User's Manual

Chapter9.Preventingproblems

AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid

commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer

runningsmoothly.

•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage203

•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage204

•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage205

Generaltipsforpreventingproblems

1.Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdrivegetstoofull,Windows

willslowdownandmightproduceerrors.

Note:InWindows7andWindowsVista,clickStart➙Computer.InWindowsXP,clickStart➙

MyComputer.

2.Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.

3.Usediskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyourharddiskdrivetoimprovedataseekandreadtimes.

4.Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedapplicationprograms.

Note:Youmightalsowanttolookforapplicationprogramduplicationoroverlappingversions.

5.CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.

6.Atleastonceaweek,makeapointtobackupyourdata.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodidea

toperformadailybackup.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritable

opticaldrivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.

7.UseorscheduleSystemRestoretotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout

SystemRestoreseeChapter5“Recoveryoverview”onpage109.

8.UpdatedevicedriversandUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.

9.Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/think/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdrivers

andrevisions.

10.Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice

driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.

11.Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minor

issuesyouhaveexperiencedandhowyouresolvedthem.

12.Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreloadontothemachine,the

followingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:

•Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,etc.

•Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandthatyouhavetheacpowerconnected.

•BootintotheThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.

•Restartthemachineandstarttherecovery.

•Ifyourmachineusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,DONOTremovethediscfromthedriveuntil

promptedtodoso.

13.Forsuspectedharddiskdriveissues,referto“Diagnosingproblems”onpage209andrunLenovo

ThinkVantageToolboxforadiagnostictestofthedrivepriortocallingtheCustomerSupportCenter.

Ifyourcomputerdoesnotstartup,downloadthelestocreateabootableself-testmediafromthe

followingWebsite:http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerror

codes.Ifthetestreturnsanyfailingerrorcodesormessages,calltheCustomerSupportCenterwiththe

codesormessagesandthecomputerinfrontofyou.Atechnicianwillassistyoufurther.

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