Green Volume Bars

Question

My laptop: Inspiron 640m   When I upgraded from XP to Vista 32-bit myself (no Dell tech assistance), the green volume bars disappeared when I adjust volume with the AccessDirect keys at the front of the keyboard.  Same goes for other indicators like:   Brightness (FN + up or down) - used to see this sun icon next to a yellow bar indicating brightness   Wi-fi (FN +F2) - used to see a cloud with 'Wi-fi' written on it, and can tell if it's on or off by if there is a red bar across the sign.   All these indicators no longer show up, now that I upgraded!  It's really inconvenient, so please help!   (I have already searched the forums, and although numerous people seemed to have the same problem, I could not find the solution.  Too many dead links!)

Jim Coates · Answer

Did you reinstall Dell Quickset?

Look on the taskbar and see if you have the Quickset icon there. It's in the shape of a blue Q with a yellow tail sticking out of it. Click the icon and uncheck 'disable onscreen volume meter.' (On some versions you must right click it.)

If the icon is missing look under Start/All Programs and see if you have a program called Dell Quickset. Follow the arrow to the word 'Quickset' and click on it and the 'Q' icon should appear on the taskbar.

If you don't have the Quickset program you can download it from your downloads page under 'Applications'.

Quickset's main function is to start the power management wizard; however, clicking the icon lets you enable or disable the Fn keys for volume and screen brightness, and it is necessary for Media Direct to function.

Jim

x.e.n.e.r · Answer

:smileyvery-happy:  I cannot thank you enough!  I did see some mentions of QuickSet, but I didn't know what it was and it apparently didn't work for some people.   (When you first said it was a blue Q icon, I stared at the blue Quicktime icon)   But after looking it up on Dell, I recognized the icon - indeed, it was something that came with my laptop, I've seen it before, and I didn't reinstall it!   So for future confused people, here's the latest Quickset (Nov '07) for Vista 32-bit: http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R156212&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=208535   I almost cried with joy when I saw the volume bar return - except I forgot it was blue, not green (green is on my XP computer).

Jim Coates · Answer

Thanks for the link. Just want to remind folks to check out "Compatibility" at the bottom of that QuickSet page to make sure it is the correct version for your specific computer model. If not, look for "Dell Support Tools" on the left of this page and use the "Drivers and Downloads" link to find your downloads page. QuickSet will be in Applications there.

Jim

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Green Volume Bars

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