Dell T5500 Working on Your Computer, Before Working Inside Your Computer, Windows Vista

Working on Your Computer

Dell Precision™ T5500 Service Manual

Before Working Inside Your Computer

Recommended Tools

Turning Off Your Computer

After Working Inside Your Computer

Before Working Inside Your Computer

Use the following safety guidelines to help protect your computer from potential damage and to help to ensure your personal safety. Unless otherwise noted, each procedure included in this document assumes that the following conditions exist:

•You have performed the steps in Working on Your Computer.

•You have read the safety information that shipped with your computer.

•A component can be replaced or—if purchased separately—installed by performing the removal procedure in reverse order.

WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer. For additional safety best practices information, see the Regulatory Compliance Homepage at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance.

CAUTION: Only a certified service technician should perform repairs on your computer. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty.

CAUTION: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface, such as a connector on the back of the computer.

CAUTION: Handle components and cards with care. Do not touch the components or contacts on a card. Hold a card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Hold a component such as a processor by its edges, not by its pins.

CAUTION: When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector or on its pull-tab, not on the cable itself. Some cables have connectors with locking tabs; if you are disconnecting this type of cable, press in on the locking tabs before you disconnect the cable. As you pull connectors apart, keep them evenly aligned to avoid bending any connector pins. Also, before you connect a cable, ensure that both connectors are correctly oriented and aligned.

NOTE: The color of your computer and certain components may appear differently than shown in this document.

To avoid damaging your computer, perform the following steps before you begin working inside the computer.

1.Ensure that your work surface is flat and clean to prevent the computer cover from being scratched.

2.Turn off your computer (see Turning Off Your Computer).

CAUTION: To disconnect a network cable, first unplug the cable from your computer and then unplug the cable from the network device.

3. Disconnect all network cables from the computer.

5.Disconnect your computer and all attached devices from their electrical outlets.

6.Press and hold the power button while the system is unplugged to ground the system board.

7.Remove the computer cover (see Removing and Replacing the Computer Cover).

CAUTION: Before touching anything inside your computer, ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal surface, such as the metal at the back of the computer. While you work, periodically touch an unpainted metal surface to dissipate static electricity, which could harm internal components.

Recommended Tools

The procedures in this document may require the following tools:

•Small flat-blade screwdriver

•Phillips screwdriver

•Small plastic scribe

•Flash BIOS update program CD (see the Dell Support website at support.dell.com)

Turning Off Your Computer

CAUTION: To avoid losing data, save and close all open files and exit all open programs before you turn off your computer.

1.Shut down the operating system:

In Windows Vista:

Click Start , then click the arrow in the lower-right corner of the Start menu as shown below, and then click Shut Down.

In Windows XP:

Click Start→ Turn Off Computer→ Turn Off.