Dell Inspiron 6000 PP12L User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Inspiron™ 6000
Owner’s Manual
Model PP12L

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 Dell Inspiron Help file. To access the help file, see
"Finding Information" on page 9.
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.
© 2004–2005 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, Dell Precision, Dimension, DellNet, OptiPlex, Latitude, PowerEdge, PowerConnect,
PowerVault, PowerApp, and Dell OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel, Celeron, and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel
Corporation; Microsoft,MS-DOS,Outlook,and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; 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 PP12L
April 2005 P/N D5181 Rev. A04

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 A Tour of Your Computer
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2 Setting Up Your Computer
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Connecting a USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3 Using a Battery
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Dell QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Microsoft Windows Power Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Charge Gauge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4Contents
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Removing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Installing a Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4 Using CDs, DVDs, and Other Multimedia
Using CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Using Blank CD-Rs and CD-RWs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Using Dell MediaDirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
S-Video Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Composite Video Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5 Using the Keyboard and Touch Pad
Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
CD or DVD Tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Radios (Including Wireless Networking and an Internal Card With
Bluetooth®Wireless Technology) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Speaker Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Contents 5
6UsingPCCards
PC Card Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
PC Card Blanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Extended PC Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Installing a PC Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Removing a PC Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
7 Setting Up a Home and Office Network
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Network Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Connecting to a Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Determining Your Network Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Connecting to a Wireless Network in Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . 48
8 Solving Problems
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
DVD drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
External keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Unexpected characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6Contents
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 60
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
PC Card Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Video and Display Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
9 Adding and Replacing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Contents 7
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Wireless Mini PCI Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
10 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Viewing the System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 101
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 101
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Macrovision Product Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

8Contents

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
• 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
• Tips on using Microsoft
®
Windows
®
• How to play CDs and DVDs
• How to use standby mode and hibernate mode
• How to change my display resolution
• How to clean my computer
Help File
1 Click the Start button and click Help and Support .
2 Click User and system guides and click User’s guides .
3 Click Dell Inspiron Help .

10 Finding Information
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
• Service Tag and Express Service Code
• Microsoft Windows License Label
Service Tag and Microsoft Windows License
These labels are located on
the bottom of 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

Finding Information 11
• Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and tips, articles
from technicians, online courses, frequently asked
questions
• Community — Online discussion with other Dell
customers
• Upgrades — Upgrade information for components, such
as memory, the hard drive, and the operating system
• Customer Care — Contact information, service call and
order status, warranty, and repair information
• Service and support — Service call status and support
history, service contract, online discussions with
technical support
• 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 for your computer, you should also
reinstall the NSS utility. NSS provides critical updates
for your operating system and support for Dell™
3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel
®
Pentium
®
M
processors, optical drives, and USB devices. NSS is
necessary for correct operation of your Dell computer.
The software automatically detects your computer and
operating system and installs the updates appropriate
for your configuration.
To download Notebook System Software:
1 Go to support.dell.com and click Downloads .
2 Enter your Service Tag or product model.
3 In the Download Category drop-down menu, click All .
4 Select the operating system and operating system
language for your computer, and click
Submit .
5 Under Select a Device , scroll to System and
Configuration Utilities
, and click Dell Notebook
System Software
.
Dell Support Website — support.dell.com
NOTE: Select your region to view the appropriate support
site.
NOTE: Corporate, government, and education customers
can also use the customized Dell Premier Support website
at premier.support.dell.com.The website may not be
available in all regions.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

12 Finding Information
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
• How to use Windows XP
• Documentation for my computer
• Documentation for devices (such as a modem)
Windows Help and Support Center
1 Click the Start button and click 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.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

A Tour of Your Computer 13
A Tour of Your Computer
Front View
DISPLAY LATCHES —Keeps the display closed.
DISPLAY LATCH RELEASE —Press this to release the display latches and open the display.
DISPLAY —For more information about your display, see the Dell Inspiron Help file. To access the help
file, see "Finding Information" on page 9.
display latch release
keyboard
display
touch pad
touch pad
buttons
power button
speakers
keyboard status
lights
device status
lights
media control
buttons
display latches (2)

14 A Tour of Your Computer
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POWER BUTTON —Press the power button to turn on the computer or to enter or exit a power
management mode.
NOTICE: To avoid losing data when you turn off your computer, shut down your computer through the
Start menu instead of pressing the power button.
DEVICE STATUS LIGHTS
If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, the light operates as follows:
• Solid green: The battery is charging.
• Flashing green: The battery is almost fully charged.
If the computer is running on a battery, the light operates as follows:
• Off: The battery is adequately charged (or the computer is turned off).
• Flashing orange: The battery charge is low.
• Solid orange: The battery charge is critically low.
Turns on when you turn on the computer, and blinks when the computer is in a power
management mode.
Turns on when the computer reads or writes data.
NOTICE: To avoid loss of data, never turn off the computer while the light is flashing.
Turns on steadily or blinks to indicate battery charge status.

A Tour of Your Computer 15
TOUCH PAD —Provides the functionality of a mouse.
MEDIA CONTROL BUTTONS —Control CD, DVD, and Media Player playback.
SPEAKERS —To adjust the volume of the integrated speakers, press the media control buttons or speaker-
volume keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see page 41.
TOUCH PAD BUTTONS —Touch pad buttons provide the functionality of a mouse.
KEYBOARD —The keyboard includes a numeric keypad as well as the Microsoft Windows logo key. For
information on supported keyboard shortcuts, see "Key Combinations" on page 40.
Mutes the sound.
Turns the volume down.
Turns the volume up.
Play or pause. This button also launches Dell Media
Experience or Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Media Center
Edition. See "Using Dell MediaDirect" on page 33.
Plays the previous track.
Plays the next track.
Stop.

16 A Tour of Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
KEYBOARD STATUS LIGHTS
The green lights located above the keyboard indicate the following:
Turns on when the numeric keypad is enabled.
Turns on when the uppercase letter function is enabled.
Turns on when the scroll lock function is enabled.
Turns on when wireless networking is enabled. To enable or
disable wireless networking, press <Fn><F2>.
Turns on when a card with Bluetooth®wireless
technology is enabled.
NOTE: The card with Bluetooth wireless technology is an
optional feature, so the light turns on only if you
ordered the card with your computer. For more information,
see the documentation that came with your card.
To turn off only the Bluetooth wireless technology
functionality, right-click the icon in the notification
area and click Disable Bluetooth Radio.
To quickly enable or disable all wireless devices, press
<Fn><F2>.
9
A

A Tour of Your Computer 17
Left Side View
AIR VENT —The computer uses fans to create airflow through the vents, which prevents the computer
from overheating.
CAUTION: Do not block, push objects into, or allow dust to accumulate in the air vents. Do not store
your computer in a low-airflow environment, such as a closed briefcase, while it is running. Restricting
the airflow can damage the computer or cause a fire.
SECURITY CABLE SLOT —Lets you attach a commercially available antitheft device to the computer.
For more information, see the instructions included with the device.
NOTICE: Before you buy an antitheft device, ensure that it will work with the security cable slot.
optical drive
security cable slot
air vent optical-drive-tray
eject button

18 A Tour of Your Computer
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OPTICAL-DRIVE-TRAY EJECT BUTTON — Press this button to eject a CD and DVD from the optical
drive.
OPTICAL DRIVE — You can install devices such as a DVD drive or other optical drive in the optical
drive bay. For more information, see "Using CDs and DVDs" on page 31.
Right Side View
AUDIO CONNECTORS
USB CONNECTORS —Connect USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, or printer. You can also connect
the optional floppy drive directly to a USB connector using the optional floppy-drive cable.
IEEE 1394 CONNECTOR —Connects devices supporting IEEE 1394 high-speed transfer rates, such as
some digital video cameras.
Attach headphones or speakers to the connector.
Attach a microphone to the connector.
audio connectors
IEEE 1394 connector
PC Card slot
hard drive
USB connectors (2)
Secure Digital I/O slot

A Tour of Your Computer 19
SECURE DIGITAL I/O SLOT —The Secure Digital I/O slot supports one Secure Digital memory card or
other SDI/O device. Use Secure Digital memory cards to save or back up data.
PC CARD SLOT —Supports one PC Card, such as a modem or network adapter. The computer ships with
a plastic blank installed in the slot. For more information, see the Dell™ Inspiron™ Help file. To access the
help file, see "Finding Information" on page 9.
HARD DRIVE —Stores software and data.
Back View
NETWORK CONNECTOR (RJ-45)
NOTICE: The network connector is slightly larger than the modem connector. To avoid damaging the
computer, do not plug a telephone line into the network connector.
MODEM CONNECTOR (RJ-11)
Connects the computer to a network. The green and yellow
lights next to the connector indicate activity for wired
network communications.
For information on using the network adapter, see the
online network adapter documentation supplied with
your computer.
To use the internal modem, connect the telephone line to
the modem connector.
For additional information on using the modem, see the
online modem documentation supplied with your computer.
S-video TV-out connector
video connector
modem connector (RJ-11) AC adapter connector
USB connectors (2)
network connector (RJ-45)

20 A Tour of Your Computer
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USB CONNECTORS
S-VIDEO TV-OUT CONNECTOR
VIDEO CONNECTOR
AC ADAPTER CONNECTOR —Attaches an AC adapter to the computer.
The AC adapter converts AC power to the DC power required by the computer. You can connect
the AC adapter with your computer turned either on or off.
Connect USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, or printer.
Connects your computer to a TV. Also connects digital
audio capable devices using the TV/digital audio
adapter cable.
Connects an external VGA-compatible monitor. For more
information, see the Dell Inspiron Help file. To access the
help file, see "Finding Information" on page 9.