Contents About This Guide .................................................................................. iii Checking Out Your Documentation..................................................... iii Conventions Used in This Guide........................................................... iv Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook Computer .............. 5 Checking Out Your Solo 2500................................................................ 6 Keyboard and LCD panel ................................................................ 6 System Status Indicators (LCDs) .................................................... 8 Back ports panel ............................................................................. 10 Right side ports and bays ............................................................... 11 Left side ports and battery bay....................................................... 12 Bottom release latches and memory bay....................................... 13 Chapter 2: Getting Started .................................................... 15 Getting Your System Running.............................................................. 16 Installing the battery pack .............................................................. 16 Connecting the AC power.............................................................. 18 Starting up your notebook.............................................................. 19 Chapter 3: Using Your Notebook .......................................... 23 Using Your Solo 2500........................................................................... 24 Using the keyboard......................................................................... 24 Using key combinations................................................................. 25 Using the LCD................................................................................ 29 Using the pointing device............................................................... 31 Using the audio............................................................................... 39 Using diskette media (3.5" or LS120 diskettes)............................ 41 Using disc media (CD-ROM)........................................................ 42 Removing and replacing the hard disk drive ................................ 44 Using PC Cards .............................................................................. 46 Using the IR port ............................................................................ 48 Using the USB ports....................................................................... 51 Using McAfee VirusScan.............................................................. 52 i Chapter 4: Managing Power Usage ......................................55 Maximizing Power Management......................................................... 56 Charging the battery pack.............................................................. 56 Using the battery ............................................................................ 58 Monitoring the battery status......................................................... 59 Setting the power button................................................................ 60 Using the suspend and standby modes.......................................... 61 Maximizing the battery life ........................................................... 63 Appendix A: Accessories .......................................................65 Solo Notebook Accessories ................................................................. 66 Appendix B: Using the BIOS Setup Program .......................69 About the BIOS Setup Utility............................................................... 70 Using the BIOS Setup Utility........................................................ 70 Appendix C: Contacting Gateway .........................................73 Contacting Gateway.............................................................................. 74 Calling Gateway ............................................................................ 74 Calling Gateway when outside the U.S. and Canada............................................................................. 75 Index .......................................................................................77 ii Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook About This Guide This document provides an overview of your Solo 2500 and information about using it. Chapter 1: "Checking Out Your Notebook Computer" helps you get familiar with the ports and components on your notebook. Chapter 2: "Getting Started" provides information about setting up your notebook. Chapter 3: "Using Your Notebook" covers using the system ports and connecting peripherals to your computer. It also discusses some common uses for your computer. Chapter 4: "Managing Power Usage" provides information about maximizing battery power and using Standby, Suspend, and other system modes. Checking Out Your Documentation In addition to this User Guide, we've also provided other documentation to help you maximize using your system. Please refer to the following printed and online documentation for additional resources: o Printed manuals · The "Maintaining and Troubleshooting Your Solo 2500 Notebook" contains information about managing system resources, preserving your system performance, reinstalling your operating system and drivers, and general troubleshooting tips. Windows 95, 98, or NT manual (dependent upon the operating system you ordered) provides information about using the operating system, learning about advanced features, networking, getting help, and more. · o Online documentation - Lets you access the electronic manuals from your hard drive when you are traveling or when the manuals are not accessible. To access the online documentation click Start, Online Documentation and select the manual you want to review. iii o Gateway Website (http://www.gateway.com) - If you have a modem, an analog phone line, and a subscription to an Internet service provider you can tap into some of the latest help and other information on our website. We provide tech support help, technical documents, tech tips, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), glossary, software library with BIOS updates, and other resources that can help you make the most of using your notebook. Conventions Used in This Guide This book uses the following conventions to help identify information: Convention example ENTER Description Key names, which correspond to keys on the keyboard, are printed in small capitals. Letters in small caps. A plus sign between keys indicates that the keys must be pressed simultaneously. Commands to be typed are represented in all lower case characters on an individual line. Options to click or select are printed in bold (actions to be taken by user). Names of publications and cross-referenced headings are printed in quotations. Sidebars give critical information such as warnings and important notes. CTRL+ALT+DEL c:\setup Click OK "User's Guide" Note: This is an example of an important note that may appear in the manual. iv Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook Computer Checking Out Your Solo 2500................................ 6 Checking Out Your Solo 2500 Take a tour of your notebook to familiarize yourself with its options. Keyboard and LCD panel A B K C H J I H G F E D G 6 Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook Component A. Color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) shown w/ 13.3" LCD Icon Description Provides sharp, crisp resolution with backlit anti-glare screen. Indicates the system status modes. B. System status indicators (LCM - Liquid Crystal Module) C. Keyboard Provides full functionality of a desktop computer keyboard. Many of these keys have been assigned alternate functions, including shortcut keys for Windows 95, Status Display menus, and numeric keypad. The CD-ROM reads data CDs or audio CDs. D. CD-ROM drive E. CD-ROM emergency eject hole F. CD-ROM eject button G. Enhanced EZ PadTM TouchPad or EZ PointTM H. Speakers I. Power LED Provides manual eject capability to remove a CD if power is unavailable. Insert a straightened paper clip to eject the CD tray. Ejects the CD-ROM tray from the drive. This button is functional only when power is on. Controls the cursor movement on the screen. Provides high quality sound reproduction for software and audio CDs. Indicates system power status: · Steady green = power is On · Blinking green = system is in suspend mode or standby mode. The LED will flash every four seconds. · LED off = power is Off Provides built-in omni-directional audio recording capability. Press to turn power ON or OFF. Can also be configured to Suspend/Resume mode. J. Microphone K. Power button Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook Computer 7 System Status Indicators (LCDs) Indicator A. Battery gauge Icon Description Appears when a battery is installed. Shows battery activity and status. · Battery contains 5 ticks (marks) to indicate charge level where 1 tick = lowest charge and 5 ticks = highest charge. · Battery low - Icon appears with no ticks and blinks. · Battery malfunction - Icon appears with all ticks blinking. Displays when battery is charging on AC power. Turns off when battery is fully charged. Displays when system is powered by the AC adapter. Displays when the computer accesses the hard drive. Displays when the computer accesses the floppy disk drive or LS120 drive. B. Charge C. AC adapter (power) D. Hard drive E. Floppy disk drive F. CD-ROM Displays when the computer accesses the CD-ROM drive. 8 Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook Indicator G. Scroll lock Icon Description Visible when Scroll Lock is enabled. H. Pad lock Visible when Pad Lock is enabled. I. Caps lock Visible when Caps Lock is enabled. J. System docked Visible when the system is docked. Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook Computer 9 Back ports panel A B C D E F Port A. Fast IR (Infrared) port Icon Description Sends infrared signals between the notebook and a remote device that uses infrared (for example, another computer, printer, or other peripheral). Place infrared devices up to 3 feet (1 meter) apart. Connect parallel device such as a printer to this port. B. Parallel port (LPT1) C. Docking port Connect an optional docking station to this port. Connect the VGA monitor cable to this port. D. VGA port E. Serial port Connect an optional serial device to this port. F. Fan intake Pulls air into chassis to keep system components cool. 10 Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook Right side ports and bays A B C D EF Component A. FDD (Floppy Diskette Drive)/ LS120 drive B. FDD/LS120 eject button (Not shown) LS120 emergency eject hole C. PC Card eject buttons D. PC Card slots Icon Description Either a FDD or an LS120 drive is installed here. (FDD shown) Ejects the FDD or LS120 diskette from the drive. The LS120 button is functional only when power is on. Provides manual eject capability to remove a diskette if power is unavailable. See "Using emergency eject for diskette and disc media" on Page 43. Push once to release the eject button and push a second time to eject the PC Card. Accepts two Type I or Type II PC Cards or one Type III PC Card. (Install Type III PC Card in the bottom slot.) Connect the keyboard, mouse, numeric keypad, or other external device to this port. Connect the AC power adapter to this port. E. PS/2 port F. Power connector Chapter 1: Checking Out Your Notebook Computer 11 Left side ports and battery bay A B C D E FGH I Component A. Kensington lock slot B. Air outlet port C. Composite video out (TV out) D. USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports E. Battery bay F. Mic in Icon Description Attach Kensington lock into this slot. Outlet for air intake to cool components. Connect a TV, VCR, or video camera to this port. Plug optional USB serial devices into these ports. Insert battery into the battery bay to power your system with a battery. Connect an external microphone to this port to record audio. (1/8-inch/3.5-mm jack.) Connect an external audio input source (computer, stereo, VCR, etc.) to this port to record or play audio through the notebook speakers. (1/8-inch/3.5-mm jack.) Connect external speakers or headphones to this port. Supports small unamplified speakers. (1/8-inch/3.5-mm jack.) Adjust built-in speaker volume, external speaker, and headphone volume. Other port volume levels are controlled by multimedia software. G. Audio Line In H. Speaker out/ Headphone jack I. Volume wheel 12 Using Your Gateway Solo 2500 Multimedia Notebook Bottom release latches and memory bay A B C D Component A. Memory bay B. Battery release latch C. Battery pack bay Icon Description Open the memory bay cover to install/ remove SO-DIMM memory mod ...