Lenovo X130E Chapter9.Preventingproblems

Chapter9.Preventingproblems

AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadNotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid

commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer

runningsmoothly.

•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage121

•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage122

•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage123

1.Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdrivegetstoofull,the

Windowsoperatingsystemwillslowdownandmightproduceerrors.

Note:InWindows7,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.

Note:YoucanattachaUSBCDorDVDdrivetotheUSBconnector.

7.UseorscheduleSystemRestoretotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout

SystemRestore,seeChapter5“Recoveryoverview”onpage63.

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”onpage127toruna

diagnostictestofthedrivebeforeyoucalltheCustomerSupportCenter.Ifyourcomputerdoes

notstartup,downloadthelestocreat eabootableself-testmediafromthefollowingWebsite:

http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerrorcodes.Ifthetest