Dell Vostro 1500 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ Vostro™ 1500 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, Vo s t ro , Wi-Fi Catcher, and Dell MediaDirect are
trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel is a registered trademark and Core is a trademark of Intel Corporation;
Microsoft, Windows, Outlook, Windows XP 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; ENERGY STAR
is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As an ENERGY STAR partner,
Dell Inc. has determined that this product meets the ENERGY STAR guidelines for energy efficiency.
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
November 2007 P/N TT979 Rev. A02

Contents 3
Contents
1 Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 About Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Determining Your Computer’s Configuration . . . . . . 21
Front View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Left Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Right Side View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Back View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Bottom View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3 Setting Up Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 38
Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . 39
Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Microsoft Windows Vista™ . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Power Protection Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4Contents
Surge Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Line Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . 46
4 Using the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Adjusting Brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Using a Projector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Making Images and Text Look Bigger or Sharper . . . 47
Microsoft®Windows®XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Windows Vista™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using Both a Monitor and Your Computer Display . . . 49
Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate . . . . . . 50
Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5 Using the Keyboard and Touch Pad . . . . 53
Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
System Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Display Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Microsoft®Windows®Logo Key Functions . . . . 55
Dell™ QuickSet Key Combinations . . . . . . . . . 55
Adjusting Keyboard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Contents 5
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Customizing the Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6 Using a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Checking the Battery Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Dell™ QuickSet Battery Meter . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Microsoft®Windows®Battery Meter . . . . . . . 61
Charge Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Low-Battery Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Conserving Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Power Management Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Standby and Sleep Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Hibernate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Configuring Power Management Settings . . . . . . . 64
Accessing Power Options Properties . . . . . . . 64
Charging the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Storing a Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7 Using Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Playing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Playing Media Using Dell Travel Remote . . . . . . . . 69

6Contents
Copying CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) Media . . . 70
How to Copy a CD, DVD, or BD . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Using Blank CD, DVD, and BD Media . . . . . . . 71
Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Adjusting the Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Adjusting the Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Using Dell MediaDirect™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Connecting Your Computer to a TV or
Audio Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
S-Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
S-Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . 78
Composite Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . . 80
Composite Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 82
Component Video and Standard Audio . . . . . . 84
Component Video and S/PDIF Digital Audio . . . . 87
Enabling the Display Settings for a TV . . . . . . . 90
8 Using ExpressCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
ExpressCard Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Installing an ExpressCard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Removing an ExpressCard or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9 Using the Memory Card Reader . . . . . . . 95
Memory Card Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Installing a Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Removing a Memory Card or Blank . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Contents 7
10 Setting Up and Using Networks . . . . . . . 97
Connecting a Network or Broadband
Modem Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Setting Up a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
What You Need to Establish a WLAN
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . 99
Setting Up a New WLAN Using a Wireless
Router and a Broadband Modem . . . . . . . . . 100
Connecting to a WLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Mobile Broadband (or Wireless Wide
Area Network) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
What You Need to Establish a Mobile
Broadband Network Connection . . . . . . . . . 104
Checking Your Dell Mobile Broadband Card . . . . 105
Connecting to a Mobile Broadband Network . . . 105
Enabling/Disabling the Dell Mobile
Broadband Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Dell Wi-Fi Catcher™ Network Locator . . . . . . . . . 107
11 Securing Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Security Cable Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
If Your Computer Is Lost or Stolen . . . . . . . . . . . 110

8Contents
12 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dell Technical Update Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dell Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Dell Support Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Dell Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Dell PC TuneUp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Dell PC Checkup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Dell Network Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Optical drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Hard drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . 123
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
ExpressCard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
External Keyboard problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Unexpected characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Lockups and Software Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
The computer does not start . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
The computer stops responding . . . . . . . . . . 133
A program stops responding or crashes
repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
A program is designed for an earlier
Microsoft®Windows®operating system . . . . . 134
A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Contents 9
Dell MediaDirect problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Other software problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Mobile Broadband (Wireless Wide Area
Network [WWAN]) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
No sound from integrated speakers . . . . . . . . 141
No sound from external speakers . . . . . . . . . 141
No sound from headphones . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Remote Control Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Touch Pad or Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Video and Display Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
If the display is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
If the display is difficult to read . . . . . . . . . . 144
If only part of the display is readable . . . . . . . 145
Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Identifying Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 146
Troubleshooting Software and Hardware
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

10 Contents
Restoring your Microsoft Windows
Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Restoring Windows Vista®. . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Restoring Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
13 Adding and Replacing Parts . . . . . . . . . 161
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Turning Off Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Before Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . 162
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Removing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Replacing the Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Returning a Hard Drive to Dell . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Removing the Optical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Removing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Replacing the Hinge Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Removing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Replacing the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Removing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . . 172
Replacing the DIMM A Memory Module . . . . . 173
Removing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . . 175
Replacing the DIMM B Memory Module . . . . . 176
Subscriber Identity Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Contents 11
Wireless Mini-Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Removing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Replacing a WLAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Removing a Mobile Broadband or
WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Replacing a WWAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Removing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Replacing a WPAN Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Flash Cache Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Removing the FCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Replacing the FCM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Internal Card With Bluetooth®Wireless
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Removing the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Removing the Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . 190
14 Dell™ QuickSet Features . . . . . . . . . . . 193
15 Traveling With Your Computer . . . . . . . 195
Identifying Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Packing the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Travel Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Traveling by Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

12 Contents
16 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 198
DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 199
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . 200
Before You Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
17 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
18 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Viewing the System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . 216
System Setup Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Commonly Used Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Cleaning Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Computer, Keyboard, and Display . . . . . . . . . 218
Touch Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Contents 13
Dell Technical Support Policy (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . 220
Definition of "Dell-Installed" Software and
Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Definition of "Third-Party" Software and
Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
FCC Notice (U.S. Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
FCC Class B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Macrovision Product Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

14 Contents

Finding Information 15
1
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
•Devicedocumentation
• 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 146) or run the
Dell Support 3 utility (see "Dell Support"
on page 118).
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.
• Warranty information
•TermsandConditions (U.S. only)
•Safetyinstructions
• Regulatory information
• Ergonomics information
• End User License Agreement
Dell™ Product Information Guide

16 Finding Information
• How to set up my computer Setup Diagram
• How to remove and replace parts
• Specifications
• How to configure system settings
• How to troubleshoot and solve
problems
Microsoft Windows XP and Windows
Vista™ Help and Support Center
1 Click Start → Help and Support →
Dell User and System Guides →
System Guides .
2 Click the User’s Guide for your
computer.
• 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 17
• 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

18 Finding Information
• How to use Microsoft Windows XP or
Windows Vista™
• How to work with programs and files
• How to personalize my desktop
Windows Help and Support
Microsoft Windows XP:
1 Click the Start button and click Help
and Support
.
2 Either select one of the topics listed, or
type a word or phrase that describes
your problem into the
Search box, click
the arrow icon, and then click the topic
that describes your problem.
3 Follow the instructions on the screen.
Microsoft Windows Vista:
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 193.
What Are You Looking For? Find It Here

Finding Information 19
• 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 Microsoft Windows Operating
System" on page 150.
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

20 Finding Information