Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E145 - Chapter 8. Preventing Problems; General Tips for Preventing Problems

Chapter8.Preventingproblems
AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookcomputerismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcan
avoidcommonproblems.Thechapterprovidesinformationthatcanhelpyoukeepyourcomputerrunning
smoothly.
•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage95
•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage96
•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage97
Generaltipsforpreventingproblems
Thistopicprovidesthefollowingtipstohelpyoupreventcomputingproblems:
•Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdrivegetstoofull,the
Windowsoperatingsystemwillslowdownandmightproduceerrors.
Tochecktheharddiskdrivecapacity,dothefollowing:
–Windows7:ClickStart➙Computer.
–Windows8:OpentheFileExplorerandclickComputer.
•Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.
•Usediskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyourharddiskdrivetoimprovedataseekandreadtimes.
•Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedapplicationprograms.
Note:Youalsomightwanttolookforprogramduplicationoroverlappingversions.
•CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.
•Backupyourdataatleastonceaweek.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodideatoperformadaily
backupoperation.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritableoptical
drivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.
•Schedulesystemrestoreoperationstotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout
systemrestore,seeChapter5“Recoveryoverview”onpage51.
•UpdatedevicedriversandtheUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.
•Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdriversand
revisions.
•Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice
driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.
•Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minorissues
youhaveexperienced,andhowyouresolvedtheminorissues.
•Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreinstalledcontentsontothemachine,
thefollowingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:
–Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,andsoon.
–Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandyourcomputerhastheacpowerconnected.
–AccessThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.
–Restartthecomputerandstarttherecoveryoperation.
–Ifyourcomputerusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,donotremovethediscfromthedriveuntil
promptedtodoso.
©CopyrightLenovo2013
95