Dell INSPIRON PP05XB User manual

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Dell™ Inspiron™ 9400/E1705
Owner’s Manual
Model PP05XB

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 "Glossary" on page 169.
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,DellNet,OptiPlex,Latitude,PowerEdge,PowerConnect,
PowerVault, PowerApp, Dell TravelLite, ExpressCharge, Dell MediaDirect, and Strike Zone are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel, Celeron, and
Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; Microsoft,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; EMC is a registered trademark of EMC
Corporation; ENERGY STAR is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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 PP05XB
January 2006 P/N PD598 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1 A Tour of Your Computer
Determining Your Computer’s Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2 Setting Up Your Computer
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Running the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard With the
Operating System CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Running the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard Without the
Operating System CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Connecting a USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4Contents
3 Using the Display
Adjusting Brightness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Switching the Video Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Display Resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4 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
Wireless Networking and Bluetooth®Wireless
Technology Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Speaker Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5 Using a Battery
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Dell™ QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Microsoft®Windows®Power Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Charge Gauge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Power Management Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Configuring Power Management Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Contents 5
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6 Dell™ QuickSet Features
Clicking the QuickSet Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Double-Clicking the QuickSet Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Right-Clicking the QuickSet Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Downloading the Dell QuickSet Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7 Using CDs, DVDs, and Other Multimedia
Playing a CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Using Blank CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Using Dell Media Experience and Dell MediaDirect™. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
If the Computer Is On or in Standby Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
If the Computer Is Off or in Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Dell MediaDirect and Dell Media Experience Help . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
S-Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
S-Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Composite Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Composite Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Component Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Component Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Setting Up the Cyberlink (CL) Headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV in Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . 73

6Contents
8 Using ExpressCards
ExpressCard Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Installing an ExpressCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Removing an ExpressCard or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9 Using the 5-in-1 Media Memory Card Reader
Installing a Media Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Removing a Media Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
10 Setting Up a Home and Office Network
Physically Connecting to a Network or Broadband Modem . . . . . . . . . . 81
Network Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
What You Need to Establish a WLAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Setting Up a New WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Connecting to a Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Determining the Wireless Network Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Completing the Connection to the WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Enabling/Disabling the Wireless Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Viewing the Status of the Wireless Network Card Through
Dell™ QuickSet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
11 Solving Problems
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From the Drivers and Utilities CD . . . . . . 88
Dell Diagnostics Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Contents 7
Dell Support Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Accessing the Dell Support Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Clicking the Dell Support Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Double-Clicking the Dell Support Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
CD and DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
If you cannot eject the CD, CD-RW, DVD, or DVD+RW drive tray . . . . . 92
If you hear an unfamiliar scraping or grinding sound . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
ExpressCard Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
External Keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Unexpected characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A program stops responding or crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A program is designed for an earlier Microsoft®Windows®
operating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Dell MediaDirect problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Ensuring Sufficient Power for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8Contents
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Video and Display Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Using the Operating System CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12 Adding and Replacing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Mini-Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Contents 9
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13 Specifications
14 Appendix
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Viewing the System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Traveling With Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Identifying Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Packing the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Travel Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Traveling by Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
If Your Computer Is Lost or Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Computer Tracking Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Computer, Keyboard, and Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Macrovision Product Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 150
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 150

10 Contents
15 Contacting Dell
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181