Operation Manual

Chapter7.Preventingproblems

AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadnotebookcomputerismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcan

avoidcommonproblems.Thechapterprovidesinformationthatcanhelpyoukeepyourcomputerrunning

smoothly.

•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage77

•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage78

•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage79

Generaltipsforpreventingproblems

•Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdriveorhybriddrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdriveorhybrid

drivegetstoofull,theWindowsoperatingsystemwillslowdownandmightproduceerrors.

Tochecktheharddiskdriveorhybriddrivecapacity,dothefollowing:

–Windows7:OpentheStartmenuandclickComputer.

–Windows8.1:OpentheFileExplorerandclickComputer.

–Windows10:OpentheFileExplorerandclickThisPC.

•Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.

•Usediskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyourharddiskdriveorhybriddrivetoimprovedataseekand

readtimes.

•Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedapplicationprograms.

Note:Youalsomightwanttolookforprogramduplicationoroverlappingversions.

•CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.

•Backupyourdataatleastonceaweek.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodideatoperformadaily

backupoperation.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritableoptical

drivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.

•Schedulesystemrestoreoperationstotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout

systemrestore,seeChapter9“Recoveryoverview”onpage103.

•UpdatedevicedriversandtheUEFIBIOSwhenneeded.

•Proﬁleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdriversand

revisions.

•Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice

driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.

•Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minorissues

youhaveexperienced,andhowyouresolvedtheminorissues.

•Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreinstalledcontentsontothemachine,

thefollowingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:

–Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,andsoon.

–Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandyourcomputerhastheacpowerconnected.

–AccessThinkPadSetupandloadthedefaultsettings.

–Restartthecomputerandstarttherecoveryoperation.

–Ifyourcomputerusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,donotremovethediscfromthedriveuntil

promptedtodoso.