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
i
Chapter 1: About This Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Accessing your online User Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Gateway contact information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2: Checking Out Your Computer . . . . . 5
Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3: Setting Up and Getting Started . . 11
Working safely and comfortably . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Reducing eye strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Setting up your computer desk and chair . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Sitting at your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Avoiding discomfort and injury from repetitive strain . 14
Positioning the computer case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Preparing power connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Protecting from power source problems . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Checking the voltage selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting to a broadband modem or network . . . . . . . . 17
Connecting a dial-up modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Starting your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Waking up your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Turning off your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Restarting (rebooting) your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Using the keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Premium multimedia keyboard features . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Elite multimedia keyboard features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Standard keyboard features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Using the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Using optical drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Loading an optical disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Contents
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