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Dell™ Dimension™ 4600C
front door breakaway hinge
power button IEEE 1394 connector*
hard-drive light CD or DVD drive light
PC Card connectors (2)**
breakaway hinge
USB 2.0 connectors (2)
headphone connector
*
On computers with integrated IEEE 1394 connectors.
**
On computers with integrated PC Card connectors.
parallel connector
SPDIF-out connector
mouse connector
integrated video
connector
surround connector
diagnostic lights (4)
line-out connector
keyboard connector
line-in connector
center/
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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 25. ____________________
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Contents Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Finding Information for Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1 Setting Up and Using Your Computer Connecting the AC Adapter (Japan only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Attaching and Removing the Computer Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Printer Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Battery Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 CD drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Problems writing to a CD-RW drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 DVD drive problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Hard drive problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems . . . . . .
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Video and Monitor Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 If the screen is blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 If the screen is difficult to read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 3 Advanced Troubleshooting Diagnostic Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Starting the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Driver
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Adding or Replacing a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Removing a Video Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Installing a Video Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Adding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 DDR Memory Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Installing Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Removing Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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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 Windows Tell Me How Help File How to clean my computer 1 Click the Start button and click Help and Support. How to use my mouse and keyboard 2 Click User and system guides and click User’s guides. 3 Click Tell Me How. Express Service Code and Service Tag Express Service Code and Product Key Label ® ® Microsoft Windows License Label These labels are locate
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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 Connecting the AC Adapter (Japan only) CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide. 1 Connect the AC adapter to the plug on the AC power cable. CAUTION: If you decide to connect the green ground wire to an electrical outlet, do not permit contact between the green ground wire and power leads because electrical shock, fire, or damage to your computer can occur (see the foll
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Attaching and Removing the Computer Stand CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide. NOTE: Place your computer on a soft surface to prevent scratching the top cover. To attach the stand: 1 Rotate the computer to an upside-down position. 2 Insert the screw into the bottom of the stand. 3 Align the two tabs and the screw on the stand with the tab holes and screw hole in the bottom of the computer. screw scr
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4 Tighten the screw. 5 Place the computer in the upright position. To remove the stand: 1 Turn the computer over so that the stand is at the top. 2 Loosen the screw and lift the stand away. 3 Place the computer in a horizontal position until you reattach the stand. 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 dri
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Printer Cable Your printer connects to your computer with either a USB cable or a parallel cable. Your printer may not come with a printer cable, so if you purchase a cable separately, ensure that it is compatible with your printer. If you purchased a printer cable at the same time you purchased your computer, the cable may arrive in the computer box. Connecting a Parallel Printer CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product
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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 printer driver if necessary. See the documentation that came with your printer. 3 Attach the USB printer cable to the USB connectors on the computer and the printer. The USB connectors fit only one way. USB connector on computer USB connector on printer USB printer cable Setting Up and Using Your Computer 15
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Connecting an IEEE 1394 Device (Optional) IEEE 1394 devices can move large amounts of data between computers and peripheral devices and are ideal for use with multimedia devices, such as digital video cameras. Your computer provides a IEEE 1394 connector on both the front and back panels (see "Front and Back View of the Computer" on page 53 for locations.) NOTE: The connector can accept six-pin IEEE 1394 devices with the use of an adapter. IEEE 1394 connector IEEE 1394 cable Setting Up a Hom
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network wall jack network adapter connector on computer 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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Connecting to the Internet NOTE: ISPs and ISP offerings vary by country. To connect to the Internet, you need a modem or network connection and an Internet service provider (ISP), such as AOL or MSN. Your ISP will offer one or more of the following Internet connection options: Dial-up connections that provide Internet access through a phone line. Dial-up connections are considerably slower than DSL and cable modem connections. DSL connections that provide high-speed Internet access throu
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6 Click the appropriate option under How do you want to connect to the Internet?, and then click Next. 7 Use the setup information provided by your ISP to complete the setup. If you are having problems connecting to the Internet, see "E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems" on page 27. If you cannot connect to the Internet but have successfully connected in the past, the ISP might have a service outage. Contact your ISP to check the service status, or try connecting again later. Copying CDs an
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Using Blank CD-Rs and CD-RWs Your CD-RW drive can write to two different types of recording media—CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Use blank CD-Rs to record music or permanently store data files. After creating a CD-R, you cannot write to that CD-R again without changing your method of recording (see the Sonic documentation for more information). Use blank CD-RWs to write to CDs or to erase, rewrite, or update data on CDs. Helpful Tips ® ® Use Microsoft Windows Explorer to drag and drop files to a CD-R o
