Gateway m505 User Manual

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Maintaining Your
Gateway M505
This chapter provides basic information about maintaining 
your notebook hardware and software. Read this chapter 
to learn how to:
■Care for your notebook
■Protect your notebook from viruses
■Manage hard drive space
■Back up files
■Clean your notebook 
						

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Caring for your notebook
To extend the life of your system:
■Be careful not to bump or drop your notebook, and do not put any objects 
on top of it. The case, although strong, is not made to support extra weight.
■When transporting your notebook, we recommend that you put it in a 
carrying case.
■Keep diskettes and your notebook away from magnetic fields. Magnetic 
fields can erase data on both diskettes and hard drives.
■Never turn off your notebook when the hard drive light is on because data 
on the hard drive could be lost or corrupted.
■Avoid subjecting your notebook to extreme temperature changes. The case 
and LCD panel can become brittle and easy to break in cold temperatures 
and can melt or warp in high temperatures. Damage due to either extreme 
is not covered by your warranty. As a general rule, your notebook is safest 
at temperatures that are comfortable for you.
■Keep all liquids away from your notebook. When spilled onto computer 
components, almost any liquid can result in extremely expensive repairs 
that are not covered under your warranty.
■Avoid dusty or dirty work environments. Dust and dirt can clog the 
internal mechanisms.
■Do not block the ventilation fan.
■When storing your notebook for an extended period of time, unplug AC 
power and remove the battery after discharging it partway. 
						

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Maintenance schedule
Use the following table to set up a regular maintenance schedule.
Maintenance task Monthly When needed See...
Check for viruses X Xpage 204
Manage hard drive space Xpage 207
Clean up hard drives X Xpage 208
Scan hard drive for errors X Xpage 209
Defragment hard drive X Xpage 211
Back up files X Xpage 213
Clean computer case Xpage 215
Clean keyboard Xpage 216
Clean notebook screen Xpage 216
Clean mouse Xpage 216 
						

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Protecting your notebook from 
viruses
A virus is a program that attaches itself to a file on a computer, then spreads 
from one computer to another. Viruses can damage data or cause your notebook 
to malfunction. Some viruses go undetected for a period of time because they 
are activated on a certain date.
Protect your notebook from a virus by:
■Using the Norton® AntiVirus program to check files and programs that are 
on diskettes, attached to e-mail messages, or downloaded from the 
Internet.
■Checking all programs for viruses before installing them.
■Disabling macros on suspicious Microsoft Word and Excel files. These 
programs will warn you if a document that you are opening contains a 
macro that might have a virus.
■Periodically updating the Norton AntiVirus program to protect against the 
latest viruses.
Help and 
SupportFor more information about protecting your notebook 
against viruses in Windows XP, click Start, then click Help 
and Support.
Type the keyword viruses in the Search box 
, then click the arrow. 
						

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To scan for viruses:
1Click Start, All Programs, Norton AntiVirus, then click Norton AntiVirus 2003. 
Norton AntiVirus opens.
2Click Scan for Viruses.
3Click the type of scan you want to make in the Scan for Viruses area, then 
under Actions, click 
Scan.
Scan for
viruses
Scan 
						

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To remove a virus:
1If Norton AntiVirus finds a virus, follow all on-screen instructions to 
remove the virus.
2Turn off your notebook and leave it off for at least 30 seconds.
3Turn on your notebook and rescan for the virus.
To update Norton AntiVirus:
1Make sure that you are connected to the Internet.
2Click Start, All Programs, Norton AntiVirus, then click LiveUpdate - Norton 
AntiVirus
. The LiveUpdate wizard opens.
3Follow the on-screen instructions to update your Norton AntiVirus 
program with the latest virus protection files.
4When the program has finished, click Finish. 
						

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Managing hard drive space
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Managing hard drive space
Windows provides several utilities you can use to manage your hard drive.
Checking hard drive space
To check hard drive space:
1Click Start, then click My Computer. The My Computer window opens.
2Right-click the drive that you want to check for available file space, then 
click 
Properties. Drive space information appears. 
						

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Using Disk Cleanup
Delete unnecessary files, such as temporary Windows files, to free hard drive 
space.
To use the WindowsDisk Cleanup program:
1Click Start, then click My Computer. The My Computer window opens.
2Right-click the hard drive that you want to delete files from, for example 
Local Disk (C:), then click 
Properties. The Properties dialog box opens at the 
General tab.
3Click Disk Cleanup. The Disk Cleanup dialog box opens.
4Make sure that the check box beside each file type you want to delete is 
selected. For more information about file types you can delete, read the 
descriptions in the Disk Cleanup dialog box.
5Click OK, then click Ye s. 
						

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Checking the hard drive for errors
The Error-checking program examines the hard drive for physical flaws and file 
and folder problems. This program corrects file and folder problems and marks 
flawed areas on the hard drive so Windows does not use them.
If you use your notebook several hours every day, you probably want to run 
Error-checking once a week. If you use your notebook less frequently, once a 
month may be adequate. Also use Error-checking if you encounter hard drive 
problems.
To check the hard drive for errors:
1Click Start, then click My Computer. The My Computer window opens.
2Right-click the hard drive that you want to check for errors, for example 
Local Disk (C:), then click 
Properties. The Properties dialog box opens.
Help and 
SupportFor more information about keeping the hard drive space 
free of unnecessary files in Windows XP, click Start, then 
click Help and Support.
Type the keyword disk cleanup in the Search box 
, then click the arrow. 
						

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3Click the Tools tab.
4Click Check Now.
5Click the options you want to use, then click Start. For help, press F1. 
Windows checks the drive for errors. This process may take several minutes. 
After Windows has finished checking the drive for errors, it provides a 
summary of the problems that it found.
6Correct any problems that are found by following the on-screen 
instructions.
7Click OK.
Help and 
SupportFor more information about checking the hard drive for 
errors in Windows XP, click Start, then click Help and 
Support.
Type the keyword checking for disk errors in the Search 
box  , then click the arrow.