User Manual

Chapter7.Troubleshootingcomputerproblems

Thischapterprovidesinformationaboutwhattodoifyouexperienceaproblemwithyourcomputer.

Generaltipsforpreventingproblems

Thistopicprovidesthefollowingtipstohelpyoupreventcomputingproblems:

•Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.

•Useadiskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyourstoragedrivetoimprovedataseekandreadtimes.

•Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedprograms.Youalsomightwanttolookforprogramduplicationor

overlappingversions.

•CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.

•Backupyourdataatleastonceaweek.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodideatobackupthedata

daily.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.

•Schedulesystemrestoreoperationstotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Forinformationaboutsystem

restore,seeChapter8“Recoveryinformation”onpage103

•Gotohttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttodownloadandinstallupdatesforthedevicedriversandUEFI

BIOSwhenneeded.

•Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Beforeupdatingdevicedrivers,read

thedevicedriverinformationreleasenotesforcompatibilityorknownissues.

•Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minorissues

youhaveexperienced,andhowyouresolvedtheminorissues.

•Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreinstalledcontentsontothemachine,

thefollowingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:

1.Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinterandkeyboard.

2.Ensurethatyourbatteryischargedandyourcomputerhastheacpowerconnected.

3.AccessThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.

4.Restartthecomputerandstarttherecoveryoperation.

5.Ifyourcomputerusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,donotremovethediscfromthedriveuntil

promptedtodoso.

Diagnosingproblems

Manycomputerproblemscanbesolvedwithoutoutsideassistance.Ifyouexperienceaproblemwithyour

computer,theﬁrstplacetostartisthetroubleshootinginformationinyourcomputerdocumentation.If

yoususpectasoftwareproblem,seethedocumentation,includingreadmeﬁlesandhelpinformation

systems,thatcomewiththeoperatingsystemorprogram.ThinkPadnotebookcomputerscomewithaset

ofdiagnosticprogramsthatyoucanusetohelpyouidentifyhardwareproblems.

DiagnosingproblemswithLenovoSolutionCenteronWindows7

LenovoSolutionCenterispreinstalledonyourcomputerandalsoisavailablefordownloadat:

http://www.lenovo.com/diags