dell inspiron 8200 User Manual

							Using Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 8200
To check a particular area of your computer, select Extended Tests from the Test 
One Device option, or select the Advanced Testing option to customize your 
test(s).
Advanced Testing
When you select Advanced Testing from the Diagnostics Menu, the following 
screen appears, listing the diagnostic test device groups and devices of\
 the selected 
device group, and it allows you to select categories from a menu. Press \
the arrow 
keys or 
  to navigate the screen.
Advanced Testing Main Screen 
HINT: The test groups reflect the configuration of your computer. 
Information in the Advanced Testing screen is presented as follows: 
l     On the left side of the screen, the Device Groups area lists the diagnostic test 
groups in the order they will run if you select All from the Run tests menu 
category. Press the up- or down-arrow key to highlight a test device gro\
up.
l     On the right side of the screen, the Devices for Highlighted Group area lists 
the computers currently detected hardware and some of the relevant sett\
ings.
l     Two lines at the bottom of the screen make up the menu area (see Advanced 
Testing Help Menu). The first line lists the categories you can select; press the 
left- or right-arrow key to highlight a menu category. The second line g\
ives 
information about the category currently highlighted.
Advanced Testing Help Menu 
For more information on using the Advanced Testing option:
1.  Press 
 . 
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							Using Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 8200
2.  Highlight the Help category and press  , or press the key that 
corresponds to the highlighted letter in the category you choose. 
Advanced Testing Help Categories
Help Category Description
Menu Provides descriptions of the main menu screen area, the Device 
Groups, and the different diagnostic menus and commands and 
instructions on how to use them.
Keys Explains the functions of the all of the keystrokes that can be used 
in Dell Diagnostics.
Device Group Describes the test group that is presently highlighted in the Device 
Groups list on the main menu screen. It also provides reasoning for 
using some tests.
Device Describes the function and purpose of the highlighted device in the 
Device Groups. For example, the following information appears 
when you select the Device Help category for Diskette in the 
Device Groups list:
Diskette 
Drive A 
The diskette disk drive device reads and writes data to 
and from diskettes. Diskettes are flexible recording 
media, sometimes contained in hard shells. Diskette 
recording capacities are small and access times are slow 
relative to hard disk drives, but they provide a 
convenient means of storing and transferring data. 
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							Using Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 8200
TestProvides a thorough explanation of the test procedure of each 
highlighted test group subtest. An example of the Diskette subtest 
floppy drive Seek Test is as follows:
Diskette 
Drive A - floppy drive Seek Test 
This test verifies the drives ability to position its 
read/write heads. The test operates in two passes: first, 
seeking from the beginning to ending cylinders 
inclusively, and second, seeking alternately from the 
beginning to ending cylinders with convergence towards 
the middle. 
Versions  Lists the version numbers of the subtests that are used by the Dell 
Diagnostics.
Confirming the System Configuration 
Information
When you boot your computer from your Drivers and Utilities CD, the diagnostics 
checks your system configuration information and displays it in the Device Groups 
area on the main screen.
The following sources supply this configuration information for the diag\
nostics: 
l     The system configuration information settings (stored in NVRAM) that y\
ou 
selected while using the system setup program
l     Identification tests of the microprocessor, the video controller, the ke\
yboard 
controller, and other key components
l     BIOS configuration information temporarily saved in RAM
Do not be concerned if the Device Groups area does not list the names of all the 
components or devices you know are part of your computer. For example, y\
ou may 
not see a printer listed, although you know one is attached to your comp\
uter. Instead, 
the printer is listed as a parallel port. The computer recognizes the pa\
rallel port as 
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							Using Dell Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 8200
LPT1, which is an address that tells the computer where to send outgoing\
 information 
and where to look for incoming information. Because your printer is a pa\
rallel 
communications device, the computer recognizes the printer by its LPT1 a\
ddress and 
identifies it as a parallel port. You can test your printer connection i\
n the Parallel 
Ports tests.
Back to Contents Page
 
 
 
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							Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities: Dell Inspiron 8200
Back to Contents Page 
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities 
Dell™ Inspiron™ 8200
  Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
  Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities
  Using Microsoft® Windows® System Restore
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers and utilities alre\
ady 
installed—no further installation or configuration is needed.
NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities CD may contain drivers for operating systems 
that are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing software 
appropriate for your operating system. 
To reinstall drivers for optional devices such as wireless communication\
s, DVD drives, 
and ZIP drives, you may need the CD and documentation that came with tho\
se 
devices.
To reinstall a driver or utility from your Drivers and Utilities CD:
NOTICE: The Dell Support website, support.dell.com, and the Drivers and 
Utilities CD provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install drive\
rs 
from other sources, your computer might not work correctly. 
1.  Save and close any open files, and exit any open programs. 
2.  Insert the Drivers and Utilities CD. 
In most cases, the CD starts running automatically. If it does not, star\
t 
Microsoft® Windows® Explorer, click your CD drive directory to dis\
play the CD 
contents, and then double-click the autocd.exe file. The first time that you run 
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							Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities: Dell Inspiron 8200
the CD, it might prompt you to install setup files. Click OK, and follow the 
instructions on the screen to continue.
3.  From the Language pull-down menu in the toolbar, select your preferred  language for the driver or utility (if available). 
A welcome screen appears.
4.  Click Next. The CD automatically scans your hardware to detect some drivers  used by your computer. 
After the CD completes the hardware scan, you can also detect other driv\
ers and 
utilities. Under Search Criteria, select the appropriate categories from the 
System Model, Operating System, and Topic pull-down menus.
A link or links appear(s) for the specific drivers and utilities used \
by your 
computer.
5.  Click the link of a specific driver or utility to display information ab\
out the driver  or utility that you want to install. 
6.  Click the Install button (if present) to begin installing the driver or utility. At  the welcome screen, follow the screen prompts to complete the installati\
on. 
If no Install button is present, automatic installation is not an option. For 
installation instructions, either see the appropriate instructions in th\
e following 
subsections, or click Extract, follow the extracting instructions, and read the 
readme file.
If instructed to navigate to the driver files, click the CD directory on\
 the driver 
information window to display the files associated with that driver.
Manually Reinstalling Drivers for Windows XP 
HINT: If you are reinstalling an infrared device driver, you must first enable\
 the 
infrared sensor in the system setup program before continuing with the d\
river 
installation. 
1.  After extracting the driver files to your hard drive as described previo\
usly, click 
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							Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities: Dell Inspiron 8200
the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel. 
2.  Click the Start button and right-click My Computer. 
3.  Click Properties. 
4.  Click the Hardware tab and click Device Manager. 
5.  Double-click the type of device for which you are installing the driver \
(for  example, Modems or Infrared devices). 
6.  Double-click the name of the device for which you are installing the dri\
ver. 
7.  Click the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver. 
8.  Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), and then click  Next. 
9.  Click Browse, and browse to the location to which you previously extracted the  driver files. 
10.  When the name of the appropriate driver appears, click Next. 
11.  Click Finish and restart your computer. 
Using Windows XP Device Driver Rollback 
If you install a new device driver that causes system instability, you c\
an use Windows 
XP Device Driver Rollback to replace the new device driver with the prev\
iously 
installed version of the device driver. If you cannot reinstall your pre\
vious driver by 
using Device Driver Rollback, then use System Restore (see 
Using Microsoft® 
Windows® System Restore) to return your operating system to its previous operating 
state before you installed the new device driver. To use Device Driver R\
ollback:
1.  Click the Start button and right-click My Computer. 
2.  Click Properties. 
3.  Click the Hardware tab and click Device Manager. 
4.  In the Device Manager window, right-click the device for which the new driver  was installed and then click Properties. 
5.  Click the Drivers tab. 
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							Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities: Dell Inspiron 8200
6.  Click Roll Back Driver. 
Resolving Software and Hardware 
Incompatibilities
In the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system, IRQ conflicts occu\
r if a device 
either is not detected during the operating system setup or is detected \
but incorrectly 
configured. To check for IRQ conflicts on your computer:1.  Click the Start button and click Control Panel. 
2.  Click Performance and Maintenance and click System. 
3.  Click the Hardware tab and click Device Manager. 
4.  In the Device Manager list, check for conflicts with the other devices. 
Conflicts are indicated by a yellow exclamation point (!) beside the c\
onflicting 
device or a red X if the device has been disabled.
5.  Double-click any conflicting device listed to bring up the Properties window so  that you can determine what needs to be reconfigured or removed from the\
 
Device Manager. 
6.  Resolve these conflicts before checking specific devices. 
7.  Double-click the malfunctioning device type in the Device Manager list. 
8.  Double-click the icon for the specific device in the expanded list. 
The Properties window appears. 
If an IRQ conflict exists, the Device status area in the Properties window 
reports what other devices are sharing the devices IRQ.
9.  Resolve any IRQ conflicts. 
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You can also use the Windows XP Hardware Troubleshooter. To use the 
troubleshooter, click the Start button and click Help and Support. Type hardware 
troubleshooter in the Search field, and then click the arrow to start the search. 
Click Hardware Troubleshooter in the Search Results list. In the Hardware 
Troubleshooter list, click I need to resolve a hardware conflict on my 
computer, and then click Next. 
Using Microsoft® Windows® System 
Restore
The Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system provides a System Rest\
ore feature 
that allows you to return your computer to an earlier operating state if\
 changes to the 
computers hardware or software (including new hardware or program inst\
allations) or 
system settings, have left the computer in an undesirable operating stat\
e. You can 
also undo the last system restore.
System Restore automatically creates system checkpoints. You can also ma\
nually 
create your own checkpoints by creating restore points. To limit the amount of hard 
disk space used, older restore points are automatically purged.
To resolve an operating system problem, you can use System Restore from \
Safe Mode 
or Normal Mode to return your computer to an earlier operating state.
System Restore does not cause you to lose personal files stored in the My 
Documents folder, data files, or e-mail messages after restoring the computer to \
an 
earlier time. If you restore the computer to an operating state that exi\
sted before you 
installed a program, the programs data files are not lost, but you must\
 reinstall the 
actual program again. 
NOTICE: It is important to make regular backups of your data files. System 
Restore does not monitor changes to or recover your data files. If the o\
riginal 
data on the hard disk is accidentally erased or overwritten, or if it be\
comes 
inaccessible because of a hard disk malfunction, use your backup files t\
o 
recover the lost or damaged data. 
System Restore is enabled on your new computer. However, if you reinstal\
l Windows 
XP with less than 200 MB of free hard-disk space available, System Resto\
re is 
automatically disabled. Before you use System Restore, confirm that it i\
s enabled:
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							Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities: Dell Inspiron 8200
1.  Click the Start button and click Control Panel. 
2.  Click the Performance and Maintenance. 
3.  Click System. 
4.  Click the System Restore tab. 
5.  Ensure that Turn off System Restore is not checked. 
Creating a Restore Point 
Using the System Restore Wizard
In Windows XP you can either use the System Restore Wizard or manually c\
reate a 
restore point. To use the System Restore Wizard, click the Start button, click Help 
and Support, click System Restore, and then follow the instructions in the System 
Restore Wizard window. You can also create and name a restore point if you are 
logged on as the computer administrator or a user with administrator rig\
hts.
Manually Creating a Restore Point
1.  Click the Start button, point to All Programs—>Accessories—> System Tools, and then click System Restore. 
2.  Click Create a restore point. 
3.  Click Next. 
4.  Type a name for the new restore point in the Restore point description field. 
The present date and time are automatically added to the description of \
the new 
restore point.
5.  Click Create. 
6.  Click OK. 
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