Dell Xps Gen 5 Manual

							Finding Information11
 Solutions — Troubleshooting hints and tips, articles 
from technicians, and online courses, frequently asked 
questions
 Community — Online discussion with other Dell 
customers
 Upgrades — Upgrade information for components, such 
as memory, the hard drive, and the operating system
 Customer Care — Contact information, service call and 
order status, warranty, and repair information
 Service and support — Service call status and support 
history, service contract, online discussions with 
technical support
 Reference — Computer documentation, details on my 
computer configuration, product specifications, and 
white papers
 Downloads — Certified rivers, patches, and software 
updates
 Desktop System Software (DSS) — If you reinstall the 
operating system for your computer, you should also 
reinstall the DSS utility. DSS provides critical updates 
for your operating system and support for Dell™ 
3.5-inch USB floppy drives, Intel
® Pe n t i u m® M 
processors, optical drives, and USB devices. DSS is 
necessary for correct operation of your Dell computer. 
The software automatically detects your computer and 
operating system and installs the updates appropriate 
for your configuration.
Dell Support Website — support.dell.com
NOTE: Select your region to view the appropriate support 
site.
NOTE: Corporate, government, and education customers 
can also use the customized Dell Premier Support website 
at premier.support. dell.com.
 How to use Windows XPWindows Help and Support Center
1Click the Start button and click Help and Support.
2Type a word or phrase that describes your problem and 
click the arrow icon.
3Click the topic that describes your problem.
4Follow the instructions on the screen.
What Are You Looking For? Find it Here
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							12Finding Information
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
 How to reinstall my operating systemOperating System CD
The operating system is already installed on your 
computer. To reinstall your operating system, use the 
Operating System CD. See Reinstalling Microsoft
® 
Windows® XP on page 64.
After you reinstall your 
operating system, use the 
ResourceCD to reinstall 
drivers for the devices 
that came with your 
computer.
NOTE: The color of your 
CD varies based on the 
operating system you 
ordered. What Are You Looking For? Find it Here
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							Setting Up and Using Your Computer13
Setting Up and Using Your Computer
Opening the Drive Door
Changing the Front-Panel Light Color
You can use this exclusive Dell™ Dimension™ XPS feature either to change the color of the 
front-panel light that illuminates the Dell name and displays around the badge on the front of 
your computer, or to turn off the front-panel light entirely. 
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							14Setting Up and Using Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
You can choose from several color choices:
Off
Ruby
Emerald
Sapphire (default)
Amber
Amethyst 
Topaz
Diamond
 CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions 
located in the Product Information Guide.
 
NOTE: The front-panel light is not for diagnostic purposes.
1Follow the procedures in Before You Begin on page 69.
2Turn on (or restart) your computer.
3Enter system setup by pressing . (See page 128 for details about entering system 
setup).
4Select the Onboard Devices option.
5Select Front LED Color, and press .
6Press the left- and right- arrow keys to scroll through the color options. The front-panel light 
color changes as you scroll through the options.
7Select the color you want, and press .
8Press , and press Save and Exit to save the new front-panel light color setting.
badge front-panel 
light
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							Setting Up and Using Your Computer15
Using a Media Card Reader (Optional)
Use the media card reader to transfer data directly to your computer.
The media card reader supports the following memory types: 
xD-Picture card
 SmartMedia (SMC)
 CompactFlash Type I and II (CF I/II)
 MicroDrive card
 SecureDigital card (SD)
 MultiMediaCard (MMC)
 Memory Stick (MS/MS Pro)
For information on installing a media card reader, see Installing a Media Card Reader on 
page 104.
xD-Picture card
and SmartMedia (SMC)Memory Stick 
(MS/MS Pro)
SecureDigital card (SD)/ 
MultiMediaCard (MMC)
CompactFlash Type I 
and II (CF I/II) and 
MicroDrive card
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							16Setting Up and Using Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
To use the media card reader:
1
Check the media or card to determine the proper orientation for insertion.
2Slide the media or card into the appropriate slot until it is completely seated in the connector. 
If you encounter resistance, do not force the media or card. Check the card orientation and 
try again. 
Connecting Two Monitors
 CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions 
located in the Product Information Guide.
 
NOTE: If you are connecting two monitors that have VGA connectors, you must have the optional DVI 
adapter. If you are connecting two flat-panel monitors, at least one of them must have a VGA connector. 
If you are connecting a TV, you may connect only one monitor (VGA or DVI) in addition to the TV.
 
NOTE: See the documentation that came with your TV to ensure that you properly configure and connect 
the TV.
If you purchased a graphics card that supports dual monitors, follow these instructions to 
connect and enable your monitors. The instructions tell you how to connect either two monitors 
(each with a VGA connector), one monitor with a VGA connector and one monitor with a DVI 
connector, or a TV.
If you purchased a graphics card that has two DVI ports instead of a VGA port, use a DVI-to-
VGA adapter to use a VGA monitor.
Connecting Two Monitors With VGA Connectors
1Follow the procedures in Before You Begin on page 69.
2Connect one of the monitors to the VGA (blue) connector on the back of the computer.
3Connect the other monitor to the optional DVI adapter and connect the DVI adapter to the 
DVI (white) connector on the back of the computer.
 NOTE: Your graphics card must support a VGA monitor being connected to the DVI connector.
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							Setting Up and Using Your Computer17
Connecting One Monitor With a VGA Connector and One Monitor With a DVI Connector
1Follow the procedures in Before You Begin on page 69.
2Connect the VGA connector on the monitor to the VGA (blue) connector on the back of the 
computer.
3Connect the DVI connector on the other monitor to the DVI (white) connector on the back 
of the computer.
Connecting a TV
 NOTE: To connect a TV to your computer, you must purchase an S-video cable, which is available at 
most consumer electronics stores. An S-video cable is not included with your computer.
1Follow the procedures in Before You Begin on page 69.
2Connect one end of the S-video cable to the TV-OUT connector on the back of the computer.
3Connect the other end of the S-video cable to the S-video input connector on your TV.
4Connect the VGA or DVI monitor as described in the preceding subsection, Connecting 
One Monitor With a VGA Connector and One Monitor With a DVI Connector.
VGA (blue) connector
DVI (white) connector
optional DVI adapter
TV-OUT connector
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							18Setting Up and Using Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Changing the Display Settings
1After you connect the monitor(s) or TV, turn on the computer.
The Microsoft
® Windows® desktop displays on the primary monitor.
2Enable clone mode or extended desktop mode in the display settings.
 In clone mode, both monitors display the same image.
 In extended desktop mode, you can drag objects from one screen to the other, effectively 
doubling the amount of viewable work space.
For information on changing the display settings for your graphics card, see the user’s guide in 
the Help and Support Center (click the 
Start button, click Help and Support, click User and 
system guides
, click Device guides, and then click the guide for your graphics card).
About Serial ATA Drives
Your computer supports up to three serial ATA hard drives. Serial ATA drives provide the 
following benefits by transferring data using serial technology and flexible cables that are 
thinner and longer than IDE cables:
 Improved cable routing facilitates more efficient airflow inside the chassis.
 Compact cable connectors save space on the system board and on the hard drive. Combined 
with the improved cable routing, this allows a more efficient utilization of space inside the 
chassis.
See Hard Drive on page 94 for information on serial ATA drive connections.
About Your RAID Configuration
This section provides an overview of the RAID configuration that you might have selected when 
you purchased your computer. Although several RAID configurations are available, Dell offers 
either a RAID level 0 configuration or a RAID level 1 configuration for its Dimension™ 
computers. A RAID level 0 configuration is recommended for high-performance gaming, and a 
RAID level 1 configuration is recommended for the data integrity requirements of digital 
photography and audio.
The Intel
® RAID controller on your computer can only create a RAID level 0 configuration 
using two or three physical drives. If a third drive is present, then that drive can be made part of 
a RAID level 0 configuration using the Intel RAID configuration program, or it can be used as a 
spare drive in a RAID level 1 configuration (see Creating a Spare Hard Drive on page 26). The 
drives should be the same size in order to ensure that the larger drive does not contain 
unallocated (and therefore unusable) space.
 NOTE: RAID levels do not represent a hierarchy. A RAID level 1 configuration is not inherently better or 
worse than a RAID level 0 configuration.
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							Setting Up and Using Your Computer19
RAID Level 0 Configuration
A RAID level 0 configuration uses a storage technique known as data striping to provide a high 
data access rate. Data striping is a method of writing consecutive segments, or stripes, of data 
sequentially across the physical drives to create a large virtual drive. Data striping allows one of 
the drives to read data while the other drive is searching for and reading the next block.
Another advantage of a RAID level 0 configuration is that it utilizes the full capacities of the 
drives. For example, if you have two 120-GB drives installed, you have 240 GB on which to store 
data.
 NOTICE: Because RAID level 0 configurations provide no data redundancy, if one drive fails, then the 
data on the other drive is also inaccessible. Therefore, ensure that you perform regular backups when 
you use a RAID level 0 configuration.
RAID Level 1 Configuration
RAID level 1 uses a data-redundancy storage technique known as mirroring. When data is 
written to the primary drive, it is then duplicated, or mirrored, on the other drive. A RAID 
level 1 configuration sacrifices high data-access rates for its data redundancy advantages.
hard drive 1
segment 1
segment 3
segment 5
hard drive 2segment 2
segment 4
segment 6
serial ATA RAID 
configured for 
RAID level 0
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							20Setting Up and Using Your Computer
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
If a drive failure occurs, subsequent read and write operations are directed to the surviving drive. 
A replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data from the surviving drive. Also, because 
data is duplicated on both drives, a RAID level 1 configuration using two 120-GB hard drives 
collectively has a maximum of 120 GB on which to store data.
Configuring Your Computer for RAID
At some point you may want to configure your computer for RAID if you did not select a RAID 
configuration when you purchased your computer. You must have at least two hard drives 
installed in your computer to set up a RAID configuration. For instructions on how to install a 
hard drive, see page 95.
You can use one of two methods to configure RAID hard drive volumes. One method uses the 
Intel
® RAID Option ROM utility and is performed before you install the operating system onto 
the hard drive. The second method uses the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, or Intel Matrix 
Storage Console, and this method is performed after you have installed the operating system 
and the Intel Matrix Storage Console. Both methods require that you set your computer to 
RAID-enabled mode before starting any of the RAID configuration procedures in this 
document.
Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode
1Enter system setup (see page 128).
2Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Drives, and press .
3Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight SATA Operation, and press .
hard drive 1
segment 1
segment 2
segment 3
hard drive 2
segment 4
segment 5
segment 6
segment 1 duplicated
segment 2 duplicated
segment 3 duplicated
segment 4 duplicated
segment 5 duplicated
segment 6 duplicated
serial ATA RAID 
configured for 
RAID level 1
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