Users Manual

Chapter7.Preventingproblems

AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookcomputerismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcan

avoidcommonproblems.Thechapterprovidesinformationthatcanhelpyoukeepyourcomputerrunning

smoothly.

•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage81

•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage82

•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage82

Generaltipsforpreventingproblems

•Ifthesolidstatedrivegetstoofull,theWindowsoperatingsystemwillslowdownandmightproduce

errors.CheckthecapacityofyoursolidstatedrivefromtimetotimebyclickingStart➙Computer.

•Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.

•Usediskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyoursolidstatetoimprovedataseekandreadtimes.

•Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedapplicationprograms.

Note:Youalsomightwanttolookforapplicationprogramduplicationoroverlappingversions.

•CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.

•Backupyourdataatleastonceaweek.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodideatoperformadaily

backupoperation.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritableoptical

drivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.

•Schedulesystemrestoreoperationstotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout

systemrestore,seeChapter5“Recoveryoverview”onpage57.

•UpdatedevicedriversandUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.

•Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdriversand

revisions.

•Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice

driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.

•Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minorissues

youhaveexperienced,andhowyouresolvedtheminorissues.

•Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreloadontothemachine,thefollowing

tipsmighthelpalongtheway:

–Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,andsoon.

–Ensurethatyourbatteryischargedandthatyouhavetheacpowerconnected.

–BootintoThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.

–Restartthecomputerandstarttherecoveryoperation.

–Ifyourcomputerusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,donotremovethediscfromthedriveuntil

promptedtodoso.

•Forsuspectedsolidstatedriveissues,referto“Diagnosingproblems”onpage85

andrunadiagnostictest

ofthedrivebeforeyoucalltheCustomerSupportCenter.Ifyourcomputerdoesnotstartup,download

thelestocreateabootableself-testmediafromthefollowingWebsite:http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.

Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerrorcodes.Ifthetestreturnsanyfailingerrorcodesor

messages,calltheCustomerSupportCenterwiththecodesormessagesandthecomputerinfrontof

you.Atechnicianwillassistyoufurther.