Quick Reference Guide
Table Of Contents
- Contents
- About This Reference
- Checking Out Your Computer
- Setting Up and Getting Started
- Working safely and comfortably
- Preparing power connections
- Connecting to a broadband modem or network
- Connecting a dial-up modem
- Starting your computer
- Turning off your computer
- Restarting (rebooting) your computer
- Using the keyboard
- Using the mouse
- Using optical drives
- Using the memory card reader
- Using the diskette drive
- Adjusting the volume
- Installing a printer, scanner, or other device
- Upgrading Your Computer
- Preventing static electricity discharge
- Opening and closing the case
- Replacing the optical disc drive
- Replacing the diskette drive
- Replacing the memory card reader
- Replacing the hard drive
- Installing memory
- Adding or replacing an expansion card
- Replacing the heat sink and processor
- Replacing the system battery
- Replacing the power supply
- Replacing the system board
- Maintaining Your Computer
- Troubleshooting
- Safety guidelines
- First steps
- Troubleshooting
- Add-in cards
- Audio
- CD or DVD drives
- Diskette drive
- The diskette drive is not recognized
- You cannot save a file to diskette or you see the message “disk is full or write-protected”
- You see an “Access Denied” or “Write protect” error message
- You see a “Disk is full” error message
- You see a “Non-system disk” or “Disk error” error message
- The diskette drive LED is lit continuously
- Display
- DVD drives
- Ethernet
- Expansion cards
- File management
- Floppy drive
- Hard drive
- Internet
- Keyboard
- Media Center
- Memory
- Memory card reader
- Modem (cable or DSL)
- Modem (dial-up)
- Your modem does not dial or does not connect
- You cannot connect to the Internet
- Your 56K modem does not connect at 56K
- Your fax communications program only sends and receives faxes at 14,400 bps when you have a 56K modem
- The modem is not recognized by your computer
- The modem is noisy when it dials and connects
- Monitor
- Mouse
- Networks
- Passwords
- Power
- Printer
- Sound
- Recovering your Windows Vista system
- Recovering pre-installed software and drivers
- Using Microsoft System Restore
- Recovering your system to its factory condition
- Recovering your system using the Windows DVD
- Recovering your Windows XP system
- Telephone support
- Legal Notices
- Index
CHAPTER 6: Troubleshooting
122
Finally, in order to recover your system you may need to
reinstall everything, including the operating system, so your
computer has its original factory settings.
• “Recovering your system from the hard drive” on
page 127 tells how to completely reinstall the original
factory software.
Recovering your system
If you have problems with your computer and you need to
recover your system, you can restore specific drivers and
programs from a set of recovery discs, roll back your system
to a previous condition when drivers and programs were
working correctly, or reinstall everything from the computer’s
hard drive.
• To selectively restore device drivers or programs, see
“Recovering pre-installed software and drivers” on
page 110.
- OR -
• To recover your system to a previous condition when
software and device drivers were working correctly, see
“Using Microsoft System Restore” on page 116.
- OR -
• To reinstall everything, see “Recovering your system
from the hard drive” on page 127.
Recovering specific files and software
You can perform a partial recovery by recovering specific files,
such as device drivers and most pre-installed software. If you
need to recover software that did not come pre-installed on
your system, you need to follow the software’s own
instructions for installation.
You can recover specific files using either the Start menu or
a driver and application recovery disc that you have created.
Important
If your hard drive has failed and you cannot restore the software from
the hard drive, contact Gateway Customer Care for help. For a fee, Customer
Care may be able to provide a set of recovery discs to restore your computer.
For more help, you can find the Gateway Customer Care contact information
on the label located on the front or side of your computer.
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