User manual DELL DIMENSION 8300

[. . . ] DellTM DimensionTM 8300 Series CD or DVD activity light CD or DVD drive eject button floppy drive eject button* floppy drive light* USB 2. 0 connectors (2) headphone connector Service Tag hard drive light power button *On computers with an optional floppy drive. power connector voltage selection switch serial connector parallel connector diagnostic lights mouse connector surround connector line-in connector keyboard connector center/LFE connector line-out connector microphone connector USB 2. 0 connectors (6) network adapter video connector optional sound card connector (see the setup diagram) w w w. c o m 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. [. . . ] Displays error conditions encountered, error codes, and problem description. Describes the test and may indicate requirements for running the test. Displays your hardware configuration for the selected device. The Dell Diagnostics obtains configuration information for all devices from the system setup program, memory, and various internal tests, and it displays the information in the device list in the left pane of the screen. The device list may not display the names of all the components installed on your computer or all devices attached to your computer. Tab Results Errors Help Configuration Parameters Allows you to customize the test by changing the test settings. 60 Advanced Tr oubleshooting 4 5 When the tests are completed, if you are running the Dell Diagnostics from the ResourceCD, remove the CD. Close the test screen to return to the Main Menu screen. To exit the Dell Diagnostics and restart the computer, close the Main Menu screen. Drivers What Is a Driver? A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver recognizes. Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed--no further installation or configuration is needed. NOTICE: The Dell Dimension ResourceCD may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing software appropriate for your operating system. Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft® Windows® operating system. You may need to install drivers if you: · · · Upgrade your operating system. Connect or install a new device. Identifying Drivers If you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problem and, if necessary, update the driver. 1 2 3 4 Click the Start button and click Control Panel. Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab. Advanced Tr oubleshooting 61 w w w. Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a [!]) on the device icon. If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver (see page 62). Reinstalling Drivers NOTICE: The Dell Support website at support. dell. com and your Dell Dimension ResourceCD provide approved drivers for DellTM computers. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly. Using Windows XP Device Driver Rollback If a problem occurs on your computer after you install or update a driver, use Windows XP Device Driver Rollback to replace the driver with the previously installed version. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Click the Start button and click Control Panel. Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab. Right-click the device for which the new driver was installed and click Properties. Click Roll Back Driver. If Device Driver Rollback does not resolve the problem, then use System Restore (see page 63) to return your computer to the operating state that existed before you installed the new driver. Using the Dell Dimension ResourceCD If using Device Driver Rollback or System Restore (see page 63) does not resolve the problem, then reinstall the driver from the ResourceCD. 1 With the Windows desktop displayed, insert the ResourceCD. [. . . ] We put every one of our Pentium® and Celeron® processors through a rigorous battery of tests during the design and manufacturing processes. To verify that the new chip will correctly run the software written for Intel Architecture processors, a team of Intel engineers is dedicated to compatibility testing. In a state-of-art lab, this group runs an extensive set of operating systems, applications, network tests and stress tests repeatedly to ensure that the processor is compatible with representative software. Just as importantly, we work with hardware and software companies in the computer industry to ensure that our processors are compatible with their products. [. . . ]