DELL inspiron 4100 User Manual

Using the Dell™ Diagnostics: Dell Inspiron 4100

1.  Press 

 . 

2.  Highlight the Help category and press 

 , or press the key that corresponds to the 

highlighted letter in the category you choose. 

Menu

Provides descriptions of the main menu screen area, the device groups, and the 

different diagnostic menus and commands and instructions on how to use them.

Keys

Explains the functions of all the keystrokes that can be used in the Dell Diagnostics.

Device group

Describes the test group that is presently highlighted in the Device Groups list on 

the main menu screen. It also provides reasoning for using some tests.

Device

Describes the function and purpose of the highlighted device in the Device Groups 

list. For example, the following information appears when you select the Device 

Help category for Diskette in the Device Groups list:

Diskette 

Drive A 

The diskette disk drive device reads and writes data to and from 

diskettes. Diskettes are flexible recording media, sometimes contained 

in hard shells. Diskette recording capacities are small and access 

times are slow relative to hard disk drives, but they provide a 

convenient means of storing and transferring data. 

Test

Provides a thorough explanation of the test procedure of each highlighted test 

group subtest. An example of the Diskette subtest floppy drive Seek Test is as 

follows:

Diskette 

Drive A - floppy drive Seek Test 

This test verifies the drive's ability to position its read/write 

heads. The test operates in two passes: first, seeking from the 

beginning to ending cylinders inclusively, and second, seeking 

alternately from the beginning to ending cylinders with convergence 

towards the middle. 

Versions 

Lists the version numbers of the subtests that are used by the Dell Diagnostics.

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