Dell Inspiron 1521 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Inspiron™ 1521 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.; AMD, AMD Turion, HyperMemory, ATI Radeon and combinations thereof
are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Vista are either
trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries; 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
March 2007 P/N RT722 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1 About Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Determining Your Computer’s Configuration . . . . . . 19
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Setting Up Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 34
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . 35
Windows Easy Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4Contents
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . 38
3 Using the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Adjusting Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Switching the Video Image From Your Computer
Display To a Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate . . . . . . 39
4 Using the Keyboard and Touchpad . . . . . 41
Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Microsoft® Windows® Logo Key Functions . . . 43
Dell™ QuickSet Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . 43
Adjusting Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Contents 5
5 Using a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Dell QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Microsoft®Windows®Battery Meter . . . . . . . 49
Charge Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring Power Management Settings . . . . . 50
Using the Sleep Power State . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6 Using Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Playing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Copying CD and DVD Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
How to Copy a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Using Blank CD and DVD Media . . . . . . . . . . 57
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Using Dell MediaDirect™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6Contents
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or
Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
S-Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
S-Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . 64
Composite Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . 66
Composite Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 68
Component Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . 70
Component Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 73
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV . . . . . . . 76
7 Using ExpressCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
ExpressCard Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Installing an ExpressCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Removing an ExpressCard or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 79
8 Using the Memory Card Reader . . . . . . . 81
Memory Card Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Installing a Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Removing a Memory Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 83
9 Setting Up and Using Networks . . . . . . . 85
Connecting a Network or Broadband
Modem Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Setting Up a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Contents 7
Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
What You Need to Establish a WLAN
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . 87
Setting Up a New WLAN Using a Wireless
Router and a Broadband Modem . . . . . . . . . 88
Connecting to a WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Mobile Broadband (or Wireless Wide
Area Network) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
What You Need to Establish a Mobile
Broadband Network Connection . . . . . . . . . 91
Checking Your Dell Mobile Broadband Card . . . . 91
Connecting to a Mobile Broadband Network . . . 92
Enabling/Disabling the Dell Mobile
Broadband Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Dell Wi-Fi Catcher™ Network Locator . . . . . . . . . 93
10 Securing Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Security Cable Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
If Your Computer Is Lost or Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . 96
11 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dell Technical Update Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Dell Support Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8Contents
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Optical drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . 106
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
ExpressCard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
External Keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Unexpected characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The computer does not start . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . 115
A program stops responding or crashes
repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
A program is designed for an earlier Microsoft®
Windows®operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Dell MediaDirect problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Mobile Broadband (Wireless Wide Area
Network [WWAN]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Contents 9
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . 123
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . 123
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Video and Display Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . 125
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . 126
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 127
Troubleshooting Software and Hardware
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Using Microsoft Windows System Restore . . . . 131
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . 131
Using the Operating System Media . . . . . . . . 134
12 Adding and Replacing Parts . . . . . . . . . 137
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 138

10 Contents
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Removing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Replacing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Replacing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Removing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Replacing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Removing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Replacing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Removing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . . 146
Replacing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . 148
Removing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . . 149
Replacing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . 150
Subscriber Identity Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Wireless Mini Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Removing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Replacing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Removing a Mobile Broadband or
WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Replacing a WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Removing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Replacing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Contents 11
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Removing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Replacing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Removing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . 163
Replacing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . 163
13 Dell™ QuickSet Features . . . . . . . . . . . 165
14 Traveling With Your Computer . . . . . . . 167
Identifying Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Packing the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Travel Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Traveling by Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
15 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 170
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 171
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 172

12 Contents
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
16 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
17 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Viewing the System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . 186
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Computer, Keyboard, and Display . . . . . . . . . 188
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . 190
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and
Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and
Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
FCC Notice (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Macrovision Product Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Finding Information 13
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 127) or run the
Dell Diagnostics (see "Dell Diagnostics"
on page 99).
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.

14 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
• 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.
• 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 15
• 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

16 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 Utility" on page 103.
• How to use Microsoft Windows Vista™
• How to work with programs and files
• How to personalize my desktop
Windows Help and Support
1 Click the Windows Vista Start button
, and then click
Help and Support .
2 In Search Help , type a word or phrase
that describes your problem, and then
press <Enter> or click the magnifying
glass.
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 165.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

Finding Information 17
• 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 130.
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

18 Finding Information

About Your Computer 19
About Your Computer
Determining Your Computer’s Configuration
Based on selections that you made when purchasing your computer, your
computer has one of several different video controller configurations. To
determine your computer’s video controller configuration:
1Click
Start , and then click Help and Support .
2 Under Pick a Task , click Use Tools to view your computer information
and diagnose problems.
3 Under My Computer Information , select Hardware .
From the My Computer Information - Hardware screen, you can view the
type of video controller installed in your computer, as well as the other
hardware components.

20 About Your Computer
Front View
1 camera indicator (optional) 2 camera (optional)
3 display latch 4 display
5 power button 6 keyboard
7 device status lights 8 touch pad
9 consumer IR 10 media control buttons
11 touch pad buttons 12 Dell™ MediaDirect™ button
13 keyboard status lights 14 digital array microphones
4
5
13
3
6
12
8
7
14
2
1
11 9
10