Dell PP14L User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ XPS Portable Computers
Owner’s Manual
Model PP14L

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 Help file. To access the help file, see 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.
Trademarksusedinthistext:Dell,theDELLlogo,Inspiron,DellPrecision,Dimension,OptiPlex,Latitude,PowerEdge,PowerVault,PowerApp,
PowerConnect,DellNet,and Dell OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation;
Microsoft, Windows,MS-DOS, and Outlook are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; Bluetooth is a registered trademark owned by
Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by Dell Inc. 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 PP14L
July 2005 P/N TD984 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1 A Tour of Your Computer
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2 Setting Up Your Computer
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Customizable Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Connecting a USB Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3 Using a Battery
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Dell QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Microsoft Windows Power Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4Contents
Charge Gauge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Removing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Installing a Battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4 Using CDs, DVDs, and Other Multimedia
Using CDs and DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Copying CDs and DVDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
How to Copy a CD or DVD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using Blank CD-Rs and CD-RWs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Using Dell MediaDirect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
S-Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
S-Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Composite Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Composite Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Changing Your Audio Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5 Using the Keyboard and Touch Pad
Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
CD or DVD Tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Radios (Including Wireless Networking and Bluetooth®
Wireless Technology) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Contents 5
Speaker Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6 Using PC Cards
PC Card Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
PC Card Blanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Extended PC Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Installing a PC Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Removing a PC Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7 Setting Up a Home and Office Network
Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Network Setup Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Connecting to a Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Determining Your Network Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Connecting to a Wireless Network in Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . 57
8 Solving Problems
Dell™ Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
When to Use the Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
DVD drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6Contents
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
External keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Unexpected characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The computer does not start up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
A program crashes repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
A program is designed for an earlier Windows operating system . . . . . 68
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
PC Card Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Video and Display Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Reinstalling Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Using Microsoft Windows XP System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Contents 7
9 Adding and Replacing Parts
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Mini PCI Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
10 Appendix
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Viewing the System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . 111
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . 112
FCC Notices (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Class A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
FCC Identification Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

8Contents
Macrovision Product Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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 Help .

10 Finding Information
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
• How to remove and replace parts in my computer Service Manual at 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 —Slide this to release the display latches and open the display.
DISPLAY —For more information about your display, see the Dell™Help file. To access the help file, see
page 9.
display latch release
keyboard
display
touch pad
touch pad
buttons (2)
power button
speakers (2) and customizable lights
keyboard status
lights (5)
device status
lights (3)
media control
buttons (7)
display latches (2)
air vents (2)

14 A Tour of Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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.
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
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.
AIR VENTS (2) — 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.
TOUCH PAD —Provides the functionality of a mouse.
MEDIA CONTROL BUTTONS —Control CD, DVD, and Media Player playback.
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 37.
Plays the previous track.
Plays the next track.
Stop.

16 A Tour of Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
SPEAKERS (2) AND CUSTOMIZABLE LIGHTS —To adjust the volume of the integrated speakers, press the
media control buttons or speaker-volume keyboard shortcuts. For more information, see "Speaker
Functions" on page 49. Lights in several different colors emit light through the speaker grilles, allowing you
to color-customize your computer as often as you like. You can change the color and color intensity through
the system setup program and Dell QuickSet.
TOUCH PAD BUTTONS —Touch pad buttons provide the same functionality as mouse buttons.
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 47.
KEYBOARD STATUS LIGHTS

A Tour of Your Computer 17
The green lights located above the keyboard indicate the following:
Left Side View
OPTICAL DRIVE —You can install devices such as a DVD drive or other optical drive in the optical drive
bay. For more information, see "Optical Drive" on page 99.
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 an internal card with Bluetooth®wireless
technology is enabled.
NOTE: The internal 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 Windows
notification area (in the lower-right corner of your screen)
and click Disable Bluetooth Radio.
To quickly enable or disable all wireless devices, press
<Fn><F2>.
9
A
optical drive
USB connectors (2) optical drive-tray
eject button
air vent and
customizable
lights
security cable slot

18 A Tour of Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
OPTICAL-DRIVE-TRAY EJECT BUTTON —Press this button to eject a CD or DVD from the optical drive.
This button only works when the computer is turned on.
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
AIR VENT AND CUSTOMIZABLE LIGHTS —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.
Lights in several different colors emit light through the air vents, allowing you to color-customize your
computer as often as you like. You can change the color and color intensity through the system setup
program and Dell QuickSet.
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.

A Tour of Your Computer 19
Right Side View
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.
AIR VENT AND CUSTOMIZABLE LIGHTS —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.
Lights in several different colors emit light through the air vents, allowing you to color-customize your
computer as often as you like. You can change the color and color intensity through the system setup
program and Dell QuickSet.
audio connectors
IEEE 1394 connector
PC Card slot
hard drive
Secure Digital I/O slot
air vent and
customizable lights

20 A Tour of Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
AUDIO CONNECTORS
IEEE 1394 CONNECTOR —Connects devices supporting IEEE 1394 high-speed transfer rates, such as
some digital video cameras.
HARD DRIVE —Stores software and 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 Help file. To access the help file, see
page 9.
Back View
Attach headphones or speakers to the connector.
Attach a microphone to the connector.
video connectornetwork connector (RJ-45)
AC adapter connectorUSB connectors (4)
modem connector (RJ-11)
S-video TV-out connector
DVI-D connector
air vents (2)