Dell Inspiron 1570 User's Guide

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Using Your Computer Ports and Connectors Network Software and Applications Restoring Your Operating System Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

BIOS

Getting Help and Contacting Dell

References

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

© 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. Trademarks used in this text:

Dell™, the DELL logo, and Inspiron™ are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Intel Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries; Microsoft Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries; Bluetooth

under license; Blu-ray Disc™ is a trademark owned by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and licensed for use on discs and players; Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

, Windows®, and Windows start button logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of

, Centrino®, Core™, and Atom™ are either trademarks or registered trademarks of

is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and is used by Dell

2011 - 06 Rev. A00

About Your Computer

AC Adapter Storage

Battery About Storage

Laptop Battery Internal Storage Coin-Cell Battery Removable Storage

Touchpad Memory Modules

About Touchpad System Board Touchpad Gestures Processor

Display Computer Fan

About Display Heat Sink 3D Display Thermal Grease Wireless Display Video Cards Touchscreen Display TV Tuners

Keyboard Speakers

About Keyboard Webcam Backlit Keyboard ExpressCards Keyboard Connection Types Communication Devices

Related Information

Setting Up Your Computer Using Your Computer Software and Applications Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Setting Up Your Computer

Setting Up Your Laptop Audio Setting Up Your Desktop Setting Up 5.1 Audio

Display Setting Up 7.1 Audio

Setting Up Your Display Setting Up Printer Setting Up 3D Display Setting Up Webcam Setting Up Wireless Display Installing Your USB Wireless Adapter Digital Visual Interface Connector Cables

Related Information

About Your Computer Network Software and Applications Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Using Your Computer

Battery Touchpad

Charging Laptop Battery Using Your Touchpad Improving Battery Performance Touchpad Gestures

Keyboard Touchscreen

Keyboard Shortcuts Using Touchscreen Display Customizing Your Keyboard Using Touchscreen Gestures Changing Keyboard Input Language Using Numeric Keypad on a Laptop Computer

Related Information

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Ports and Connectors

Audio Connectors USB Digital Visual Interface (DVI) DisplayPort/Mini-DisplayPort HDMI eSATA Connector S/PDIF IEEE 1394

Related Information

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Network

About Network Setting Up Your Network Setting Up LAN Setting Up WLAN Setting Up a Wired Internet Connection Setting Up a Wireless Internet Connection

Related Information

Setting Up Your Computer Ports and Connectors Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Software and Applications

Dell Stage Computrace

About Dell Stage About Computrace Customizing Dell Stage Enabling Computrace

Dell Dock Getting Help on Computrace

About Dell Dock My Dell Downloads Personalize Dell Dock Dell Support Center

DellConnect Solution Station

About DellConnect Dell QuickSet Using DellConnect NVIDIA 3DTV Play

Restoring Your Operating System

Restoring Your Operating System System Recovery Media

System Restore About System Recovery Media

About System Restore Restoring Your Computer Using System Recovery Media Starting System Restore Dell Factory Image Restore Undoing System Restore About Dell Factory Image Restore

Dell DataSafe Local Backup Starting Dell Factory Image Restore

About Dell DataSafe Local Backup Operating System Disc Dell DataSafe Local Backup Basic About Operating System Disc Dell DataSafe Local Backup Professional Reinstalling the Operating System Using the Operating System Disc

Related Information

Software and Applications Diagnostics BIOS Troubleshooting Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

Diagnostics Troubleshooting

BIOS

System Setup (BIOS) Entering System Setup (BIOS) System Setup Screens Changing the Boot Sequence for the Current Boot Changing the Boot Sequence for Future Boots Flashing the BIOS

Related Information

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Ports and Connectors Network Software and Applications Restoring Your Operating System Diagnostics Troubleshooting Getting Help and Contacting Dell References

Back to Contents Page

Getting Help and Contacting Dell

If you need information about Dell products or services, or if you experience problems using your computer, you can get help from one of the self-help resources, or you can call Dell to get help from a Dell technician.

Self-Help Options

Access Windows Help and Support by clicking Start → Help and Support. See www.microsoft.com for more information about your Microsoft Windows operating system.

You can learn about Dell product and services at the following websites:

www.dell.com www.dell.com/ap (Asian/Pacific countries only) www.dell.com/jp (Japan only) www.euro.dell.com (Europe only) www.dell.com/la (Latin American and Caribbean countries) www.dell.ca (Canada only)

Dell Support website provides access to troubleshooting wizards, user manuals, technical help blogs, download Dell driver and software updates, and so on. You can access Dell Support through the following websites and e-mail addresses:

Dell Support Websites

support.dell.com support.jp.dell.com (Japan only) support.euro.dell.com (Europe only) supportapj.dell.com (Asia Pacific only)

Dell Support E-mail Addresses

mobile_support@us.dell.com support@us.dell.com la-techsupport@dell.com (Latin America and Caribbean countries only) apsupport@dell.com (Asian/Pacific countries only)

Dell Marketing and Sales E-mail Addresses

apmarketing@dell.com (Asian/Pacific countries only) sales_canada@dell.com (Canada only)

Contacting Dell

Customers in the United States, call 800-WWW-DELL (800-999-3355).

NOTE: If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog.

Dell provides several online and telephone based support and service options. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues:

1. Go to www.dell.com/ContactDell.

2. Select your country or region.

3. Select the appropriate service or support link based on your requirement.

4. Choose the method of contacting Dell that is convenient for you.

Related Information

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Ports and Connectors Network Software and Applications Restoring Your Operating System Diagnostics BIOS Troubleshooting References

Back to Contents Page

References

Before Calling Dell Computer Maintenance Ergonomic Instructions for Desktops Ergonomic Instructions for Laptops Dell and the Environment Regulatory Compliance Migrations Tips Power Management

Related Information

About Your Computer Setting Up Your Computer Ports and Connectors Network Software and Applications Restoring Your Operating System Diagnostics BIOS Troubleshooting Getting Help and Contacting Dell

Back to Contents Page

AC Adapter

AC adapters are used to supply power to portable computers and certain desktop computers. AC adapters convert AC current to DC current for supplying to computers. The Dell AC-adapter kit consists of the AC adapter and the power cable. The AC-adapter power rating (65 W, 90 W, and so on) depends on the computer it is designed for, and the power cable varies based on the country where the AC adapter is shipped.

CAUTION: It is recommended to use only the AC adapter that shipped with your computer or a Dell-approved replacement AC adapter, to avoid damaging your computer.

Back to Contents Page

About Storage Devices

Storage devices allow you to store data for later use. Storage devices can be internal or external. Most of the storage devices store data till you manually delete the data. Examples of storage devices are hard drives, optical drives, USB memory keys, and so on.

Related Information

Internal Storage Devices Removable Storage Devices

Back to Contents Page

Laptop Battery

The following table compares the most commonly used batteries.

3-cell battery 6-cell battery 9-cell battery

Low cost Moderate cost High cost Small in size Large in size Large in size Low capacity Moderate capacity High capacity Low weight Moderate weight Heavy

NOTE: When used under the same conditions, a low capacity battery will wear out faster than a moderate or high capacity battery because it has to be charged more often.

Related Information

Improving the Battery Performance Charging the Battery Dell Knowledge Base Article: 405686

Back to Contents Page

Internal Storage Devices

Storage devices that are installed inside your computer are called internal storage devices. Generally, you cannot remove such devices when the computer is powered on. The data stored on internal storage devices is generally stored till you manually delete it. Internal storage devices include hard drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD).

Hard Drives

An HDD contains magnetically coated platters that rotate on a motor-driven spindle, within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that are present above the platters. The hard disk drive is the data center of your computer.

A typical HDD design consists of a spindle that holds flat circular disks called platters, onto which the data is recorded. The platters are made from a nonmagnetic material, usually aluminum alloy or glass, and are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material, with an outer layer of carbon for protection.

Solid-State Drives

An SSD is a data storage device that uses solid-state (flash) memory to store data. SSDs contain no moving parts as data is stored in electrical circuits. Compared to HDDs, SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical shock, are quieter, and have lower access time and latency. SSDs use the same interface to connect to the computer as HDDs, making them compatible with most existing computers.

Related Information

Removable Storage Back to Contents Page

Back to Contents Page

Coin-Cell Battery

Coin-cell battery resides on the system board and provides power to the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chip while the computer is turned off. The CMOS chip contains the time, date, and other configuration settings and the coin-cell battery helps preserve these settings while the computer is switched off.

The coin-cell battery can last for several years. The factors that affect coin-cell battery life are type of system board, temperature, the time for which the computer is powered off, and so on.

Related Information

System Board Memory

Back to Contents Page

Removable Storage Devices

Removable storage devices that you can remove from your computer without turning the computer off are called removable storage devices. Commonly used removal storage devices include:

Optical discs Memory cards Floppy disks/Zip disks Magnetic tapes

Optical Discs

Some examples of optical discs are:

Blu-ray Disc — Blu-ray Disc (BD) was designed to supersede the DVD format. The standard physical medium is a 12 cm plastic optical disc, the same size as DVDs and CDs. A Blu-ray Discs stores 25 GB (single layer) or 50 GB (dual layer).

DVD — A Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) stores data up to 4.7 GB (single layer) or 8.5 GB (dual layer). CD — A Compact Disc (CD) stores data up to 800 MB.

Memory Cards

Memory cards, also referred to as flash cards, use flash memory to store digital information. They are re-writeable, fast, and retain data even when power supply is cut off. Memory cards are commonly used in devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, media players, gaming consoles, and so on.

Some common types of memory cards are:

Secure Digital (SD)/Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC)

Memory Stick (MS)/Memory Stick Pro (MS Pro)

Extreme Digital (xD)

Multimedia Card (MMC)

Related Information

Internal Storage Back to Contents Page

Back to Contents Page

Memory Module

Memory modules are Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) with Random Access Memory (RAM) chips soldered on them. Memory modules provide RAM needed by your computer. Based on the type of computer they are used in, memory modules are categorized as:

Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM) — Used in desktop computers. Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module (SODIMM) — Smaller in size than DIMMs. Generally used in notebook computers, however, may also be used in some compact desktops and all-in-one computers.

Related Information

Internal Storage Removable Storage

Back to Contents Page

About Touchpad

A touchpad provides the functionality of a mouse to move the cursor, drag or move selected items, and right-click or left-click by tapping the surface. A touchpad has a touch-sensitive surface that senses the motion and position of your finger(s) to a relative position on the computer screen. Touchpads are available on laptop computers and some high-end keyboards.

Related Information

Touchpad Gestures

Back to Contents Page

System Board

A system board is a printed circuit board that forms the central part of computers. All other devices connect to the system board to be able to interact with each other. The system board holds various controllers and connectors that help in exchange of data among various components of the computer.

Some important components of a system board are:

Processor socket(s) — Provides slot(s) to install processor(s). Memory-module connector(s) — Provides slot(s) to install memory module(s). Expansion card slot(s) — Provides slot(s) to install expansion card(s). Chipset — Provides an interface between the processor's front-side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses. Flash memory — Contains the system memory or BIOS program.

Power connectors — Provide power to the system board from the computer power supply. Additionally, a system board may have integrated graphics, sound, and network capabilities. The figure below lists the basic components of a desktop system board.

NOTE: Size, shape, and location of components may vary based on the type of system board and the computer it is designed for.

1 battery socket 2 PCI-Express x1 connector 3 PCI-Express x16 connector 4 eSATA connector 5 processor 6 processor socket 7 memory-module connector 8 power connector

Related Information

Processor Video Cards Memory Modules Coin-Cell Battery

Back to Contents Page

Touchpad Gestures

NOTE: Some of the touchpad gestures may not be supported on your computer. NOTE: You can change the touchpad gestures settings by double-clicking the touchpad icon in the notification area of your computer desktop.

Your computer may support Scroll, Zoom, Rotate, Flick, My Favorites, and Desktop gestures.

Scroll

Allows you to scroll through content. The scroll feature includes: Pan — Allows you to move the focus on the selected object when the entire object is not visible.

Move two fingers in the desired direction to pan scroll the selected object.

Auto Scroll Vertical — Allows you to scroll up or down on the active window.

Move two fingers up or down at a fast pace to activate vertical auto scrolling. Tap on the touchpad to stop auto scrolling.

Auto Scroll Horizontal — Allows you to scroll left or right on the active window.

Move two fingers to your left or right at a fast pace to activate horizontal auto scrolling. Tap on the touchpad to stop auto scrolling.

Circular Scroll — Allows you to scroll up or down, and right or left.

To scroll up or down: Move a finger in the vertical scroll zone (extreme right of the touchpad), in a clockwise circular motion to scroll up or

counterclockwise circular motion to scroll down.

To scroll right or left: Move a finger in the horizontal scroll zone (extreme bottom of the touchpad), in a clockwise circular motion to scroll right or

counterclockwise circular motion to scroll left.

Zoom

Allows you to increase or decrease the magnification of the screen content. The zoom feature includes: One finger zoom — Allows you to zoom in or out.

To zoom in: Move a finger up in the zoom zone (extreme left of the touchpad).

To zoom out: Move a finger down in the zoom zone (extreme left of the touchpad).

Pinch — Allows you to zoom in or zoom out by moving two fingers apart or bringing them closer together on the touchpad.

To zoom in: Move two fingers apart to enlarge the view of the active window.

To zoom out: Move two fingers close together to reduce the view of the active window.

Rotate

Allows you to rotate the active content on the screen. The rotate feature includes: Twist — Allows you to rotate active content in 90° increments using two fingers where one finger is anchored and the other rotates.

Keeping the thumb in place, move the index finger in an arced direction right or left to rotate the selected item 90° clockwise or counterclockwise.

Flick

Allows you to flip content forward or backward based on the direction of the flick.

Move three fingers quickly in the desired direction to flip content in the active window.

My Favorites

Allows you to open your favorite applications. Tap three fingers on the touchpad. The applications that are configured in the touchpad configuration tool launch.

Desktop

Allows you to minimize all open windows so that the desktop is visible. Place your hand on the touchpad in any orientation and briefly hold in place.

Related Information

Touchpad

Back to Contents Page

Processor

Processor is the part of the computer or another electronic device that processes data and instructions to generate a desired output.

Processors are mainly classified based on:

Number of processing cores present on the die

Speed or frequency measured in GigaHertz (GHz) or MegaHertz (MHz)

Onboard memory, also referred to as Cache The performance of a processor is generally measured in number of calculations it can perform in a second. The current generation of processors have

speeds of about 50,000 Million Instructions Per Second (MIPS), or more for high-end models. The current generation of processors are connected to the system board using a Land Grid Array (LGA) or Pin Grid Array (PGA) connector. Some processors may be integrated on the system board, however, these are mostly for handheld devices.

Some of the current processor families are:

Intel Pentium

Intel Celeron

Intel Core series

Intel i series

Intel Xeon

AMD Athlon

AMD Phenom

AMD Sempron Processors are specifically designed for mobile devices, laptop computers, desktop computers, servers, and so on. A processor designed for mobile devices

consumes less power compared to the ones designed for desktop computers or servers.

Related Information

System Board Heat Sink Thermal Grease

Back to Contents Page

Computer Fan

A computer fan cools the internal components of a computer by expelling hot air from the computer. Computer fans are commonly used to cool components that have high power consumption and thus generate a high amount of heat. Keeping the components cool helps in protecting them from overheating, malfunctioning, and damage.

Fans are used to cool:

Computer chassis

Processor

Graphics card

Chipset

Hard drive, and so on.

Related Information

Processor Heat Sink

Back to Contents Page

Display

A display is an output device for visual presentation of computer information. Commonly available types of display are:

Touchscreen

Wireless

Related Information

Wireless Display Touch Screen Display 3D Display Setting Up 3D Display NVIDIA 3DTV Play

Back to Contents Page

Heat Sink

Heat sinks are used to dissipate heat generated by the processor or some high-end graphics cards. Heat sinks generally have a fan mounted above them to increase airflow and are made up of fins or blades instead of a single block of metal. This helps increase the surface area for maximum heat dissipation. A layer of thermal grease is applied between the processor/graphics card and the heat sink for easy exchange of heat.

Related Information

Thermal Grease Processor

Back to Contents Page

+ 122 hidden pages