Dell Inspiron 1520 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Inspiron™ 1520 Owner’s Manual
Model PP22L

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.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2007 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, Inspiron, Wi-Fi Catcher, and Dell MediaDirect are
trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel is a registered trademark and Core is a trademark of Intel Corporation;
Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Vista are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries; Blu-ray Disc is a trademark of the Blu-ray
Disc Association; Bluetooth is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by
Dell under license.
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 PP22L
October 2007 P/N UX862 Rev. A03

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1 About Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Determining Your Computer’s Configuration . . . . . . 21
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2 Setting Up Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 36
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . 37
Windows Easy Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4Contents
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . 40
3 Using the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Adjusting Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Using a Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Making Images and Text Look Bigger or Sharper . . . 41
Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Using Both a Monitor and Your Computer Display . . . 43
Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate . . . . . . 44
Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4 Using the Keyboard and Touchpad . . . . . 47
Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . 49
Dell™ QuickSet Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . 49
Adjusting Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Contents 5
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5 Using a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Dell QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Microsoft®Windows®Battery Meter . . . . . . . 55
Charge Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Power Management Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Standby and Sleep Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Configuring Power Management Settings . . . . . . . 58
Accessing Power Options Properties . . . . . . . 58
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6 Using Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Playing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Playing Media Using Dell Travel Remote
(Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6Contents
Copying CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) Media . . . 64
How to Copy a CD, DVD, or BD . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Using Blank CD, DVD, and BD Media . . . . . . . 65
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Using Dell MediaDirect™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or
Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
S-Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
S-Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . 73
Composite Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . 75
Composite Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 77
Component Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . 79
Component Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 81
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV . . . . . . . 84
7 Using ExpressCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ExpressCard Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Installing an ExpressCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Removing an ExpressCard or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8 Using the Memory Card Reader . . . . . . . 91
Memory Card Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Installing a Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Removing a Memory Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Contents 7
9 Setting Up and Using Networks . . . . . . . 93
Connecting a Network or Broadband
Modem Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Setting Up a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
What You Need to Establish a WLAN
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . 95
Setting Up a New WLAN Using a
Wireless Router and a Broadband Modem . . . . 96
Connecting to a WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Mobile Broadband (or Wireless Wide
Area Network) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
What You Need to Establish a Mobile
Broadband Network Connection . . . . . . . . . 100
Checking Your Dell Mobile Broadband Card . . . . 100
Connecting to a Mobile Broadband
Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Enabling/Disabling the Dell Mobile
Broadband Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Dell Wi-Fi Catcher™ Network Locator . . . . . . . . . 102
10 Securing Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Security Cable Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
If Your Computer Is Lost or Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . 105

8Contents
11 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Dell Technical Update Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Dell Support Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Dell Support 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Dell PC Tune-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dell PC CheckUp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dell Network Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Optical drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . 117
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
ExpressCard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
External Keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Unexpected characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
The computer does not start . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . 127
A program stops responding or
crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
A program is designed for an earlier
Microsoft®Windows®operating system . . . . . 127
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Contents 9
Dell MediaDirect problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Mobile Broadband (Wireless Wide Area
Network [WWAN]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . 135
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . 135
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Video and Display Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . 138
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . 139
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 140
Troubleshooting Software and Hardware
Problems in the Microsoft®Windows®XP and
Microsoft Windows Vista®Operating Systems . . . . 143
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Using Microsoft Windows System Restore . . . . 145

10 Contents
Starting System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Using Dell™ PC Restore and Dell Factory
Image Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Using the Operating System Media . . . . . . . . 150
12 Adding and Replacing Parts . . . . . . . . . 153
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 154
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Removing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Replacing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Replacing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Removing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Replacing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Removing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Replacing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Removing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . . 163
Replacing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . 165
Removing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . . 166
Replacing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . 167

Contents 11
Subscriber Identity Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Wireless Mini Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Removing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Replacing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Removing a Mobile Broadband or
WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Replacing a WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Removing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Replacing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Flash Cache Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Removing the FCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Replacing the FCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Removing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Replacing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Removing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . 181
Replacing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . 182
13 Dell™ QuickSet Features . . . . . . . . . . . 183
14 Traveling With Your Computer . . . . . . . 185
Identifying Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Packing the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Travel Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Traveling by Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

12 Contents
15 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 188
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 189
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 190
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
16 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
A Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Viewing the System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . 204
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Computer, Keyboard, and Display . . . . . . . . . 206
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Contents 13
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . 208
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals 209
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals 209
FCC Notice (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Macrovision Product Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

14 Contents

Finding Information 15
Finding Information
NOTE: Some features may be optional and may not ship with your computer. Some
features 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
• Device documentation
• Notebook System Software (NSS)
Drivers and Utilities Media
Documentation and drivers are already
installed on your computer. You can use
the Drivers and Utilities media to
reinstall drivers (see "Reinstalling Drivers
and Utilities" on page 140) or run the
Dell Diagnostics (see "Dell Diagnostics"
on page 107).
Readme files may be included on your
Drivers and Utilities media 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.

16 Finding Information
• 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
NOTE: See the setup diagram that came
with your computer.
• How to remove and replace parts
• Specifications
• How to configure system settings
• How to troubleshoot and solve
problems
Microsoft Windows XP and Windows
Vista®Help and Support Center
1 Click Start → Help and Support →
Dell User and System Guides
→
System Guides .
2 Click the User’s Guide for your computer.
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
• Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Product Key
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.
NOTE: If your operating system is
Windows XP, this label might look different.
• Enter the Express Service Code to direct
your call when contacting support.
NOTE: As an increased security measure,
the newly designed Microsoft Windows
license label incorporates a "security
portal," which looks like a missing portion of
the label, to discourage removal of the label.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

Finding Information 17
• Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and
tips, articles from technicians, online
courses, and frequently asked questions
• Community — Online discussion with
other Dell customers
• Upgrades — Upgrade information for
components, such as the memory, hard
drive, and operating system
• Customer Care — Contact information,
service call and order status, and warranty
and repair information
• Service and support — Service call
status, support history, service contract,
and online discussions with support
• Dell Technical Update Service —
Proactive e-mail notification of software
and hardware updates for your computer
• Reference — Computer
documentation, details on my
computer configuration, product
specifications, and white papers
• Downloads — Certified drivers,
patches, and software updates
• Notebook System Software (NSS) — If
you reinstall the operating system on
your computer, you should also reinstall
the NSS utility. NSS automatically
detects your computer and operating
system, and installs the updates
appropriate for your configuration,
providing critical updates for your
operating system and support for
Dell 3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel
®
processors, optical drives, and USB
devices. NSS is necessary for correct
operation of your Dell computer.
Dell Support Website — support.dell.com
NOTE: Select your region or business
segment to view the appropriate support site.
To download Notebook System Software:
1 Go to support.dell.com , select your
country/region, and then click
Drivers & Downloads .
2 Enter your Service Tag or product model,
and then click
Go .
3 Select your operating system and
language, and then click
Find
Downloads
, or under Downloads Search ,
search for the keyword
Notebook System
Software
.
NOTE: The support.dell.com user
interface may vary depending on your
selections.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

18 Finding Information
• Software upgrades and troubleshooting
hints — Frequently asked questions,
hot topics, and general health of your
computing environment
Dell Support Utility
The Dell Support Utility is an automated
upgrade and notification system installed
on your computer. This support provides
real-time health scans of your computing
environment, software updates, and
relevant self-support information. Access
the Dell Support Utility from the
icon on the taskbar. For more information,
see "Dell Support Center
" on page 111 .
• How to use Windows XP or
Windows Vista
• How to work with programs and files
• How to personalize my desktop
Microsoft Windows XP and Windows
Vista Help and Support Center
1 Click Start → Help and Support .
2 Type a word or phrase that describes
your problem and click the arrow icon.
3 Click the topic that describes your
problem.
4 Follow the instructions on the screen.
• Information on network activity, the
Power Management Wizard, hotkeys,
and other items controlled by Dell
QuickSet
Dell QuickSet Help
To view Dell QuickSet Help , right-click
the Dell QuickSet icon in the Windows
notification area.
For more information on Dell QuickSet,
see "Dell™ QuickSet Features" on
page 183.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

Finding Information 19
• How to reinstall my operating system Operating System Media
The operating system is already installed
on your computer. To reinstall your
operating system, use one of the
following methods:
• Microsoft Windows System Restore —
Microsoft Windows System Restore
returns your computer to an earlier
operating state without affecting data
files.
• Dell PC Restore — Dell PC Restore
returns your computer to its original
operating state. Dell PC Restore may
not ship with your computer.
• Operating System Installation Media —
If you received operating system media
with your computer, you can use it to
restore your operating system.
For more information, see "Restoring
Your Operating System" on page 144.
After you reinstall your operating system,
use the Drivers and Utilities media to
reinstall drivers for the devices that came
with your computer.
Your operating system product key label is
located on your computer.
NOTE: The color of your operating system
installation media varies according to the
operating system you ordered.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

20 Finding Information