Solving Problems
113
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 the 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.
1
Click the
Start
button and click
Control Panel
.
2
Under
Pick a Category
, click
Performance and Maintenance
.
3
Click
System
.
4
In the
System Properties
window, click the
Hardware
tab.
5
Click
Device Manager
.
6
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.
Summary of Contents for Inspiron 8500
Page 1: ...w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m Dell Inspiron 8500 Owner s Manual ...
Page 10: ...10 Contents ...
Page 18: ...18 When Using Your Computer w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...
Page 60: ...60 Using Batteries and Module Bay Devices w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...
Page 68: ...68 Using the Keyboard and Touchpad w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...
Page 88: ...88 Using CDs DVDs and Other Multimedia w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...
Page 122: ...122 Solving Problems w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...
Page 136: ...136 Adding and Replacing Parts w w w d e l l c o m s u p p o r t d e l l c o m ...