System Setup Options: Dell Dimension� XPS M166s/M200s/M233s
System Setup Options: Dell Dimension XPS M166s/M200s/M233s
Page 1 | Page 2 | System Data Categories

Time
Time resets the time on the computer's internal clock.
Time is kept in a 24-hour format (hours:minutes:seconds). To
change the time, press the right-arrow key to increase the
number in the highlighted field or the left-arrow key to
decrease the number. Numbers can also be typed in each of the
appropriate fields.
Date
Date resets the date on the computer's internal calendar.
A system automatically displays the day of the week
corresponding to the settings in the 3 fields that follow
(month, day-of-the-month, and year). To change the date,
press the right-arrow key to increase the number in the
highlighted field, or press the left-arrow key to decrease
the number. Numbers can also be typed for the month and
day-of-the-month fields.
Diskette Drive A and Diskette Drive B
Diskette Drive A and Diskette drive B identify the type of
diskette drives installed in the accessible drive bays. The
options are:
- 5.25 inch, 360 KB
- 5.25 inch, 1.2 MB
- 3.5 inch, 720 KB
- 3.5 inch, 1.44 MB
- Not installed
Primary and Secondary Drives 0 and 1
The Drive 0 and Drive 1 subcategories under Primary and
Secondary refer to the EIDE hard-disk,
CD-ROM, and tape drives installed in the computer. The
options are:
EIDE Devices For most EIDE drives, the user should
select Auto.
Using the Auto-Detect Feature To use the
auto-detect feature, highlight the appropriate subcategory
and type a to set the Type parameter to Auto. After
the system is rebooted, system setup automatically displays
the correct drive-type number and parameters for the EIDE
drive.
Assigning the Drive Parameters Manually If the EIDE
hard-disk drive does not support automatic drive-type
detection, use the User option to manually define drive
parameters and assign them to the installed drive. At the
appropriate drive category, type u to select the
User option. For each of the following parameters, press
<Tab> to highlight the field; then type the appropriate
number, using information from the documentation that came
with the drive:
- Cyls is the number of logical cylinders.
- Hds is the number of logical heads in the drive.
- Sec is the number of logical sectors per track.
The Size parameter (which indicates the capacity of the
drive in millions of bytes) is automatically detected and
displayed by the system.
 |
NOTE: The Pre and LZ fields are
not used with this system. |
Base Memory
Base Memory displays the amount of memory available to
MS-DOS� programs that do not use extended or expanded
memory. This category has no user-selectable options. The
default value for the Base Memory category is 640 KB, which
includes 1 KB reserved for system use.
Extended Memory
Displays amount of memory available as extended memory.
Reserved Memory
Reserved Memory allows a range of system memory addresses
that can be used to access memory on an expansion card.
Reserved Memory should not be enabled unless an expansion
card that requires special addressing is going to be used.
CPU Speed
Indicates processor speed at which the system boots and
runsthe processor's rated speed or a slower
compatibility speed.
Num Lock
The Num Lock setting determines whether the system boots
with the Num Lock mode activated on 101- or 102-key
keyboards. (It does not apply to 84-key keyboards.)

Keyboard Errors
Keyboard Errors enables or disables reporting of keyboard
errors during the POST. This category is useful when applied
to self-starting servers or host systems that have no
permanently attached keyboard. The default setting is Report.
Selecting Do Not Report suppresses all POST error messages
relating to the keyboard or the keyboard controller. However,
an attached keyboard will still operate properly.
System Password
System Password displays the status of the system's
password security feature and allows the user to assign and
verify a new system password when this category is set to Not
Enabled. The status options that can be displayed in the
System Password category are:
- Not Enabled (the default)
- Enabled
- Disabled By Jumper
A new system password cannot be assigned unless the
current status is Not Enabled, which is displayed in bright
characters. See Assigning a
System Password.
Password Status
Password Status lets the user prevent the system password
from being changed or disabled during the boot routine.
Options for this category are:
- Unlocked (the default)
- Locked
When the Password Status category is set to Locked, the
system password cannot be changed or disabled at boot time by
pressing <Ctrl><Enter>. To unlock the system
password, the user must enter the setup password and then
change the Password Status category to Unlocked.
Setup Password
Setup Password lets the user restrict access to the
computer's system setup program. Options for this category
are:
- Not Enabled (the default)
- Enabled
- Disabled By Jumper
A new setup password cannot be assigned unless the current
status is Not Enabled, which is displayed in bright
characters. See Assigning a
Setup Password.
Boot Sequence
The Boot Sequence category can be set to Diskette First
(the default option) or Hard Disk Only.
- Selecting Diskette First causes the system to try
booting from drive A first. If it finds a diskette in
the drive that is not bootable or finds a problem
with the drive itself, the system displays an error
message. If it does not find a diskette in the drive,
the system then tries to boot from the hard-disk
drive (drive 0).
- Selecting Hard Disk Only causes the system to boot
from the hard-disk drive only, even if there is a
bootable diskette in drive A. Select the Hard Disk
Only option to prevent an unauthorized person from
accessing the system by booting from a diskette.
Power Management
Power Management enables reduced power-consumption
features for DPMS-compliant monitors and most EIDE hard-disk
drives. Options for this category are:
- Disabled (the default)
- Minimum: 60-minute monitor timeout
- Regular: 20-minute monitor timeout
- Maximum: 10-minute monitor timeout
For all settings except Disabled, the hard-disk drive
timeout is 20 minutes.
Video Power Down
Video Power Down enables reduced power consumption modes
for DPMS-compliant monitors. Options for this category and
the amount of power saved are:
- Standby: 20% power saved (the default)
- Suspend: 90% power saved
- Sleep: 95% power saved
Sound
Sound enables or disables the integrated audio controller.
Serial Port
Serial Port configures the system's built-in serial port.
This category can be set to Auto (the default option) to
automatically configure the port, to a particular designation
(COM1 or COM3), or to OFF to disable the port. If the user
sets the serial port to Auto and then adds an expansion card
containing a port configured to the same designation, the
system automatically remaps the built-in port to the next
available port designation that does not share the same IRQ
setting (that is, COM1 is remapped to COM2). Note that when
two COM ports share an IRQ setting, either port can be used
as necessary, but both cannot be used at the same time. If
the alternate port address (COM2) is also in use, the
built-in port is turned off.
Parallel Port
Parallel Port configures the system's built-in parallel
port. This category can be set to 378h (IRQ7), 278h (IRQ5),
or 3BCh (maps to I/O address 3BCh and uses IRQ7) to
automatically configure the port, or to Off to disable the
port.
 |
NOTE: If the built-in parallel
port is set to 378h and the user adds an expansion
card containing a parallel port configured to the
same address, the parallel port is automatically
remapped to its secondary address (278h). If the
secondary address is in use, the parallel port is
disabled. |
Parallel Mode
Parallel Mode controls the mode used by the system's
built-in parallel port. The options are:
- AT (the default): For a unidirectional device
- PS/2: For a bidirectional device
- ECP: For an ECP device
Set this category according to the type of device
connected to the parallel port. See the documentation that
came with the peripheral device to determine the correct mode
for the parallel port.
 |
NOTE: The system also provides
hardware support for Extended Capabilities Port (ECP)
mode. Options that use ECP mode may come with special
drivers that need to be installed in order to use
this mode. |
Hard Disk
Hard Disk enables or disables the system's built-in EIDE
interface.
- Selecting Auto allows the system to turn off the EIDE
interface, as necessary, to accommodate a controller
card installed in an expansion slot. During the boot
routine, the system checks for a primary hard-disk
drive controller card installed in an expansion slot.
If no card is found, the built-in EIDE interface is
enabled and the controller on the master EIDE drive
is designated as the primary controller, using IRQ14.
If a primary controller is detected on the expansion
bus, the built-in EIDE interface is disabled.
- Selecting Off disables the built-in EIDE interface.
Diskette
Diskette controls the operation of the system's built-in
diskette drive controller.
- With Auto selected, the system turns off the built-in
diskette drive controller, as necessary, to
accommodate a controller card installed in an
expansion slot.
- Selecting Off turns off the built-in diskette drive
controller. This option is used primarily for
troubleshooting purposes.
Speaker
Speaker enables or disables the speaker.
USB
USB enables or disables the built-in Universal Serial Bus
ports.
The following categories, which are not selectable, display
information about the system on both Page 1 and Page 2:
- Microprocessor displays the type of microprocessor
installed in the computer.
- External Cache displays the amount of external cache
memory installed.
- System Memory indicates the entire amount of installed
memory detected in the system, except for memory on EMS
expansion cards. After adding memory, check this category
to confirm that the new memory is installed correctly and
is recognized by the system. This value is given in
kilobytes rather than megabytes.
- Service Tag displays the system's service tag number,
which Dell programmed into NVRAM during the manufacturing
process.
|