Dell Precision M2300 Dell Precision M2300 User's Guide - Page 69

Reinstalling Software

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Back to Contents Page Reinstalling Software Dell Precision™ M2300 User's Guide Drivers Using the Hardware Troubleshooter Tool Restoring Your Operating System Drivers What Is a Driver? 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 media 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: l Upgrade your operating system. l Reinstall your operating system. l 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 1. Click Start® Control Panel. 2. Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance, and click System. 3. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab, and click Device Manager. Microsoft Windows Vista® 1. Click the Windows Vista start button, , and right-click Computer. 2. 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. Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a "!") on the device icon. If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver (see Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities). Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities NOTICE: The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities media provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.

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Back to Contents Page
Reinstalling Software
Dell Precision™ M2300 User's Guide
Drivers
Using the Hardware Troubleshooter Tool
Restoring Your Operating System
Drivers
What Is a Driver?
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.
Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft Windows operating system. You may need to install drivers if you:
l
Upgrade your operating system.
l
Reinstall your operating system.
l
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
1.
Click
Start
®
Control Panel
.
2.
Under
Pick a Category
, click
Performance and Maintenance
, and click
System
.
3.
In the
System Properties
window, click the
Hardware
tab, and click
Device Manager
.
Microsoft Windows Vista
®
1.
Click the Windows Vista start button,
, and right-click
Computer
.
2.
Click
Properties
®
Device Manager
.
Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a "
!
") on the device icon.
If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver (see
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
).
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
NOTICE:
The
Drivers and Utilities
media may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing
software appropriate for your operating system.
NOTE:
The
User Account Control
window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click
Continue
; otherwise, contact your
administrator to continue.
NOTICE:
The Dell Support website at
support.dell.com
and your
Drivers and Utilities
media provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install
drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.