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Dell™ Dimension™ 8250 Series
CD or DVD volume
control dial
CD or DVD
activity light
CD or DVD drive
eject button
floppy drive
eject button*
floppy drive light*
hard drive light
USB 2.0
connectors (2)
power button
headphone connector
service tag
*On computers
with an optional
floppy drive.
power connector
voltage selection switch
parallel connector
serial connector
keyboard connector mouse connector
USB 2.0 connectors (6)
network adapter
microphone
connector
line-out video connector
con
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Hints, Notices, and Cautions HINT: A HINT 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 Tell Me How help file. To access help files, see page 38. If you purchased a
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Contents CAUTION: Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 General When Using Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 When Working Inside Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Ergonomic Computing Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Battery Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Finding Informati
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Copying CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Using Easy CD Creator Basic Using Blank CD-R Discs or Blank CD-RW Discs . . . . . . . . 31 Helpful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 How to Copy a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Hyper-Threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Turning Off the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 2 Solving Problems
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IEEE 1394 Device Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Keyboard Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Mouse Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Network Problems Power Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Scanner Problems Soun
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Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities . . . . . . . 70 ® ® Reinstalling Microsoft Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Before You Reinstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Reinstalling Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Reinstalling Drivers and Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 4 Adding Parts Front and Back View of the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Front View Back Vi
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Adding a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Removing the Front-Panel Insert Installing a Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Closing the Computer Cover 5 Appendix Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Standard Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Viewing Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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One-Year End-User Manufacturer Guarantee (Latin America and the Caribbean Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 ® ® Intel Warranty Statement for Pentium and ® Celeron Processors Only (U.S. and Canada Only) . . . . . . . 151 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 8 Contents
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CAUTION: Safety Instructions Use the following safety guidelines to help ensure your own personal safety and to help protect your computer and working environment from potential damage. General • Do not attempt to service the computer yourself unless you are a trained service technician. Always follow installation instructions closely. • To help prevent electric shock, plug the computer and device power cables into properly grounded electrical outlets. These cables are equipped with 3-prong p
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CAUTION: Safety Instructions (continued) • To avoid shorting out your computer when disconnecting a network cable, first unplug the cable from the network adapter on the back of your computer, and then from the network jack. When reconnecting a network cable to your computer, first plug the cable into the network jack, and then into the network adapter. • To help protect your computer from sudden, transient increases and decreases in electrical power, use a surge suppressor, line conditioner
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When Using Your Computer As you use your computer, observe the following safe-handling guidelines. CAUTION: Do not operate your computer with any cover(s) (including computer covers, bezels, filler brackets, front-panel inserts, and so on) removed. • Your computer is equipped with one of the following: – A fixed-voltage power supply — Computers with a fixed-voltage power supply do not have a voltage selection switch on the back panel and operate at only one voltage (see the regulatory label
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When Using Your Computer (continued) When Working Inside Your Computer Before you open the computer cover, perform the following steps in the sequence indicated. CAUTION: Do not attempt to service the computer yourself, except as explained in your online Dell™ documentation or in instructions otherwise provided to you by Dell. Always follow installation and service instructions closely. NOTICE: To help avoid possible damage to the system board, wait 5 seconds after turning off the computer
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When Using Your Computer (continued) • Handle components and cards with care. Do not touch the components or contacts on a card. Hold a card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Hold a component such as a microprocessor chip by its edges, not by its pins. CAUTION: There is a danger of a new battery exploding if it is incorrectly installed. Replace the battery only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the manufacturer. Do not dispose of the battery along with household w
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When Using Your Computer (continued) Battery Disposal Your computer uses a lithium coin-cell battery. The lithium coin-cell battery is a long-life battery, and it is very possible that you will never need to replace it. However, should you need to replace it, see page 117. Do not dispose of the battery along with household waste. Contact your local waste disposal agency for the address of the nearest battery deposit site. 14 When Using Your Computer www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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Finding Information for Your Computer What Are You Looking For? Find it Here • A diagnostic program for my computer ResourceCD • Drivers for my computer • My computer documentation • My device documentation You can use this CD to access documentation or reinstall drivers (see page 66) • How to set up a printer Owner’s Manual • How to troubleshoot and solve problems • How to add parts • How to contact Dell • Express Service Code and Service Tag Express Service Code and Product Key Number ® ® •
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What Are You Looking For? Find it Here • How to reinstall my operating system Operating System CD If you reinstall your operating system, use the ResourceCD to reinstall drivers for the devices that came with your computer. • Latest drivers for my computer Dell Support website • Answers to technical service and support The Dell Support website provides several online tools, including: questions • Knowledge Base — hints, tips, and online courses • Online discussions with other users and • Cus
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What Are You Looking For? Find it Here • How to set up my computer Setup diagram • Tips on using Windows Tell Me How help file • How to clean my computer 1 Click the Start button, and then click Help and Support. • How to use my mouse and keyboard 2 Click User and system guides, and then click User’s guides. 3 Click Tell Me How. • How to use Windows XP Windows XP Help and Support Center • Documentation for my computer and 1 Click the Start button, and then click Help and Support. devices 2 Type
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18 Finding Information for Your Computer www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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1 SECTI O N 1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer Setting Up a Printer Connecting Two Monitors Transferring Information to a New Computer Setting Up a Home and Office Network Connecting to the Internet Copying CDs Hyper-Threading Turning Off the Computer
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Setting Up a Printer NOTICE: Complete the operating system setup before you connect a printer to the computer. See the documentation that came with the printer for setup information, including how to: • Obtain and install updated drivers • Connect the printer to the computer • Load paper and install the toner or ink cartridge • Contact the printer manufacturer for technical assistance Printer Cable Your printer connects to your computer with either a USB cable or a parallel cable. Your print
