20 Most Recent Dell Latitude D520 Notebook Questions & Answers

I'm not sure that there is an "Optimum" hard drive for your Latitude. If you are replacing hdds this quickly there is something else that is causing them to fail. Nearly all hdds have a minimum of 3 year warranty and many have a 5 year warranty. If you are having multiple failures less than 5 months out on every hdd then the issue is likely with the Latitude and not the hdd. Your power supply/brick may be the issue. The fact that this brand and model of laptop were reviewed by laptop review back in 2006 tells me that this laptop is well past its life expectancy. IMHO it is time to upgrade and stop wasting your time on old (10 years +) equipment.

Each manufacturer uses a backdoor password for this exact reason. for Dell - it is Dell. It may work, but if not try to remove the CMOS battery for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Turn the computer upside-down and to help prevent damage to the system board, remove the main battery before working inside the computer.

Remove the main battery: Slide the battery-bay latch release on the bottom of the computer and then remove the battery from the battery bay.

Remove the CMOS battery- loosen the captive screw on the RAM cover, and then remove the cover. Use a plastic scribe to slide into the guide on the side of the coin-cell battery compartment, and lift the battery out. When you replace the battery, insert it at a 30-degree angle under the clip with the positive (identified by a plus [+] symbol) side up, and then push it into place.

You BIOS password should now be reset.

It could be a bad adapter, a short that drags everything down when plugged in.. could be a short inside the computer doing the same thing. Borrow an adapter to see if you get the same result, if a friend or shop will help you with that. A digital VOM could tell you if the right voltage is being put out by the adapter. Read on it, if it's supposed to be DC voltage and you get AC, the adapter is bad.

You could go to www.belarc.com and download Belarc Advisor. Run this program and you are able to obtain the product key of the softwares that are installed on your computer

Dear Rigo,The green lights close to the Power button on your Dell Latitude D520 relates to the numeric keypad, wireless devices, uppercase letter function, Bluetooth (if available) and scroll lock function, in this order, from left to right.Please check it at the laptop's user guide, pages 3 and 4, that can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_latitude_laptop/latitude-d520_user's%20guide_en-us.pdfHope this help!Regards,Miguel L. Martins

You might try downloading the most recent version of USBdeview from Nirsoft: View any installed connected USB device on your system At least that should provide some information that may help in troubleshooting the problem.

In the Quick Reference Guide ()ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_latitude_laptop/latitude-d520_setup%20guide_en-us.pdf, at page 12, you can see 2 connectors that can be used to connect your laptop to the TV (4=S-Video TV-out connector and 6=video connector). Depending of your TV (type and model), you can use one or both of theese connectors. For an analog TV you can use only the S-Video TV-out connector, using a proper cable (S-Video to S-Video or S-Video to SCART). For a digital TV (LCD, LED) you can use also the video connector (D-Sub 15 pin), if your TV is equiped with a similar video connector. If not, you must use a converter, but is more expensive. In all cases you must use a second cable for the audio signal (see the audio connectors, at page 11).

Without seeing the computer and TV, there is no easy way to tell. Both units must be able to use the same cable. The first choice of a cable to use would be an HDMI cable because it will give you the best picture. A S-Video cable is also designed to be used to connect a computer to a TV. A 9-pin video cable could also be used. The best advice I can give you is to take a picture of both the computer output jacks and the TV input jacks to an appliance store and ask the clerk to help you.

Please find drivers for your device here: Drivers Downloads Dell US

You should find all the drivers for your device here: Drivers Downloads Dell US

The dell D520 doesn't have any switch to power off the wireless. You will have to use the hot-key method. Just press Fn+F2. If you have curiosity:
In computing, a keyboard shortcut is a finite set of one or more keys that invoke a software or operating system operation when triggered by the user.

I believe it is an added feauture

Try reinstalling the drivers. Go to StartType in the box Device ManagerGo to Device Manager in the ListGo down to and click on: Sound, video and game controllersRight click on your sound deviceClick on: "updated driver software"When box opens up click on: " Search automatically for updated driver software."The computer will search online for the appropriate drivers.

The inverter is probably going out. They're cheap and easy to replace. EBay usually has them for around 10 bucks. Just search for Dell D520 inverter. It sits behind the screen bezel and just plugs in. There's screws around the screen behind the little bumpers. I believe it's 4 across the top and 2 on the bottom corners. Then just pry the bezel off by pulling between the screen and the bezel. Hope this helps!

Last one I had with this it was the connection from the compute base to the monitor. difficult to chk and hard to fix yr self. hv it tested. cheers

When you get access, go into power options, select hibernate top right, and uncheck the box to the left to disable it, this will free up more disc space and get rid of microsoft worst idea.

LOL a Recovery CD should be made when you first purchased the system. Now that you have it all bugged up, I would doubt that a Recovery CD you make now would even work. Most times the ones you make anyway don't work. I think you should turn off the laptop, turn it on and immediately start hitting F8 repeatedly to get into Safe Mode. I've never heard of a situation where the monitor wont load fast enough to launch safe mode.If that's the case it sounds like you need to fix the problem with the laptops lcd screen.What do you mean when you say windows wont operate properly? I think you've got viruses or infections that you need to get rid of.