Dell Inspiron 531 driver and firmware
Related Dell Inspiron 531 Manual Pages
Download the free PDF manual for Dell Inspiron 531 and other Dell manuals at ManualOwl.com
Owner's Manual - Page 6
... the Dell Diagnostics 80 Starting the Dell Diagnostics From Your Hard Drive 80 Starting the Dell Diagnostics From the Drivers and Utilities Media 81 Dell Diagnostics Main Menu 81
Drivers 83 What is a Driver 83 Identifying Drivers 84 Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities 84
Resolving Software and Hardware Incompatibilities 87
Restoring Your Operating System 88 Using Microsoft Windows System...
Owner's Manual - Page 13
... software updates
• Desktop System Software (DSS)- To download Desktop System Software:
If you reinstall the operating system 1 Go to support.dell.com and click Drivers for your computer, you should also and Downloads.
reinstall the DSS utility. DSS provides critical updates for your operating system and support for Dell™ 3.5-inch USB floppy drives, optical drives, and USB devices...
Owner's Manual - Page 22
...came with the printer for setup information, including how to: • Obtain and install updated drivers. • Connect the printer to the computer. • Load paper and install the toner or ink cartridge. For technical assistance, refer to the printer owner's manual or contact the printer manufacturer.
Printer Cable
Your printer connects to your computer with either a USB cable or a parallel...
Owner's Manual - Page 23
... Cancel.
Windows XP
Click Start Control Panel the Add Printer Wizard
Windows Vista®
Printers and Faxes
Add a printer to start
Click Start and click Network Add a printer to start the Add Printer Wizard.
5 Install the printer driver if necessary. See "Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities" on page 84 and the documentation that came with your printer.
Setting Up and Using Your Computer
23
Owner's Manual - Page 27
...-right corner of the window.
How to Copy a CD or DVD
NOTE: CD-RW/DVD combo drives cannot write to DVD media. If you have a CD-RW/DVD combo drive and you experience recording problems, check for available software patches on the Sonic support website at www.sonic.com.
The DVD-writable drives installed in Dell™ computers can write to...
Owner's Manual - Page 29
....
• You cannot create audio DVDs with Sonic DigitalMedia.
• Music MP3 files can be played only on MP3 players or on computers that have MP3 software installed.
• Commercially available DVD players used in home theater systems may not support all available DVD formats. For a list of formats supported by your DVD player, see the documentation provided with...
Owner's Manual - Page 61
...
run the software. See the software documentation for information. • Ensure that the program is installed and configured properly. • Verify that the device drivers do not conflict with the program. • If necessary, uninstall and then reinstall the program.
BACK UP YOUR FILES IMMEDIATELY
USE A VIRUS-SCANNING PROGRAM TO CHECK THE HARD DRIVE, FLOPPY DISKS, OR CDS...
Owner's Manual - Page 65
... Software and Hardware Incompatibilities" on page 87.
Network Problems
CAUTION: Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the Product Information Guide.
C H E C K T H E N E T W O R K C A B L E C O N N E C T O R - Ensure that the network cable is firmly inserted into both the network connector on the back of the computer and the network port or device...
Owner's Manual - Page 80
... that the device that you want to test displays in the system setup program and is active. Start the Dell Diagnostics from your hard drive or from the Drivers and Utilities media.
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From Your Hard Drive
The Dell Diagnostics is located on a hidden diagnostic utility partition on your hard drive.
NOTE: If your computer cannot display a screen image...
Owner's Manual - Page 83
...Drivers
What is a Driver?
A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices require a driver program.
A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver recognizes.
Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed...
Owner's Manual - Page 84
... The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities media provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.
Using Windows Device Driver Rollback
If a problem occurs on your computer after you install or update a driver, use Windows Device Driver Rollback to replace the driver with...
Owner's Manual - Page 85
... return your computer to the operating state that existed before you installed the new driver.
Using the Drivers and Utilities media
If using Device Driver Rollback or System Restore ("Restoring Your Operating System" on page 88) does not resolve the problem, then reinstall the driver from the Drivers and Utilities media.
1 With the Windows desktop displayed, insert the Drivers and Utilities media...
Owner's Manual - Page 86
... hard drive as described in the previous section: Windows XP:
1 Click Start, and then right-click My Computer Properties. 2 Click the Hardware tab, then click Device Manager. 3 Double-click the type of device for which you are installing the driver. 4 Double-click the name of the device for which you are installing the driver. 5 Click the Driver tab, then click Update Driver. 6 Click Install...
Owner's Manual - Page 87
....
3 Double-click the type of device for which you are installing the driver (for example, Audio or Video).
4 Double-click the name of the device for which you are installing the driver.
5 Click the Driver tab Update Driver Browse my computer for driver software.
6 Click Browse and browse to the location to which you previously copied the driver files.
7 When the name of the appropriate...
Owner's Manual - Page 88
... the Windows Help and Support Center, see "Windows Help and Support Center" on page 14.
NOTICE: Make regular backups of your data files. System Restore does not monitor your data files or recover them.
NOTE: The procedures in this document were written for the Windows default view, so they may not apply if you set your Dell™ computer...
Owner's Manual - Page 89
... and Restore Center, under the tasks, click create a restore point or change settings.
For more information, use Help and Support and search for restore.
Restoring the Computer to an Earlier Operating State
If problems occur after you install a device driver, use Device Driver Rollback (see "Using Windows Device Driver Rollback" on page 84) to resolve the problem. If that is unsuccessful...
Owner's Manual - Page 91
... since you received your computer-including data files-are permanently deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos, music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC Restore and Dell Factory Image Restore.
Windows XP: Dell PC Restore
1 Turn on the computer.
During the boot process...
Owner's Manual - Page 94
... system, you must also reinstall the device drivers, virus protection program, and other software.
NOTICE: The Operating System CD provides options for reinstalling Windows Vista. The options will overwrite files and possibly affect programs installed on your hard drive. Therefore, do not reinstall Windows Vista unless a Dell technical support representative instructs you to do so.
NOTE: It...
Owner's Manual - Page 201
... for video cards and controllers. Typical SVGA resolutions are 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768.
The number of colors and resolution that a program displays depends on the capabilities of the monitor, the video controller and its drivers, and the amount of video memory installed in the computer.
S-video TV-out - A connector used to attach a TV or digital audio device to the computer.
Glossary
201
Owner's Manual - Page 203
... array - A video standard for video cards and controllers that supports resolutions up to 1600 x 1200.
V
video controller - The circuitry on a video card or on the system board (in computers with an integrated video controller) that provides the video capabilities-in combination with the monitor-for your computer.
video memory - Memory that consists of memory chips dedicated to video functions...