User Guide
Chapter9.Preventingproblems
AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid
commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer
runningsmoothly.
•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage201
•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage202
•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage203
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”onpage107.
8.UpdatedevicedriversandUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.
9.Proleyourmachineathttp://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”onpage207andrunLenovo
ThinkVantageToolboxforadiagnostictestofthedrivepriortocallingtheCustomerSupportCenter.
Ifyourcomputerdoesnotstartup,downloadthelestocreateabootableself-testmediafromthe
followingWebsite:http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerror
codes.Ifthetestreturnsanyfailingerrorcodesormessages,calltheCustomerSupportCenterwiththe
codesormessagesandthecomputerinfrontofyou.Atechnicianwillassistyoufurther.
©CopyrightLenovo2011
201