PowerEdge, PowerVault,
PowerApp, and Dell OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel,Pentium, and Celeron are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation;
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft 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 DCDO
October 2006 P/N HY898 Rev. A00
book.book Page 2 Friday, October 27, 2006 4:02 PM

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Front and Back View of the Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Front View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Front I/O Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Back View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Back I/O Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Attaching the Computer Stand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Connecting Monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Connecting a Monitor (Without an Adapter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Connecting a Monitor (With an Adapter). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting a Monitor in a Dual Graphics Card Configuration . . . . . . . 22
Connecting Two or More Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Connecting a TV (S-Video) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Changing the Display Settings to Support Two or More Monitors . . . . . 25
About Your RAID Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
RAID Level 0 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
RAID Level 1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Configuring Your Hard Drives for RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the NVIDIA MediaShield ROM Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Using NVIDIA MediaShield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Playing CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Playing a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Using Blank CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
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4Contents
Network Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Hibernate Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2 Optimizing Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Understanding PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Understanding Dual Graphics Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Understanding CPU Over-Clocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3 Solving Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Battery Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 51
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
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Contents 5
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The screen is difficult to read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3-D image quality is poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4 Advanced Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Diagnostic Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using Microsoft®Windows®XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Creating a Restore Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Undoing the Last System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Reinstalling Microsoft®Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Reinstalling Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
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6Contents
5 Removing and Installing Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Preparing to Work Inside Your Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Removing the Computer Cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
DDR2 Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Addressing Memory Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Removing PCI and PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Installing PCI and PCI Express Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Removing a PCI Express Graphics Card from a Dual Configuration . . . . 91
Installing a PCI Express Graphics Card in a Dual Configuration . . . . . . 93
Network Adapter and Sound Card Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
About Serial ATA Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
General Drive Installation Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Drive Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Removing the Drive Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Replacing the Drive Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Removing a Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Installing a Media Card Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
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Contents 7
CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Removing a CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Installing a CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Liquid Cooling Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Removing the Liquid Cooling Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Installing the Liquid Cooling Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Processor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Removing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Installing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Replacing the Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Removing the Computer Stand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
System Setup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Clearing Forgotten Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Dell Hardware Warranty Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 145
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 145
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8Contents
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
book.book Page 8 Friday, October 27, 2006 4:02 PM

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 (ResourceCD)
Documentation and drivers are already installed on your
computer. You can use the Drivers and Utilities CD to
reinstall drivers (see "Reinstalling Drivers" on page 67),
access your documentation or run the Dell Diagnostics
(see "Dell Diagnostics" on page 64).
Readme files may also be
included on your CD to
provide last-minute
updates about technical
changes to your computer
or advanced technical
reference material for
technicians and
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
book.book Page 9 Friday, October 27, 2006 4:02 PM

10 Finding Information
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
•Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Product Key Label
Service Tag and Microsoft Windows Product Key
These labels are located on your computer.
• 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
book.book Page 10 Friday, October 27, 2006 4:02 PM