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