Service manual

Troubleshooting Your Computer: Dell Latitude CP
● Input errors
● Device drivers that may conflict with certain application programs
● Memory conflicts resulting from the use of terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs,
such as device drivers
● Interrupt conflicts between devices
You can confirm that a computer problem is caused by software by running the system Set test
group as described in
Running the Dell Diagnostics. If all tests in the test group complete
successfully, the error condition is most likely caused by software.
The following subsections provide some general guidelines for analyzing software problems.
For detailed troubleshooting information on a particular program, see the documentation that
accompanied the software or consult the support service for the software.
Installing and Configuring Software
When you obtain software, check it for viruses with virus-scanning software before installing it
on your computer's hard-disk drive. Viruses, which are pieces of code that can replicate
themselves, can quickly use all available system memory, damage and/or destroy data stored
on the hard-disk drive, and permanently affect the performance of the programs they infect.
Several commercial virus-scanning programs are available for purchase, and most bulletin
board services (BBSs) archive freely distributed virus-scanning programs that you can
download with a modem.
Before installing a program, read its documentation to learn how the program works, what
hardware it requires, and what its defaults are. A program usually includes installation
instructions in its accompanying documentation and a software installation routine on its
program diskettes.
The software installation routine assists you in transferring The appropriate program files to
your computer's hard-disk drive. Installation instructions may provide details about how to
configure your operating system to run the program successfully. Always read the installation
instructions before running a program's installation routine. You may be instructed to modify
the initialization or startup files of your operating system.
When you run the installation routine, be prepared to respond to prompts for information about
how your computer's operating system is configured, what type of computer you have, and
what peripherals are connected to your computer.
Initialization or Startup Files
Whenever you start or reboot your computer, your operating system executes commands it
file:///I|/SERVICE%20MANUALS/DELL%20MANU...0REF%20AND%20TROUBLESHOOTING/TROUBLE.HTM (17 of 45)6/21/2004 1:38:41 AM