Dell Inspiron 17R 5721 User manual

Me and My Dell

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.

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

®

, Centrino

®

, Core

™

, and Atom

™

are either

trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and

other countries; Microsoft

®

, Windows

®

, and Windows start button logo

are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation

in the United States and/or other countries; Bluetooth

®

is a registered

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

2013 – 01 Rev. A00

Contents  3

Contents

Charms Sidebar ...................................... 15

Signing in to Windows 8 .............................. 16

Closing a Windows 8 app...............................17

Turning off your computer – Windows 8 ................17

Power Adapter ....................................... 21

Battery .............................................. 22

Laptop Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Conserving the Battery Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Coin-Cell Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Improving the Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Touchpad............................................ 24

About Touchpad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Touchpad Gestures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Zoom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Flick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

My Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Display .............................................. 29

3D Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Wireless Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Touchscreen Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4  Contents

Touchscreen Gestures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Zoom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Dwell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Flick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Keyboard ............................................ 33

Backlit Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Keyboard Connection Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Locating the Service Tag and Express—Service Code..... 36

Locating the Label on Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Using Dell’s Online System Profiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Storage .............................................. 36

About Storage Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Internal Storage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Removable Storage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Optical Discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Memory Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Memory Module...................................... 39

System Board ........................................40

Processor ............................................42

Computer Fan........................................43

Heat Sink ............................................43

Thermal Grease ......................................44

Contents  5

Video Cards ..........................................44

TV Tuners ............................................ 45

Speakers.............................................46

Webcam .............................................46

Enabling a Webcam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Dell Webcam Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

ExpressCards.........................................48

Communication Devices ..............................49

Setting Up Your Laptop ............................... 55

Setting Up Your Desktop .............................. 57

Internet.............................................. 59

Setting Up a Wired Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Setting Up a Wireless Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Display .............................................. 61

Setting Up Your Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Setting Up 3D Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Setting Up Wireless Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Digital Visual Interface Connector Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Audio................................................66

Setting Up 5.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Setting Up 7.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Setting Up Your Printer................................ 70

Setting Up Your Webcam...............................71

Installing Your USB Wireless Adapter ....................71

6  Contents

Battery .............................................. 75

Charging Laptop Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Improving the Battery Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Dell Desktop Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Keyboard ............................................ 77

General Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Changing Keyboard Input Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Using Numeric Keypad on a Laptop Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Touchpad............................................ 81

Using Your Touchpad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Touchpad Gestures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Zoom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Flick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

My Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Touchscreen ......................................... 85

Using a Touchscreen Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Audio Connectors ....................................89

Types of audio connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

5.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

7.1 Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Contents  7

USB .................................................90

USB Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

USB Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) ........................... 92

DisplayPort/Mini–DisplayPort .........................92

Advantages of DisplayPort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

HDMI................................................ 93

Advantages of HDMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

eSATA Connector.....................................94

S/PDIF ...............................................94

IEEE 1394 ............................................94

Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Types of IEEE 1394 Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Comparing USB and IEEE 1394. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Network ............................................. 99

Local Area Network (LAN). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) . . . . .101

Setting Up Your Network ............................. 101

Setting Up a Wired Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Setting Up Wireless Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Setting Up Your Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8  Contents

Setting Up a Local Area Network ......................103

Setting Up a Wired Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

To set up WLAN: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Setting Up a Wireless Local Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

To set up WLAN: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Checking Your Wireless Network Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Setting Up a Wired Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Setting Up a Wireless Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Computrace .........................................111

About Computrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Enabling Computrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Getting Help on Computrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

My Dell Downloads .................................. 113

My Dell Support Center .............................. 113

Downloading or Upgrading Dell Support Center . . . . . . . . . .113

PC Checkup Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Solution Station ..................................... 114

Solution Station Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Dell QuickSet ....................................... 116

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

NVIDIA 3DTV Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

3D Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Playing Games in 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

3D Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Contents  9

DellConnect ........................................ 118

DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Using DellConnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

About Restoring Your Operating

System – Windows 8 ................................ 123

Dell Backup and Recovery............................ 123

Dell Backup and Recovery - Windows 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Dell Backup and Recovery Basic – Windows 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Dell Backup and Recovery Professional – Windows 8. . . . . . . . .125

System Recovery Media ..............................126

System Recovery Media – Windows 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Restoring Your Computer Using System

Recovery Media – Windows 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Restoring Your Operating System .................... 127

System Restore...................................... 127

About System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Starting System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Undoing the Last System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Dell DataSafe Local Backup........................... 129

About Dell DataSafe Local Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Dell DataSafe Local Backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Dell DataSafe Local Backup Basic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Dell DataSafe Local Backup Professional. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

System Recovery Media .............................. 131

About System Recovery Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Restoring Your Computer Using System Recovery Media . . . . . .131

10  Contents

Dell Factory Image Restore ........................... 132

About Dell Factory Image Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Starting Dell Factory Image Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Operating System Disc ............................... 133

About Operating System Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Reinstalling the Operating System Using the

Operating System Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Diagnostics ......................................... 137

Pre-Boot System Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Invoking PSA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Enhanced PSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Invoking ePSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Troubleshooting.....................................140

Display Screen is Difficult to Read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Desktop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Laptop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

No Display on the Screen or Screen is Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Desktop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Laptop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Keyboard Not Working, Not Detected, or Working

Intermittently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

External Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Laptop Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

System Setup (BIOS) ................................. 147

Entering System Setup (BIOS)......................... 147

System Setup Screens................................148

Changing the Boot Sequence for the Current Boot .....149

Contents  11

Changing the Default Boot Sequence .................150

Flashing the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Getting Help and Contacting Dell ..................... 155

Self-Help Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

Accessing Windows Help and Support: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Before Calling Dell................................... 159

Computer Maintenance .............................160

Ergonomic Instructions for Desktops..................160

Ergonomic Instructions for Laptops ................... 162

Dell and the Environment ............................164

Regulatory Compliance Policy ....................... 165

Contact Details for Regulatory Compliance Web site . . . . . . . . .165

Additional Compliance Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Migration Tips.......................................166

Migrating to Windows 7 From an Earlier Windows

OperatingSystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Transfer Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Power Management ................................. 167

Configuring the Power Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

12  Contents

New Features in Windows 8

Charms Sidebar  15

Charms Sidebar

Charms are a set of features which are located within the Start screen.

To open the Charms menu, you can swipe in from the right edge of the

screen. If you are using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the

screen, move the mouse pointer down. If you are using a multi-touch

touchpad, place your finger to the right of your touchpad and swipe

left onto the touchpad. Charms include Search, Share, Start, Devices,

andSettings.

Search charm Allows you to search the

web, files, and apps.

Share charm Allows you to share

photos, links, and so on

with your friends and

social networks.

Start charm Takes you to the Start

screen.

Devices charm Allows you to send files

and stream movies to

TVs, printers, and other

devices.

Settings charm Provides access to

notifications, volume

controls, brightness

controls, and other

computer setting

options.

16  Signing in to Windows 8

Signing in to Windows 8

The following options are available when you log on to your computer for

the first time.

1. Using a Microsoft account: If you already have a Microsoft account,

you can use the Microsoft account e-mail ID in the Email address

ﬁeld to log on to your computer. This feature will synchronize your

computer with your Microsoft accounts.

2. Creating a Microsoft account: You can create a Microsoft account,

ifyou do not have it already, to log on to your computer. Tap or click

Sign up for a new email address to create a new Microsoft account.

This feature will provide you access to most of the Microsoft services

(such as Outlook, SkyDrive, and so on).

3. Logging on without a Microsoft account: You can log on to your

computer with out using a Microsoft account. Tap or click Sign in

without a Microsoft account and follow the instructions on the

screen.

To lock your computer:

1. Open Start by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or if you

are using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen),

and then tapping or clicking Start.

2. Tap or click your account picture in the upper-right corner, and then

choose Lock.

To dismiss the lock screen:

1. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen (or press any key if you

are using a keyboard) to dismiss the lock screen.

2. In the sign-in screen, sign in to your computer using the method of

your choice.

NOTE: To use a different sign-in method, tap or click Sign-in options

to see the available options.

Closing a Windows 8 app  17

Closing a Windows 8 app

To close an app:

• If you are using a mouse, click and drag the app from the top of the

screen to the bottom of the screen and release the app.

• If you are using touchscreen, drag the app to the bottom of the screen

and release the app.

Turning off your computer – Windows 8

To turn off your computer:

1. Swipe from the right edge of the screen (or if you are using a mouse,

point to the upper-right corner of the screen), and then click Settings.

2. Tap or click Power and then choose Shut down.

NOTE: You can also choose to put your computer in sleep or

hibernate state.

18  Closing a Windows 8 app

About Your Computer

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Dell Inspiron 17R 5721 User manual

Dell Inspiron 17R 5721 User manual

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