Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 - Chapter 9. Preventing Problems; General Tips for Preventing Problems

Chapter9.Preventingproblems
AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadNotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid
commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer
runningsmoothly.
•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage125
•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage126
•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage127
Generaltipsforpreventingproblems
1.Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdrivegetstoofull,Windows
willslowdownandmightproduceerrors.
Note:InWindows7,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”onpage69.
8.UpdatedevicedriversandUEFIwhenneeded.
9.Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdriversand
revisions.
10.Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice
driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.
11.Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minor
issuesyouhaveexperiencedandhowyouresolvedthem.
12.Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreloadontothemachine,the
followingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:
•Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,etc.
•Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandthatyouhavetheacpowerconnected.
•BootintotheUEFIandloadthedefaultsettings.
•Restartthemachineandstarttherecovery.
•Ifyourmachineusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,DONOTremovethediscfromthedriveuntil
promptedtodoso.
13.Forsuspectedharddiskdriveissues,referto“Diagnosingproblems”onpage131andruna
diagnostictestofthedrivebeforeyoucalltheCustomerSupportCenter.Ifyourcomputerdoes
notstartup,downloadthelestocreateabootableself-testmediafromthefollowingWebsite:
http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest.Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerrorcodes.Ifthetest
returnsanyfailingerrorcodesormessages,calltheCustomerSupportCenterwiththecodesor
messagesandthecomputerinfrontofyou.Atechnicianwillassistyoufurther.
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