Quick Reference Guide

CHAPTER7: Troubleshooting
122
Restoring your computer
Recovering your system
You can solve most computer problems by following the
information in this chapter 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 123. 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, then 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 128.
• 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 page131.
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.)
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 page123.
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