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—no further installation or configuration is needed.
NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities CD may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your
computer. Ensure that you are installing software appropriate for your operating system.
Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft® Windows® operating system. You may need to install drivers if you:
Upgrade your operating system.
Reinstall your operating system.
Connect or install a new device.
Identifying Drivers
If you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problem and, if necessary, update the driver.
Microsoft Windows XP
Click Start®Control Panel.
Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance.
Click System.
In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.
Click Device Manager.
Microsoft Windows Vista®
Click the Windows Vista Start button,, and right-click Computer.
Click Properties® Device Manager
NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your administrator to continue the desired action.
Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a [!]) on the device icon.
NOTICE: The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities CD 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 the previously installed version.
For Windows XP:
Click Start and right-click My Computer.
Click Properties® Hardware®Device Manager.
Right-click the device for which the new driver was installed and click Properties.
Click Drivers®Roll Back Driver.
ForWindows Vista:
Click the Windows Vista Start button,, and right-click Computer.
Click Properties® Device Manager.
NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your administrator to enter the Device Manager.
Right-click the device for which the new driver was installed and click Properties.
Click Drivers®Roll Back Driver.
If Device Driver Rollback does not resolve the problem, use Using MicrosoftWindows System Restore to return your computer to the operating state that existed before you installed the new driver.
Using the Drivers and Utilities CD
If using Device Driver Rollback or System Restore does not resolve the problem, then reinstall the driver from the Drivers and Utilities CD.
Save and close any open files, and exit any open programs.
Insert the Drivers and UtilitiesCD.
In most cases, the CD starts running automatically. If it does not, start Windows Explorer, click your CD drive directory to display the CD contents, and then double-click the autorcd.exe file. The first time that you run the CD, it might prompt you to install setup files. Click OK, and follow the instructions on the screen to continue.
From the Language drop-down menu in the toolbar, select your preferred language for the driver or
utility (if available). A welcome screen appears.
Click Next.
The CD automatically scans your hardware to detect drivers and utilities used by your computer.
After the CD completes the hardware scan, you can also detect other drivers and utilities. Under
Search Criteria, select the appropriate categories from the System Model, Operating System, and
Topic drop-down menus.
A link or links appear(s) for the specific drivers and utilities used by your computer.
Click the link of a specific driver or utility to display information about the driver or utility that you
want to install.
Click the Install button (if present) to begin installing the driver or utility. At the welcome screen,
follow the screen prompts to complete the installation.
If no Install button is present, automatic installation is not an option. For installation instructions, either see the appropriate instructions in the following subsections, or click Extract, follow the extracting instructions, and then read the readme file.
If instructed to navigate to the driver files, click the CD directory on the driver information window to display the files associated with that driver.
Manually Reinstalling Drivers
After extracting the driver files to your hard drive as described in the previous section:
ForWindows XP:
Click Start and right-click My Computer.
Click Properties® Hardware®Device Manager.
Double-click the type of device for which you are installing the driver (for example, Audio or Video).
Double-click the name of the device for which you are installing the driver.
Click Driver®Update Driver® Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)®Next.
Click Browse and browse to the location to which you previously copied the driver files.
When the name of the appropriate driver appears, click Next.
Click Finish and restart your computer.
ForWindows Vista:
Click the Windows Vista Start button,, and right-click Computer.
Click Properties® Device Manager.
NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your administrator to enter the Device Manager.
Double-click the type of device for which you are installing the driver (for example, Audio or Video).
Double-click the name of the device for which you are installing the driver.
Click Driver®Update Driver® Browse my computer for driver software.
Click Browse and browse to the location to which you previously copied the driver files.
When the name of the appropriate driver appears, click the name of the driver and then click OK ®
Next.
Click Finish and restart your computer.
Using the Hardware Troubleshooter Tool in Microsoft Windows XP
and Windows Vista Operating Systems
If a device is either not detected during the operating system setup or is detected but incorrectly configured, you can use the Hardware Troubleshooter to resolve the incompatibility.
ForWindows XP:
Click Start®Help and Support.
Type hardware troubleshooter in the search field and press <Enter> to start the search.
In the Fix a Problem section, click Hardware Troubleshooter.
In the Hardware Troubleshooter list, select the option that best describes the problem and click Next
to follow the remaining troubleshooting steps.
ForWindows Vista:
Click the Windows Vista Start button ® Help and Support.
Type hardware troubleshooter in the search field and press <Enter> to start the search.
In the search results for hardware troubleshooter, select the option that best describes the problem and
follow the remaining troubleshooting steps.
Restoring Your Operating System
You can restore your operating system in the following ways:
Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista System Restore returns your computer to an earlier operating state without affecting data files. Use System Restore as the first solution for restoring your operating system and preserving data files.
If you received an Operating System CD with your computer, you can use it to restore your operating system. However, using the Operating System CD also deletes all data on the hard drive. Use the CD only if System Restore did not resolve your operating system problem.
Using Microsoft Windows System Restore
The Microsoft Windows operating systems provides a System Restore option which allows you to return your computer to an earlier operating state (without affecting data files); if changes to the hardware, software, or other system settings have left the computer in an undesirable operating state. Any changes that System Restore makes to your computer are completely reversible.
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 to the Windows Classic view.
Starting System Restore
ForWindows XP:
NOTICE: Before you restore the computer to an earlier operating state, save and close any open files and exit any
open programs. Do not alter, open, or delete any files or programs until the system restoration is complete.
Click Start®All Programs® Accessories® System Tools®System Restore.
Click either Restore my computer to an earlier time or Create a restore point.
Click Next. Follow the remaining onscreen prompts.
ForWindows Vista:
Click the Windows Vista Start button ®Help and Support.
In the search box type System Restore and press <Enter>.
NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your administrator to continue the desired action.
Click Next. Follow the remaining onscreen prompts.
In the event System Restore did not resolve the issue, you may undo the last system restore. To undo the last system restore, see Undoing the Last System Restore.
Undoing the Last System Restore
NOTICE: Before you undo the last system restore, save and close all open files and exit any open programs. Do not
alter, open, or delete any files or programs until the system restoration is complete.
ForWindows XP:
Click Start®All Programs® Accessories® System Tools®System Restore.
Click Undo my last restoration®Next.
ForWindows Vista:
Click the Windows Vista Start button ®Help and Support.
In the search box type System Restore and press <Enter>.
Click Undo my last restoration®Next.
Enabling System Restore
NOTE: Windows Vista does not disable System Restore, regardless of available disk space. Therefore, the following steps apply to Windows XP only.
If you reinstall Windows XP with less than 200 MB of free hard-disk space available, System Restore is automatically disabled. To see if System Restore is enabled:
Click Start®ControlPanel®Performance and Maintenance®System®System Restore.
Ensure that Turn off System Restore is unchecked.
Using the Operating System CD
Before You Begin
If you are considering reinstalling the Windows operating system to correct a problem with a newly installed driver, first try using Windows Device Driver Rollback. See Using Windows Device Driver Rollback. If Device Driver Rollback does not resolve the problem, then use System Restore to return your operating system to the operating state it was in before you installed the new device driver. See Using MicrosoftWindows System Restore.
NOTICE: Before performing the installation, back up all data files on your primary hard drive. For conventional
hard drive configurations, the primary hard drive is the first drive detected by the computer.
To reinstall Windows, you need the following items:
Dell™ Operating System CD
Dell Drivers and Utilities CD
NOTE: The Dell Drivers and Utilities CD contains drivers that were installed during assembly of the computer. Use the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD to load any required drivers. Depending on the region from where you ordered your computer, or whether you requested the CDs, the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD and Operating System CD may not ship with your computer.
Reinstalling Windows
The reinstallation process can take 1 to 2 hours to complete. After you reinstall the operating system, you must also reinstall the device drivers, virus protection program, and other software.
NOTICE: The Operating System CD provides options for reinstalling Windows. The options can overwrite files and
possibly affect programs installed on your hard drive. Therefore, do not reinstall Windows unless a Dell technical
support representative instructs you to do so.
Save and close any open files and exit any open programs.
Insert the Operating System CD. Click Exit if the Install Windows message appears.
Restart the computer.
When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately.
NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft® Windows® desktop; then, shut down your computer and try again.
NOTE: The next steps change the boot sequence for one time only. On the next start-up, the computer boots according to the devices specified in the system setup program.
When the boot device list appears, highlight CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive and press <Enter>.
Press any key to select Boot from CD-ROM.
Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.
