Quick Reference Guide

CHAPTER6: Troubleshooting
98
Recovering your system
You can solve most computer problems by following the
information in “Troubleshooting” on page81 or in the technical
support pages at www.gateway.com. Problem solving may
also involve re-installing some or all of the computer’s
software (also called recovering or restoring your system).
Gateway provides everything you need to recover your system
under most conditions.
• If only one or two items of software or hardware have
stopped working correctly, the problem may be solved
by re-installing the software or the hardware drivers. To
recover software and drivers that were pre-installed at
the factory, see “Recovering pre-installed software and
drivers” on page 99. For instructions on reinstalling
software and drivers that were not pre-installed, see
that product’s documentation or support Web site.
• If re-installing software or drivers does not help, the
problem may be solved by returning your system to a
previous state when everything was working correctly.
For instructions, see “Using Microsoft System Restore” on
page 105.
• If nothing else has solved the problem and you want to
return your system to factory condition, see “Recovering
your system to its factory condition” on page 108.
If you upgrade or exchange your hard drive or if your hard
drive is completely erased or corrupted, your only option for
system recovery may be to reinstall Windows from the
WindowsDVD, then recover your pre-installed software and
device drivers using recovery discs that you created. (Your
computer must have a DVD-compatible drive to use these
options.)
• To re-install Windows using the Windows DVD, see
“Recovering your system using the WindowsDVD” on
page 109.
• To re-install your pre-installed software and device
drivers using recovery discs, see “Recovering
pre-installed software and drivers using recovery discs”
on page 103.
Caution
To prepare your computer for additional system recovery options, you
should create a set of software and driver recovery discs as soon as possible. For
instructions, see “Preparing for software and device driver recovery” on page 99.
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