Dell Inspiron 3700 Troubleshooting Guide

							support.dell.comSystem Software Solutions 4-9
2. Type your computer’s service tag sequence, if available, click 
Submit, and go to 
step 5.
If the service tag is not available, go to step 3.
3. Click 
Inspiron Notebooks.
4. Click 
3700. 
5. Click 
Dell Documents (
Technical Information).
Follow the instructions on the page to save the file to your hard-disk drive.
6. Click 
System Help.
When prompted, you can save the Help file to your hard-disk drive.

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This section explains how to reinstall device drivers and utilities on your Dell portable 
computer running the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system. 
To install the system software, you need the following items:

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 CD

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Ser vice Pack 5 CD

System Soft ware CD

CD-ROM drive (installed)

One formatted diskette
The following subsections describe the drivers and utilities that are provided on the 
System Soft ware CD. 
NOTE: To install the drivers and utilities correctly, you must install them in the order 
presented in this document.
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The video driver controls features such as video resolution and the color palette.
NOTE: If you need to use extended video modes, check the documentation that came 
with the application program to determine if the drivers are provided. If not, contact 
the software manufacturer to get the necessary drivers.
To install the video driver for Windows NT 4.0, perform the following steps: 
1. Save your work in all open application programs, because you will need to restart 
your computer at the end of this procedure to complete the installation.
2. Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive. 
						

							4-10 Dell Inspiron 3700 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
3. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window appears.
4. Double-click the Display icon.
The Display Properties window appears.
5. Click the Settings tab.
6. Click the Display Type button.
The Display Type window appears.
7. In the Adapter Type box, click the Change button.
8. The Change Display window appears.
9. Click the Have Disk button.
10. Verify that x:\drivers\winnt4\video is displayed in the Install from Disk 
box, where x
 is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, and then click OK.
The CD-ROM drive letter is usually D
.
11. When the Change Display window appears, verify that the AT I option is        
highlighted, and then click OK.
A progress bar is shown while the driver files are copied to your hard-disk drive.
After the drivers are successfully installed, the Installing Driver window 
appears.
12 . C l i ck  OK in the Installing Driver window.
13 . C l i ck  t h e  Close button in the Display Type window, and then click the Close 
button in the Display Properties window.
14. To activate the drivers, remove the System Software
 CD from the CD-ROM drive, 
and restart your computer.
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Dell provides a power management utility that helps you conserve battery power    
and view available power levels. To install the power management utility, perform the 
following steps: 
1. Save your work in all open application programs, because you will need to restart 
your computer at the end of this procedure to complete the installation.
2. Insert the System Software
 CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3. Click the Start button, and then click Run.
The Run dialog box appears. 
						

							support.dell.comSystem Software Solutions 4-11
4. Type 
x:\drivers\winnt4\powermgt (where x is the drive letter of your     
CD-ROM drive), and then click 
OK.
Follow the instructions on the display.
5. When prompted, restart your computer to activate the utility.
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Dell provides a PC Card utility that allows you to view and configure settings for your 
PC Card(s). To install the PC Card utility, perform the following steps: 
1. Save your work in all open application programs, because you will need to restart 
your computer at the end of this procedure to complete the installation.
2. Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3. Click the 
Start button, and then click 
Run.
The 
Run dialog box appears.
4. Type 
x:\drivers\winnt4\pccard (where x is the drive letter of your          
CD-ROM drive), and then click 
OK.
Follow the instructions on your display.
5. Restart your computer.
6. When the computer completes the starting sequence, the 
Softex PC Card    
Controller Diagnostics window appears.
7. Follow the instructions on your display, and when prompted, restart your        
computer to activate the utility. 
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Dell provides Softex Docking Ser vices software that contains support for the following 
fe atu r es : 

Hot-docking and warm-undocking your portable computer from the port replicator

Hot-swapping devices such as diskette drives, hard-disk drives, large-storage 
drives, DVD-ROM drives, and CD-ROM drives to and from your portable         
computer’s media bay

Compatibility with the power management controller, which allows you to       
suspend and resume the operation of your portable computer without affecting 
your ability to use the port replicator

Docking or undocking your portable computer while it is in standby mode

Docking services available in French, German, Spanish, and Japanese 
						

							4-12 Dell Inspiron 3700 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
For information about installing Softex Docking Ser vices, see the Softex Docking    
Ser vices user’s guides at http://www.dell.com/products/notebook/inspiron/
NT40.htm and see your Dell-Installed Microsoft Windows NT Workstation Setup 
Guide
.
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Dell provides audio drivers so that you can customize the sound features of your 
computer. 
To install the audio drivers, perform the following steps: 
1. Save your work in all open application programs, because you will need to restart 
your computer at the end of this procedure to complete the installation.
2. Insert the System Software
 CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
4. Double-click the Multimedia icon.
The Multimedia Properties dialog box appears.
5. Click the Devices tab.
6. Click Add.
The Add dialog box appears, displaying a list of drivers.
7.Click the Unlisted or Updated Driver option, and then click OK.
The Install Driver dialog box appears.
8. Verify that X:\ is highlighted, (where x
 is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive), 
and then click OK.
The Add Unlisted or Updated Driver window appears.
9. Verify that the ESS AudioDrive MZE audio driver is highlighted, and then click 
OK.
The Audio dialog box appears.
10 . C l i ck  OK.
11. After installation is completed, restart your computer to activate the drivers.
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DualPoint integrated pointing device drivers allow you to use and customize the     
integrated touch pad, the track stick, or an external mouse. To install these drivers, 
perform the following steps: 
1. Save your work in all open application programs, because you will need to restart 
your computer at the end of this procedure to complete the installation. 
						

							support.dell.comSystem Software Solutions 4-13
2. Click the 
Start button, point to 
Settings, and then click
 Control Panel.
3. Double-click 
Mouse.
The 
Mouse Properties window appears.
4. Click the 
General tab, and then click the 
Change button.
The 
Select Device window appears.
5. Click on 
Have Disk.
The 
Install From Disk window appears.
6. Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive. Then click 
OK.
The 
Select Device window appears.
7. Verify that 
x:\ drivers\winnt4	ouch is highlighted, (where x is the drive letter of 
your CD-ROM drive), and then click 
OK.
8. Click 
OK.
9. After the files are copied, the 
Name property should be
 Alps Glide Point.
10 . C l i ck  
Close.
11. Restart your computer to activate the drivers.
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System utilities let you configure features such as the save-to-disk suspend partition. 
To copy the system utilities to your hard-disk drive, perform the following steps.
NOTE: You can also run the system utilities directly from the System Software CD.
1. Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Copy each of the utilities on the System Soft ware CD to the 
c:\dell director y on 
your hard-disk drive. The utilities have the following filenames:
 mks2d.exe, 
rm s 2d . exe, 
asset.com, and 
readme.s2d.
For more information on copying files, see the documentation that came with the 
operating system.
After you copy the utilities to your hard-disk drive, you must restart your computer in 
the MS-DOS mode to use the utilities.
See the 
readme.s2d file on the System Soft ware CD for more information on using 
the save-to-disk suspend partition utilities. 
						

							4-14 Dell Inspiron 3700 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
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The Dell Inspiron system Help
 is available on the System Software 
CD. You can also 
access it from Dell’s support Web site (http://support.dell.com). 
NOTE: You must install Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 from the Microsoft Windows  
NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 CD prior to installing the system Help.

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To install the system Help
 from the System Soft ware 
CD, perform the following steps:
1. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive 
icon. 
3. Double-click the Guide folder, and then double-click the appropriate language 
folder for the version of the Help
 you want to install
4. Right-click and hold 3700help and drag it to the Windows desktop.
5. Release the right mouse button.
6. Left-click Copy Here.
7. Double-click the 3700help icon to access the system Help
.
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To download the system Help
 from http://support.dell.com, perform the following 
steps:
1. C l i c k  Support Your Dell.
2. Type your service tag sequence, if available, click Submit, and go to step 5. 
If the service tag is not available, go to step 3.
3. Click Inspiron Notebooks. 
4. Click 3700. 
5. Click Dell Documents (Technical Information).
Follow the instructions on the page to save the file to your hard-disk drive.
6. Click System Help.
When prompted, you can save the system Help
 to your hard-disk drive. 
						

							support.dell.comSystem Software Solutions 4-15
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The save-to-disk suspend (S2D) utility allows you to manage the S2D partition in your 
file system as your computing needs change. For instance, you can remove the S2D 
partition if you need the space on the hard-disk drive for other purposes, or you can 
use the S2D utility to create the partition if you have removed it.
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If you want to use the S2D partition on your hard-disk drive for another purpose (for 
instance, if you are running out of file space), perform the following steps to remove 
the partition: 
1. Insert the Dell System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Turn off the computer.
3. If the computer is docked, undock it. 
For instructions, see your Advanced Port Replicator User’s Guide.
4. Turn on the computer.
5. Press  at the Dell BIOS splash screen to access the System Setup menu.
6. Press the down-arrow key to move to the field, and press the left- or right-arrow 
key to change the device setting. Select the following boot sequence: 

Boot First Device:  Diskette Drive

Boot Second Device:  CDROM/DVDROM Drive

Boot Third Device:  Internal HDD
7. Turn the computer off (power down).
If your computer has a diskette drive attached, make sure that the drive does not 
contain a diskette.
8. Turn the computer on. The computer restarts and automatically begins to run the 
Dell Diagnostics.
9. Type 
x to exit to MS-DOS.
10. At the MS-DOS prompt, type 
cd x:\drivers\winx\s2d (where x is the drive 
letter of your CD-ROM drive and winx is your operating system), and press 
 to change to the directory on the System Soft ware CD that contains the 
S2D utility files.
11. Type 
rms2d and press . 
Status messages appear on the display as the removal process progresses. 
When the S2D partition has been removed, the following message appears:
The S2D partition was successfully removed. 
						

							4-16 Dell Inspiron 3700 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
NOTE: After you remove the S2D partition, the computer cannot activate save-to-disk 
suspend mode until you recreate the partition. If you tr y to activate save-to-disk     
suspend mode and receive the message 
No Suspend-To-Disk partition 
available, you must create an S2D partition.
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The mks2d.exe file creates the S2D partition the computer uses to store the system 
data that is saved when you put the computer in save-to-disk suspend mode. Use the 
mks2d.exe file to create a new S2D partition in the following cases: 

If you increase the amount of system memor y by adding a memor y module

If you used the rms2d.exe file to remove the original S2D partition and now want 
to recreate the partition 

If your hard-disk drive becomes corrupted

If you install a new hard-disk drive

If you received the system utilities separately on CD or if you deleted the S2D 
utility from your hard-disk drive 
To create an S2D partition, perform the following steps:
1. Insert the Dell System Software
 CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Turn off the computer.
3. If the computer is docked, undock it. 
For instructions, see your Advanced Port Replicator User’s Guide
.
4. Turn on the computer.
5. Press  at the Dell BIOS splash screen to access the System Setup menu.
6. Press the down-arrow key to move to the field, and press the left- or right-arrow 
key to change the device setting. Select the following boot sequence: 

Boot First Device:  Diskette Drive

Boot Second Device:  CDROM/DVDROM Drive

Boot Third Device:  Internal HDD
7. Turn the computer off (power down).
If your computer has a diskette drive attached, make sure that the drive does not 
contain a diskette.
8. Turn the computer on. The computer restarts and automatically begins to run the 
Dell Diagnostics.
9. Type x to exit to MS-DOS. 
						

							support.dell.comSystem Software Solutions 4-17
10. At the MS-DOS prompt, type 
cd x:\drivers\winx\s2d (where x is the drive 
letter of your CD-ROM drive and winx is your operating system), and press 
 to change to the directory on the System Soft ware CD that contains the 
S2D utility files.
11. Ty p e
 mks2d and press .
As the utility builds the partition, status messages appear on the display. If an 
error message appears, it provides information about which steps to take to    
continue building the partition.
When the S2D partition has been built and verified, the following message 
appears:
The S2D partition was successfully created.



	
Dell’s technical assistance Web site (
http://support.dell.com) provides driver and 
utility updates, as well as technical assistance with questions about your computer. In 
addition, if you have access to a computer with a modem and/or fax capabilities, you 
can access Dell’s TechConnect bulletin board ser vice (BBS), AutoTech service, and 
TechFax service. Dell’s Web site also contains links to some of these services. 
Dell regularly tests and officially releases new drivers and utilities for                   
Inspiron computers. A list of the latest drivers and utilities is available at                
http://support.dell.com. 
						

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