To change the system configuration information after you add, change, or remove any hardware in your computer
To set or change a user-selectable option such as the user password
To read the current amount of memory or set the type of hard drive installed
Before you use system setup, it is recommended that you write down the system setup screen information for future reference.
NOTICE: Unless you are an expert computer user, do not change the settings for this program. Certain changes can make your computer work incorrectly.
Entering System Setup
Turn on (or restart) your computer.
When the blue DELL™ logo appears, press <F2> immediately.
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.
System Setup Screens
The system setup screen displays current or changeable configuration information for your computer. Information on the screen is divided into three areas: the options list, active options field, and key functions.
Options List — This field appears on the left side of the system setup window. The field is a scrolling list of features that define the configuration of your computer, including installed hardware, power conservation, and security features.
Scroll up and down the list by using the up- and down-arrow keys. As an option is highlighted, the Option Field displays more information about that option and the option's current and available settings.
Press <Enter> to expand or contract each of the main option fields.
Option Field — This field contains information about each option. In this field you can view your current settings and make changes to your settings.
Use the right- and left-arrow keys to highlight an option. Press <Enter> to make that selection active.
Key Functions — This field appears below the Option Field and lists keys and their functions within the active system setup field.
System Setup Options
NOTE: Depending on your computer and installed devices, the items listed in this section may not appear, or may not appear exactly as listed.
System
System Time
Lists system time in hours, minutes, and seconds.
System Date
Identifies the date as formatted: Weekday Month
Drive Configuration
Diskette Drive
Identifies and defines the floppy drive attached to the FLOPPY connector on the system board as Off, USB, Internal, or Read Only.
Primary Master Drive
Identifies the drive attached to the PRI IDE connectors on the system board, and lists the capacity for a hard drive.
Primary Slave Drive
Identifies and defines the slave drive to the primary master drive on PRI IDE. Can be turned Off or set to Auto (to detect the drive) and if present, lists the capacity for the drive.
Secondary Master Drive
Identifies the drive attached to the SEC IDE connectors on the system board, and lists the capacity for a hard drive (lists n/a for optical devices such as CD/DVD
drives).
Secondary Slave Drive
Identifies and defines the slave drive to the secondary master drive on SEC IDE. Can be turned Off or set to Auto(to detect the drive) and if present, lists the capacity for the drives (lists n/a for optical devices such as CD/DVD
drives).
IDE Drive UDMA
Identifies whether or not to enable UDMA (the Ultra Direct Memory Access mass storage interface).
Hard-Disk Drive Sequence
Identifies the device types that are in first and second priority for booting the system.
System BIOS - devices such as hard drives and CD/DVD ROMs as listed in the Boot Sequence section of this System Setup program
USB device - a device such as an external hard drive or USB memory key
By default, System BIOS boot devices is first (in position 1), followed by USB device. To change the order, select an option and press the + or - key to move the selection up or down in priority.
NOTE: If you insert a boot device and restart the computer, this option appears in the System Setup menu. To boot from a USB memory device, select the USB device and move it so it becomes the first device in the list.
Boot Sequence
Lists the drives in the order by which they boot.
Floppy device - Identifies and defines the floppy drive attached to the FLOPPY connector on the system board. If there is no installed drive, it appears as Floppy device (not installed).
Hard-Disk Drive - Identifies the hard drive. The drive is listed by its drive letter (such as Hard Disk Drive C:).
IDE - Identifies and defines the optical drive attached to the IDE connector on the system board. If there is no installed drive, it appears as IDE CD-ROM Device (not installed).
An included device displays with a checkmark next to its listing. To remove the device from the boot sequence, use the spacebar to clear the checkmark. To change the boot order, use + or - to move the listing up or down.
Memory Information
Installed System Memory
Identifies and lists the amount of detected memory.
System Memory Speed
Identifies and lists the speed of the detected memory in megahertz (MHz). For information on supported memory see Memory.
System Channel Mode
Identifies and lists the installed memory as either Dual or Single channel. For information on supported memory see Memory.
AGP Aperture
Identifies and lists the amount of memory dedicated for graphics. The values vary depending on the capacity of installed memory.
CPU Information
Hyperthreading
If your computer's processor supports Hyper-Threading, this section displays the following options:
Disabled - Hyper-Threading is Off.
Enabled - Hyper-Threading is On.
CPU Speed
Lists the options for setting the processor speed as Normal or Compatible.
NOTICE: Changing the CPU Speed is not recommended, this may shorten the life of the processor and void the warranty.
Bus Speed
Lists the speed that the processor runs in megaherz (MHz).
Processor ID
Lists the processor Clock Speed, and L2 Cache Size.
You can set the NIC to On (default), Off, or On w/ PXE. When the On w/ PXE setting is active(available only for the future boot process), the computer prompts the user to press <Ctrl><Alt><b>. Pressing this key combination displays a menu that allows you to select a method for booting from a network server. If a boot routine is not available from the network server, the computer attempts to boot from the next device in the boot sequence list.
Mouse Port
Enables or disables the onboard PS/2-compatible mouse controller.
USB Emulation
Set to On (default) so thatUSB devices will be detected and supported in the operating system.
The No Boot option restricts external access to drive data. Use this option to prohibit users from booting the computer using an external USB device.
USB Controller
Set to On (default) so thatmultiple USB devices can be connected to a system without compromising data speed. When set to Off, all connected ports share a set data speed that is equivalent to one port.
Serial Port #1
Identifies and defines the serial port settings. Auto, the default setting, automatically configures a connector to a particular designation (COM1 or COM3).
Parallel Port Mode
Identifies and defines the parallel port settings. You can set the parallel port to Off,AT, PS/2, EPP, or ECP.
Parallel Port I/O Address
Identifies the address for the parallel port.
Diskette Interface
Identifies and defines the floppy drive interface. You can set the interface to Auto, Read Only, or Off.
Primary Video Controller
This setting specifies which video controller is primary when two video controllers are present on the computer.
Onboard Video Controller
Sets the amount of system memory to be reserved for the onboard video controller.
Power Management
Suspend Mode
The options are S1, a suspend state, where the computer is running in a low-power mode, and S3, a standby state, where the power is reduced or turned off for most components, however, system memory remains active.
AC Power Recovery
Determines what happens when AC power is restored to the computer.
Low Power Mode
When Low Power Mode is selected, remote wakeup events no longer power up from Hibernate or Off.
System Security
Password Status
This option locks the system password field with the setup password. When the field is locked, the option to disable password security by pressing <Ctrl><Enter> when the computer starts is no longer available.
System Password
Displays the current status of the system's password security feature as Enabled or Disabled.
Setup Password
Displays the current status of the system's password security feature and allows a new system password to be assigned and verified.
This feature allows you to change the boot sequence for devices.
Option Settings
Diskette Drive — The computer attempts to boot from the floppy drive. If the floppy disk in the drive is not bootable, if no floppy disk is in the drive, or if there is no floppy drive installed in the computer, the computer generates an error message.
Hard Drive — The computer attempts to boot from the primary hard drive. If no operating system is on the drive, the computer generates an error message.
CD Drive — The computer attempts to boot from the CD drive. If no CD is in the drive, or if the CD has no operating system, the computer generates an error message.
USB Flash Device — Insert the memory device into a USB port and restart the computer. When F12 = Boot Menu appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, press <F12>. The BIOS detects the device and adds the USB flash option to the boot menu.
NOTE: To boot to a USB device, the device must be bootable. To make sure your device is bootable, check the device documentation.
Changing Boot Sequence for the Current Boot
You can use this feature, for example, to restart your computer to a USB device such as a floppy drive, memory key, or CD-RW drive.
NOTE: If you are booting to a USB floppy drive, you must first set the floppy drive to OFF in system setup.
If you are booting to a USB device, connect the USB device to a USB connector.
Turn on (or restart) your computer.
When F2 = Setup, F12 = Boot Menu appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, press
<F12>.
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.
The Boot Device Menu appears, listing all available boot devices. Each device has a number next to it.
At the bottom of the menu, enter the number of the device that is to be used for the current boot only.
For example, if you are booting to a USB memory key, highlight USB Flash Device and press <Enter>.
NOTE: To boot to a USB device, the device must be bootable. To make sure that your device is bootable, check the device documentation.
