Dell XPS Gen 5 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Dimension™ XPS
A B C D
headphone
connector
microphone
connector
USB 2.0
connectors (2)
IEEE 1394
connector
PCI Express x16 card (1),
PCI Express x1 card (1),
PCI Express x4 card (1),
PCI card (3) slots
diagnostic
lights (4)
keyboard connector
USB 2.0
connectors (5)
VGA connector*
cover latch release
fans (2)
network adapter connector
security cable slot
fans (2)
modem connector*
padlock ring
sound card connectors*
power connector
DVI connector*
mouse connector
TV-OUT connector*
1394 connector
Model WHL
*Not present on certain computers.
D8659bk0.book Page 1 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:18 AM

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarksusedinthistext:Dell,theDELLlogo,Inspiron,DellPrecision,Dimension,OptiPlex,Latitude,PowerEdge,PowerVault,PowerApp,
DellNet, PowerConnect, and Axim are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; Microsoft,
Windows, and Outlook 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 WHL
March 2005 P/N D8659 Rev. A00
D8659bk0.book Page 2 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:18 AM

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer
Opening the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Changing the Front-Panel Light Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Connecting Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting Two Monitors With VGA Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting One Monitor With a VGA Connector and One Monitor
With a DVI Connector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Changing the Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
About Serial ATA Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
About Your RAID Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
RAID Level 0 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
RAID Level 1 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Configuring Your Computer for RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Configuring for RAID Using the Intel®RAID Option ROM Utility . . . . . . 21
Configuring for RAID Using the Intel®Application Accelerator . . . . . . 23
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Playing CDs and Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Playing a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Using Blank CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVD+Rs, and DVD+RWs . . . . . . . . . . 31
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Network Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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4Contents
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Hibernate Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Power Options Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2 Optimizing Performance
Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Overclocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3 Solving Problems
Troubleshooting Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Battery Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 45
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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Contents 5
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
If the screen is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4 Advanced Troubleshooting
Diagnostic Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using Microsoft®Windows®XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Creating a Restore Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Undoing the Last System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Reinstalling Microsoft®Windows®XP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Reinstalling Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
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6Contents
5 Removing and Installing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Front and Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Front View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Front View (Doors Open) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Back View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Opening the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Inside View of Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
System Board Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
PCI Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
PCI Express Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Serial Port Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Installing a Serial Port Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Removing a Serial Port Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
General Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Connecting Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Installing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Adding a Second Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Removing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Removing a Media Card Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Installing a Media Card Reader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
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Contents 7
CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Removing a CD/DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Installing a CD/DVD Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Processor Airflow Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Removing the Processor Airflow Shroud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Installing the Processor Airflow Shroud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Processor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Removing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Installing the Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Removing the Front Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Replacing the Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Removing the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Replacing the Drive Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Replacing the Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Closing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
System Setup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Clearing Forgotten Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Clearing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Computer, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
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8Contents
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 137
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 137
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
D8659bk0.book Page 8 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:18 AM

Finding Information 9
Finding Information
NOTE: Some features may not be available for your computer or 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 computer documentation
• My device documentation
ResourceCD
Documentation and drivers are already installed on your
computer. You can use the CD to reinstall drivers (see
page 61), run the Dell Diagnostics (see page 58), or
access your documentation.
Readme files may be
included on your CD to
provide last-minute
updates about technical
changes to your
computer or advanced
technical-reference
material for technicians
or experienced users.
NOTE: Drivers and documentation updates can be found at
support.dell.com.
• Additional information about setting up my computer
• How to troubleshoot and solve problems
• How to remove and install parts
• Technical specifications
• How to contact Dell
Dimension Owner’s Manual
NOTE: This document is available as a PDF at
support.dell.com.
D8659bk0.book Page 9 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:18 AM

10 Finding Information
www.dell.com | 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
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
• Microsoft Windows License Label
Service Tag and Microsoft Windows License
These labels are located on your computer.
• Use the Service Tag to
identify your computer
when you use
support.dell.com or
contact technical
support.
• Enter the Express Service Code to direct your call when
contacting technical support.
What Are You Looking For? Find it Here
D8659bk0.book Page 10 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:18 AM