Gateway P-7805U Service Manual

CHAPTER7
83
Maintaining Your Notebook
Caring for your notebook
Cleaning your notebook
Maintaining the battery
Cleaning CDs or DVDs
Overclocking the processor
Recovering your system 

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Caring for your notebook
To extend the life of your notebook:
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 your notebook away from magnetic fields. 
Magnetic fields can erase data on hard drives.
Never turn off your notebook when the drive indicator 
is on because data on...

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Cotton swabs
A CD or DVD drive cleaning kit
Cleaning the exterior
Always turn off your notebook and other peripherals before 
cleaning any components. Also, remove the battery before 
cleaning any components.
Use a damp, lint-free cloth to clean your notebook and other 
parts of your system. Do not use household abrasive or solvent 
cleaners because they can damage the finish on components.
Your notebook is cooled by air circulated through the vents on 
the case, so keep the vents free...

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Maintaining the battery
The life span of a notebook battery is about 1.5 to 3 years, 
under normal conditions. As the battery begins to die, you will 
have to recharge the battery more frequently because it 
cannot hold a full charge.
Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing 
temperatures. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold 
ones cannot create as much power. Short battery life is more 
likely to be caused by heat than by charge/discharge...

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Consider removing the battery from your notebook when 
running on fixed power. However, remember that when you 
have removed the battery from your notebook while using it 
with an electrical outlet, the automatic battery charger no 
longer keeps the battery charged.
Cleaning CDs or DVDs
Wipe from the center to the edge, not around in a circle, using 
a product made especially for the purpose.
Overclocking the processor
If your notebook comes with an Extreme Edition CPU, the CPU 
is...

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Recovering your system
You can solve most computer problems by following the 
information in “Troubleshooting” on page 107 or in the 
technical support pages at www.gateway.com
. Problem 
solving may also involve reinstalling 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.
To  r e c ove r  yo u r  sys te m :  
1Create recovery discs as...

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Creating recovery discs
If your computer experiences problems that are not 
recoverable by other methods, you may need to reinstall the 
Windows operating system and factory-loaded software and 
drivers. To reinstall using discs, you must create the set of 
recovery discs beforehand.
To create recovery discs:  
1Click (Start), All Programs, Gateway, then click 
Gateway Recovery Management. Gateway Recovery 
Management opens. 

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2To create recovery discs for the hard drive’s entire 
original contents, including Windows Vista and all 
factory-loaded software and drivers, click Create 
factory default disc. 
- OR -
To create recovery discs for only the factory-loaded 
software and drivers, click Create driver and 
application backup disc. 
The Create Backup Disc dialog box opens.
This dialog box tells you the number of blank, recordable 
discs you will need to complete the recovery discs....

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4Remove the disc from the drive and mark it with a 
permanent marker.
5If multiple discs are required, insert a new disc when 
prompted, then click OK. Continue recording discs until 
the process is complete.
Recovering pre-installed software and drivers
As a troubleshooting step, you may need to reinstall the 
software and device drivers that came pre-installed on your 
computer from the factory. You can recover using either your 
hard drive or the backup discs you have created.
New...

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2Click the Restore tab, then click Reinstall 
applications/drivers. The Gateway Application 
Recovery main menu opens.
3Click Contents. A list of software and device drivers 
opens.
4Click the install icon   for the item you want to reinstall, 
then follow the on-screen prompts to complete the 
installation. Repeat this step for each item you want to 
reinstall.
Returning to a previous system condition
Microsoft System Restore periodically takes “snapshots” of...