Dell Inspiron 7500 Reference And Troubleshooting Guide

							support.dell.comInstalling System Software4-3
9.When prompted, be sure that the Yes, I want to restart my computer now 
radio button is selected, and then click Finish.
The New Hardware Found window appears, the driver is installed, and the 
installation is completed.Installing the Video Driver
The video driver controls features such as video resolution and color palette.
NOTE: If you need to use extended video modes, check the documentation that 
accompanied the application program to determine if the driver is provided. If it is not, 
contact the software manufacturer to get the necessary driver.
1.Save and close any open files, and exit any open application programs.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
3.If the Welcome to Windows 98 screen appears, click the x in the upper-right 
corner of the screen to close it and continue with the installation.
4.Click the Start button, and then click Run.
5.In the Run dialog box, type x:\win98\video\setup.exe
, where x is the 
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
The CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter is usually D.
6.Click OK.
7.When prompted to restart, click Finish>.
The computer restarts automatically.
NOTE: After the computer restarts, you may change the video resolution.Installing the Touch Pad Driver
The touch pad driver controls features such as touch pad and mouse functions, 
scrolling, touch features, and sensitivity.
NOTE: When you are promoted to select a directory, Dell recommends using the 
default directory settings.
1.Save and close any open files, and exit any open application programs.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
3.If the Welcome to Windows 98 screen appears, click the x in the upper-right 
corner of the screen to close it and continue with the installation.
4.Click the Start button, and then click Run. 
						

							4-4Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
5.In the Run dialog box, type x:\win98	ouchpad\english\setup.exe, 
where x
 is the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter.
If you are using a Japanese-language version of Windows 98, type x:\win98	ouchpad\japanese\setup.exe
, where x is the CD-ROM or 
DVD-ROM drive letter.
The CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter is usually D.NOTICE: Do not install the Japanese-language driver on a computer 
with a non-Japanese-language operating system.
6.Click OK.
7.At the Welcome screen, click Next>.
At the Choose Destination Location window, click Next>.
8.At the Start Copying Files window, click Next>.
The touch pad files are copied to your hard-disk drive.
9.At the Setup Complete window, be sure that the Yes, I want to restart my 
computer now radio button is selected, and then click Finish.
The Information about your Touch Pad window appears. If you do no want this 
window to appear each time you start the computer, uncheck the box that says 
Show this message the next time Windows starts. Then click Close.Installing the Internal Modem Driver (Optional)
NOTE: The internal modem is not available in some regions.
The modem driver allows you to customize the operation of the optional internal 
modem.
If your computer has an internal modem, perform the following steps to install the 
driver:
1.Save and close any open files, and exit any open application programs.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
3.If the Welcome to Windows 98 screen appears, click the x in the upper-right 
corner of the screen to close it and continue with the installation.
4.Click the Start button, and then click Run.
5.In the Run dialog box, type x:\win98\modem\setup.exe
, where x is the 
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter.
The CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter is usually D.
6.Click OK. 
						

							support.dell.comInstalling System Software4-5
7.At the Welcome Screen, click Next>.
The internal modem files are copied to your hard-disk drive.
The New Hardware Found window appears, the driver is installed, and the 
installation is completed.Installing the Software DVD Decoder (Optional)
The DVD decoder driver allows you to play DVD movies on the computer.
NOTE: When you are promoted to select a directory, Dell recommends using the 
default directory settings.
1.Insert the Dell Inspiron 7500 Software DVD Decoder CD into the DVD-ROM 
drive.
2.Click the Start button, and then click Run.
3.In the Run dialog box, type x:\setup.exe
, where x is the DVD-ROM drive 
letter.
The DVD-ROM drive letter is usually D.
4.Click OK.
5.The Welcome window appears. Click Next>.
6.At the Choose Destination Location screen, click Next>.
7.At the Select Program Folder screen, click Next>.
8.At the Start Copying Files screen, click Next>.
9.At the Setup Complete screen, be sure that the Yes, I want to restart my 
computer now radio button is selected, and then click Finish.
The first time you play a DVD after installing this driver, you may be prompted to 
change the region setting.Creating the Save-to-Disk Suspend File
After you have installed a new hard-disk drive or rebuilt a hard-disk drive that had 
corrupted software, use the phdisk.exe utility to create a save-to-disk suspend file 
after you partition the drive. When save-to-disk suspend mode is activated, all system 
data is stored in this file.
1.Save and close any open files, exit any open application programs, and restart the 
computer.
2.Insert the Microsoft Boot Disk Windows 98 Series diskette into the diskette 
drive. 
						

							4-6Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
3.When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears, press the           
down-arrow key to select 2. Start computer with CD-ROM support and press 
.
4.When the A:\>
 prompt appears on the screen, insert the System Software CD 
into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
5.At the A:\>
 prompt, type x:, where x is the drive letter for your CD-ROM or 
DVD-ROM drive, and press . 
The CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive letter is usually D.
6.Type cd\utility\
 and press .
7.Type phdisk /create /file
 and press .
NOTE: Make sure you insert a space before the slashes.
The utility calculates the size of the file in kilobytes (KB), based on the amount of 
system memory and video memory in your computer, and adds 2 megabytes 
(MB) to handle additional system requirements.
8.Follow the instructions on your screen to create the save-to-disk suspend file. 
To check the size of the save-to-disk suspend file, type phdisk /info 
at the 
MS-DOS® prompt and press .
To delete the save-to-disk suspend file, type phdisk /delete /file
 and 
press . 
9.Remove the Microsoft Boot Disk Windows 98 Series diskette, and press 
 to restart the system.Installing the System Help
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).Installing Help From the CD
To install the system Help from the System Software CD, perform the following steps.
NOTE: You must copy the popup.ocx file into the Windows registry; otherwise, error 
messages may appear.
1.Insert the CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
2.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM or 
DVD-ROM drive icon.
3.Double-click the Guide folder.
4.Right-click the popup.ocx file, and then right-click Copy.
5.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the C: drive icon.  
						

							support.dell.comInstalling System Software4-7
6.Double-click the Windows folder, then double-click the System folder, and then 
right-click Paste.
7.Click Start, and then click Run.
8.Type regsvr32 popup.ocx 
and then press .
9.Click OK when a window indicates the file was successfully registered.
10.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM or 
DVD-ROM icon.
11.Double-click the Guide folder, and then double-click the appropriate language 
folder for the version of the Help you want to install.
12.Right-click and hold 7500help and drag it to the Windows desktop.
13.Release the right mouse button.
14.Left-click Copy Here.
15.Double-click the 7500help icon to access the system Help.Downloading Help From the Support Web Site
To download the system Help from http://support.dell.com, perform the following 
steps:
1.Click Support Your Dell.
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 7500. 
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.
7.When prompted, you can save the Help file to your hard-disk drive. 
						

							4-8Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting GuideInstalling Drivers and Utilities for 
Windows NT
This section explains how to install/reinstall device drivers and utilities on your Dell          
portable computer running the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 operating system.NOTICE: You must install the Windows NT service pack before installing 
device drivers.
To install the system software, you need the following items:•
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 CD•
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 CD•
System Software CD•
CD-ROM drive (installed)•
One formatted diskette
The following subsections describe the drivers and utilities that are provided on the 
System Software CD. 
NOTE: To install the drivers and utilities correctly, you must install them in the order 
presented in this document.Creating the Save-to-Disk Suspend Partition
If you have installed a new hard-disk drive or are rebuilding a hard-disk drive that had 
corrupted software, you must create a save-to-disk suspend partition before creating 
any other partitions (but after deleting any existing partitions). To create a save-to-disk 
suspend partition, perform the following steps:
1.Insert the Dell Diagnostics and Utilities for Inspiron 7500 diskette number 1 into 
the diskette drive and turn on the computer.
2.When the message Insert Delldiag diskette 2 of 4 in drive 
A:...
 appears, type C to exit to MS-DOS. Leave the Dell Diagnostics and 
Utilities for Inspiron 7500 diskette number 1 in the diskette drive.
3.At the A:>
 prompt, type phdisk /create /partition and press .
NOTE: Make sure you insert a space before the slashes.
The utility calculates the size of the file in kilobytes (KB), based on the amount of 
system memory and video memory in your computer, and adds 2 megabytes 
(MB) to handle additional system requirements and creates a partition on the 
hard-disk drive to store the system state when put in the save-to-disk suspend 
mode.
4.Follow the instructions provided in your Windows NT documentation to install the 
operating system on the drive. 
						

							support.dell.comInstalling System Software4-9Installing the Video Driver
The video driver controls features such as video resolution and color palette.
NOTE: If you need to use extended video modes, check the documentation that 
accompanied the application program to determine if the driver is provided. If it is not, 
contact the software manufacturer to get the necessary driver.
1.Save and close any open files, and exit any open application programs.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
3.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive 
icon.
4.Double-click the WinNT folder, then double-click the Video folder.
5.Dobule-click setup.exe.
6.When prompted to restart, click Finish>.
The computer restarts automatically.
NOTE: After the computer restarts, you may change the video resolution.Changing Video Resolution
1.After the computer restarts, log on as Administrator. 
2.Click OK in the Invalid Display Settings dialog box.
3.In the Color palette area, highlight 65536 Colors. In the Desktop Area, drag the 
pointer to the right until 1024 by 768 pixels is shown. Make sure the Refresh 
Frequency is set to the optimum setting of 60 Hertz.
4.Click Test.
5.Click OK.
A test bitmap appears for the selected resolution and color palette. 
6.Click Yes if the expected results appear.
7.Click Apply to immediately accept these settings and configure your desktop.
8.Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.Installing the Audio Driver
The audio driver allows you to customize the sound features of your computer. 
1.Log on as Administrator.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3.Click the Start button, and then click Run.  
						

							4-10Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide
4.In the Run dialog box, type x:\winnt\audio\setup.exe, where x is the 
DVD-ROM drive letter.
5.Click OK.
6.At the Welcome screen, click Next>.
7.At the Main Menu, the Install radio button is selected. Click Next>.
The audio files are copied to your hard-disk drive.
8.When prompted, be sure that the Yes, I want to restart my computer now 
radio button is selected, and then click Finish.Installing the Touch Pad Driver
The touch pad driver controls features such as touch pad and mouse functions, 
scrolling, touch features, and sensitivity.
1.Log on as Administrator.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive 
icon.
4.Double-click the WinNT folder, then double-click the Touchpad folder, and then 
double-click the English folder.
If you are using a Japanese-language version of Windows NT, double-click the 
WinNT folder, then double-click the Touchpad folder, and then double-click the 
Japanese folder.NOTICE: Do not install the Japanese-language driver on a computer 
with a non-Japanese-language operating system.
5.Double-click Setup.
6.In the Welcome window, click Next>.
7.In the Important Information window, click Next>.
Another Important Information window appears recommending that you create 
or update an emergency repair diskette before you install the touch pad driver.
8.Ensure that the Run the Emergency Repair Disk utility before installing check 
box is selected, and then click Next>.
9.Click Next> to install the files in the default directory.
10.Click Next> to begin copying the files.
11.When prompted to create an emergency repair diskette, click Yes.
12.Label a blank diskette “Emergency Repair Diskette,” insert it into the diskette 
drive, and then click OK.  
						

							support.dell.comInstalling System Software4-11
13.Click OK at the dialog box regarding sensitive information.
14.After the appropriate files are copied onto the hard-disk drive and the emergency 
repair diskette is created, remove the Emergency Repair Diskette and select Yes, 
I want to restart my computer now. 
Do not remove the System Software CD.
15.Click Finish to exit the installation and restart your computer.
To prevent the Show this Dialog Box at Startup window from appearing when 
the computer restarts, remove the check from the check box.Installing the Power Management Configuration Utility
The power management configuration utility allows you to adjust the way the       
computer uses the battery. The Softex Power Management icon appears in the 
Control Panel after you install the utility.
1.Log on as Administrator.
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive 
icon.
4.Double-click the WinNT folder, and then double-click the APM folder. 
5.Double-click Setup.
The Softex Power Management Control Setup screen appears, and then the 
Softex Power Management Control Setup window displays the license 
agreement. 
6.Read the agreement and click Accept.
NOTE: You must accept the license agreement to continue.
7.Click the button in the Softex Power Management Control Setup window to 
accept the default installation directory.
The Softex Power Management Control Setup window notifies you that the 
installation is complete.
8.Click OK.
9.Click Don’t Restart Now in the Softex Power Management Control Setup 
window. 
						

							4-12Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting GuideInstalling the PC Card Configuration Utility
The PC Card configuration utility allows you to view and change the properties of an 
installed PC Card. The Softex PC Card Controller icon appears in the Control Panel 
after you install the utility. 
1.Remove any PC Card(s) from the PC Card slot and restart the computer. 
2.Insert the System Software CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3.Double-click the My Computer icon, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive 
icon.
4.Double-click the WinNT folder, and then double-click the PCMCIA folder. 
5.Double-click Setup.
The Softex PC Card Controller Setup screen appears, and then the Softex PC 
Card Controller Setup window displays the license agreement. 
6.Read the agreement and click Accept.
NOTE: You must accept the license agreement to continue.
7.Click the button in the Softex PC Card Controller Setup window to accept the 
default installation directory.
The Softex PC Card Controller Setup window monitors the installation and 
displays a status bar.
The Creating Control Panel window appears and notifies you that the setup 
program will install the PC Card configuration in the Control Panel and that the 
Microsoft Windows PC Card (PCMCIA) icon will be disabled.
8.Click I Understand.
9.When the Softex PC Card Controller Setup window notifies you that the 
installation is complete, click OK.
The Reboot Now window appears.
10.Click Restart Now to restart the computer.
11.Log on as Administrator.
The Softex PC Card Controller Diagnostics window appears.
12.Click Next>, and then click Next> again to start the diagnostics utility.
13.When the Softex PC Card Controller Diagnostics window notifies you that the 
diagnostics are complete, click Finish.
14.Verify that the computer restarts.