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Dell™ Dimension™ 4600 Series
Service Tag
CD or DVD drive
activity light
CD or DVD
headphone
CD or DVD eject button
connector
CD or DVD
volume
control dial floppy drive eject button*
floppy drive light* hard-drive activity light
power light
power button
USB 2.0 connectors (2) headphone connector
*On computers with an optional floppy drive.
power connector
voltage selection switch
parallel connector
serial connector
integrated video connector**
diagnostic lights (4)
keyboard connector
mouse c
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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 Tell Me How help file. To access help files, see page 21. ® ® If you purchased
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Contents Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Connecting a Parallel Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Problems writing to a CD-RW drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Hard drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The computer stops responding . . . . . . .
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3 Advanced Troubleshooting Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Starting the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Dell Diagnostics Main Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 What Is a Driver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Identifying
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Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 DDR Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Memory Installation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Replacing the Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 5 Appendix Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Safety Instructions See your Product Information Guide for safety instructions. Safety Instructions 7
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8 Safety Instructions www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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Finding Information for Your Computer What are you looking for? Find It Here How to set up my computer Setup Diagram ® Tips on using the Microsoft Tell Me How Help File ® Windows operating system 1 Click the Start button and click Help and Support. How to clean my computer 2 Click User and system guides and click User’s guides. How to use my mouse and 3 Click Tell Me How. keyboard Express Service Code and Service Tag Express Service Code and Product Key Label Microsoft Windows Licens
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What are you looking for? Find It Here Latest drivers for my computer Dell Support Website — support.dell.com Answers to technical service and The Dell Support website provides several online tools, including: support questions Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and tips, articles from technicians, Online discussions with other users and and online courses technical support Community Forum — Online discussion with other Dell customers Documentation for my computer Upgrades — Up
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Setting Up and Using Your Computer 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 c
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parallel connector on computer connector on printer screws (2) clips (2) parallel printer cable notches (2) 4 Turn on the printer and then turn on the computer. If the Add New Hardware Wizard window appears, click Cancel. 5 Install the printer driver if necessary. See the documentation that came with your printer. Connecting a USB Printer NOTE: You can connect USB devices while the computer is turned on. 1 Complete the operating system setup if you have not already done so. 2 Install the prin
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USB connector on computer USB connector on printer USB printer cable Setting Up a Home and Office Network Connecting to a Network Adapter Before you connect your computer to a network, the computer must have a network adapter installed and a network cable connected to it. To connect a network cable: 1 Connect the network cable to the network adapter connector on the back of your computer. NOTE: Insert the cable until it clicks into place, and then gently pull it to ensure that it is secure.
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network adapter connector on computer network wall jack network cable Network Setup Wizard ® ® The Microsoft Windows XP operating system provides a Network Setup Wizard to guide you through the process of sharing files, printers, or an Internet connection between computers in a home or small office. 1 Click the Start button, point to All Programs→ Accessories→ Communications, and then click Network Setup Wizard. 2 On the welcome screen, click Next. 3 Click Checklist for creating a network.
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Cable modem connections that provide high-speed Internet access through your local cable TV line. If you are using a dial-up connection, connect a telephone line to the modem connector on your computer and to the telephone wall jack before you set up your Internet connection. If you are using a DSL or cable modem connection, contact your ISP for setup instructions. Setting Up Your Internet Connection To set up an AOL or MSN connection: 1 Save and close any open files, and exit any open prog
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Copying CDs and DVDs NOTE: Ensure that you follow all copyright laws when you create CDs. This section applies only to computers that have a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, or DVD/CD-RW combo drive. The following instructions show how to make an exact copy of a CD or DVD. You can also use Sonic RecordNow for other purposes, including creating CDs from audio files on your computer and creating MP3 CDs. For instructions, see the Sonic RecordNow documentation that came with your computer. Open Son
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Helpful Tips ® ® Use Microsoft Windows Explorer to drag and drop files to a CD-R or CD-RW only after you start Sonic RecordNow and open a RecordNow project. You must use CD-Rs to burn music CDs that you want to play in regular stereos. CD-RWs do not play in most home or car stereos. You cannot create audio DVDs with Sonic RecordNow. Music MP3 files can be played only on MP3 players or on computers that have MP3 software installed. Do not burn a blank CD-R or CD-RW to its maximum ca
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Booting to a USB Device NOTE: To boot to a USB device, the device must be bootable. To make sure your device is bootable, check the device documentation. To restart your computer to a USB device such as a floppy drive, memory key, or CD-RW drive: 1 Connect the USB device to a USB connector.. 2 Shut down (see page 18) and restart the computer. 3 Turn on the computer. When the DELL™ logo appears, press immediately. ® ® If you wait too long and the Microsoft Windows logo appears, continue t
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Solving Problems Finding Solutions Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out where to go for answers. Use this chart to help you quickly find the answers to your questions. See page 32. Press a key or move the mouse. See the Tell Me How help file for information on standby mode. For more information, see page 32. Get technical assistance from Dell. See page 88. See page 25. Solving Problems 19
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See page 36. See page 35. See page 33. See page 24. See page 30. See page 30. See page 21. See page 31. See page 34. See page 25. See page 26. See page 24. See page 24. See page 26. 20 Solving Problems www.dell.com | support.dell.com
