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book.book Page 1 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM
Dell™ Inspiron™ 531s Owner’s Manual
Model DCSLA
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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book.book Page 2 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM 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. If you purchased a Dell™ n Series computer, any references in this document to ® ® Microsoft Windows operati
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book.book Page 3 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Contents Finding Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer . . . 15 Front View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Back Panel Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Installing Your Computer in an Enclosure . . . . . . . 21 Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Printer Cable . . . . . . . . .
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book.book Page 4 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Connecting Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Connecting Two Monitors With VGA Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Connecting One Monitor With a VGA Connector and One Monitor With a DVI Connector . . . . . . 34 Connecting a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Changing the Display Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Power Management Options
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book.book Page 5 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Setting Up a Home and Office Network . . . . . . . . 49 Connecting to a Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . 49 Network Setup Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . 51 2 Solving Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Troubleshooting Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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book.book Page 6 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Network Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Scanner Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 No sound from speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 No sound from headphones
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book.book Page 7 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Restoring Your Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Using Microsoft Windows System Restore . . . . 93 Using Dell PC Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Using the Operating System CD . . . . . . . . . . 98 4 Removing and Installing Parts . . . . . . . 101 Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Recommended Tools
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book.book Page 8 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Recommended Drive Cable Connections . . . . . 125 Connecting Drive Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Drive Interface Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Connecting and Disconnecting Drive Cables . . . 126 Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Installing a Second Hard Drive (Optional) . . . . . 129 Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
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book.book Page 9 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Replacing the Support Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Entering System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 System Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Boot Sequence . . . . . . . . . . .
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book.book Page 10 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Technical Support and Customer Service . . . . . 183 DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . 185 Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . .
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book.book Page 11 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Finding Information NOTE: Some features or media may be optional and may not ship with your computer. Some features or media may not be available in certain countries. NOTE: Additional information may ship with your computer. What Are You Looking For? Find it Here Warranty information Dell™ Product Information Guide Terms and Conditions (U.S. only) Safety instructions Regulatory information Ergonomics information End User Lice
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book.book Page 12 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM What Are You Looking For? Find it Here ® ® Service Tag and Express Service Service Tag and Microsoft Windows License Code These labels are located on your computer. Microsoft Windows License Label 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 Mic
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book.book Page 13 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM What Are You Looking For? Find it Here Solutions — Troubleshooting hints Dell Support Website — support.dell.com and tips, articles from technicians, NOTE: Select your region to view the online courses, and frequently asked appropriate support site. questions NOTE: Corporate, government, and education Community — Online discussion customers can also use the customized Dell with other Dell customers Premier Support website at Upg
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book.book Page 14 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM What Are You Looking For? Find it Here How to use Windows XP Windows Help and Support Center How to use Windows Vista 1 To access Windows Help and Support: How to work with programs and In Windows XP, click Start and click Help files and Support. ® How to personalize my desktop In Windows Vista , click the Windows Vista Start button™ and click Help and Support. 2 Type a word or phrase that describes your problem and press
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book.book Page 15 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Setting Up and Using Your Computer Front View of the Computer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Setting Up and Using Your Computer 15
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book.book Page 16 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM 1 Service Tag Use the Service Tag to identify your computer when you (located on top of the access the Dell Support website or call technical support. chassis towards the rear) 2 FlexBay open/close Press here to open or close the floppy/media card reader panel. 3 CD or DVD eject button Press to eject a disk from the CD or DVD drive. 4 CD or DVD drive panel This panel covers the CD or DVD drive. 5 FlexBay drive panel Can contain an optiona
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book.book Page 17 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Back View of the Computer 7 1 6 2 3 5 4 Setting Up and Using Your Computer 17
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book.book Page 18 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM 1 back panel connectors Plug USB, audio, and other devices into the appropriate connector (see "Back Panel Connectors" on page 19 for more information). 2 card slots Access connectors for any installed PCI and PCI Express cards. 3 power supply LED Indicates power availability for power supply. NOTE: May or may not be available on your computer. 4 voltage selector switch For selecting voltage rating. 5 power connector Insert the power cabl
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book.book Page 19 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM Back Panel Connectors 12 34 5 6 7 11 9 8 10 1 network activity Flashes a yellow light when the computer is transmitting or light receiving network data. A high volume of network traffic may make this light appear to be in a steady "on" state. 2 network adapter To attach your computer to a network or broadband device, connector connect one end of a network cable to either a network port or your network or broadband device. Connect the oth
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book.book Page 20 Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:33 PM 4 center/subwoofer Use the orange connector to attach a speaker to a Low connector Frequency Effects (LFE) audio channel. LFE audio channel is found in digital surround sound audio schemes that carries only low frequency information of 80 Hz and below. The LFE channel drives a subwoofer to provide extremely low bass extension. Systems not using subwoofers can shunt the LFE information to the main speakers in the surround sound set-up.
