Chapter9.Preventingproblems
AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid
commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer
runningsmoothly.
•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage195
•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage196
•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage196

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,andT rashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogr am.
6.Atleastonceaweek,makeapointtobackupyourdata.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodidea
toperformadailybackup.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritable
opticaldrivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.
7.UseorscheduleSystemRestoretotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout
SystemRestore,seeChapter5“Recoveryoverview”onpage103.
8.UpdatedevicedriversandUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.
9.Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdriversand
revisions.
10.Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Y oumightwanttoreadthedevice
driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.
11.Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minor
issuesyouhaveexperiencedandhowyouresolvedthem.
12.Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreloadontothemachine,the
followingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:
•Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,etc.
•Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandthatyouhavetheacpowerconnected.
•BootintotheThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.
•Restartthemachineandstarttherecovery.
•Ifyourmachineusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,DONOTremovethediscfromthedriveuntil
promptedtodoso.
13.F orsuspectedharddiskdriveissues,referto“Diagnosingproblems”onpage201andruna
diagnostictestofthedrivepriortocallingtheCustomerSupportCenter .Ifyourcomputerdoes
notstartup,downloadthelestocreat eabootableself-testmediafromthefollowingWebsite:
http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerrorcodes.Ifthetest
returnsanyfailingerrorcodesormessages,calltheCustomerSupportCenterwiththecodesor
messagesandthecomputerinfrontofyou.Atechnicianwillassistyoufurther.
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