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Dell™ Inspiron™ 300m
Owner’s Manual
Model PP04S
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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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 "Dell™ Inspiron™ Help File" on page 17. ® If you purchased a Dell™ n Series
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Contents CAUTION: Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 General Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Air Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 EMC Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 When Using Your Computer . . . .
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Modem and Internet Connection Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 E-Mail Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Transferring Information to a New Computer . . . . . . . . . . 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Setting Up a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Printer Cable Connecting a USB Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Printer Problems Power Protect
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4 Using the Dell™ D/Bay About the Dell D/Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Removing and Installing Devices When the Computer Is Turned Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Removing and Installing Devices While the Computer Is Running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 5 Using the Keyboard and Touch Pad Numeric Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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CD or DVD Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 . . . . . . . . . . . 64 If you cannot play a CD, CD-RW, or DVD If you cannot eject the CD, CD-RW, or DVD drive tray . . . . . 65 If you hear an unfamiliar scraping or grinding sound . . . . . . 65 If the CD-RW drive stops writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Sound and Speaker Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 If you have a problem with integrated speakers . . . . . . . . . 65 If you have a problem
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Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 If you cannot save a file to a floppy drive PC Card Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 General Program Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 A program crashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 A program stops responding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 A solid blue screen appears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Error messag
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Adding a Mini PCI Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Adding a Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 10 Appendix Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Using the System Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Viewing the System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Com
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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. • If you use an extension power cable with your AC adapter, ensure that the total ampere rating of the products plugged in to the extension power cable does no
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CAUTION: Safety Instructions (continued) • To help avoid the potential hazard of electric shock, do not connect or disconnect any cables or perform maintenance or reconfiguration of this product during an electrical storm. Do not use your computer during an electrical storm unless all cables have been disconnected and the computer is operating on battery power. • If your computer includes a modem, the cable used with the modem should be manufactured with a minimum wire size of 26 American wi
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CAUTION: Safety Instructions (continued) • Be sure that nothing rests on your AC adapter’s power cable and that the cable is not located where it can be tripped over or stepped on. • If you are using a multiple-outlet power strip, use caution when plugging the AC adapter’s power cable into the power strip. Some power strips may allow you to insert the plug incorrectly. Incorrect insertion of the power plug could result in permanent damage to your computer, as well as risk of electric shock a
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CAUTION: Safety Instructions (continued) Air Travel • Certain Federal Aviation Administration regulations and/or airline-specific restrictions may apply to the operation of your Dell computer while you are on board an aircraft. For example, such regulations/restrictions may prohibit the use of any personal electronic device (PED) that has the capacity for intentional transmission of radio frequency or other electromagnetic signals while on an aircraft. – In order to best comply with all such
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When Using Your Computer Observe the following safe-handling guidelines to prevent damage to your computer: • When setting up the computer for work, place it on a level surface. • When traveling, do not check the computer as baggage. You can put your computer through an X-ray security machine, but never put your computer through a metal detector. If you have the computer checked by hand, be sure to have a charged battery available in case you are asked to turn on the computer. • When travelin
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When Using Your Computer (continued) • Clean the display with a soft, clean cloth and water. Apply the water to the cloth; then stroke the cloth across the display in one direction, moving from the top of the display to the bottom. Remove moisture from the display quickly and keep the display dry. Long- term exposure to moisture can damage the display. Do not use a commercial window cleaner to clean your display. • If your computer gets wet or is damaged, follow the procedures described in "I
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When Using Your Computer (continued) NOTICE: Wait 5 seconds after turning off the computer before disconnecting a device or removing a memory module, Mini PCI card, or modem to help prevent possible damage to the system board. 1 Shut down your computer and turn off any attached devices. 2 Disconnect your computer and devices from electrical outlets to reduce the potential for personal injury or shock. Also, disconnect any telephone or telecommunication lines from the computer. 3 Remove the m
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When Using Your Computer (continued) Battery Disposal Your computer uses a lithium-ion battery and a reserve battery. For instructions about replacing the lithium-ion battery in your computer, refer to "Using a Battery" on page 43. The reserve 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, the procedure must be performed by an authorized service technician. Do not dispose of the battery along with househ
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Finding Information for Your Computer What are you looking for? Find It Here • A diagnostic program for my Drivers and Utilities CD computer Documentation and drivers are already • Drivers for my computer installed on your computer when shipped • My computer documentation from Dell. You can use the CD to reinstall drivers, run the Dell Diagnostics. • My device documentation Readme files may be included on your CD to provide last-minute updates about technical changes to your computer or
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What are you looking for? Find It Here • Express Service Code and Service Tag Express Service Code and Product Key Label ® ® Windows License Label •Microsoft These labels are located on your computer. • 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 • Online discussions with other users tec
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1 SECTI O N 1 A Tour of Your Computer Front View Left Side View Right Side View Back View Bottom View
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Front View display latch display power button keyboard device status lights touch pad speaker (2) keyboard status lights touch pad button (2) DISPLAY LATCH — Keeps the display closed. DISPLAY — For more information on using your color display, see "Using the Display" in the Dell Inspiron Help file. To access help, see "Finding Information for Your Computer" on page 17. ® ® KEYBOARD — The keyboard includes a numeric keypad as well as the Microsoft Windows logo key. For information on supported
