Gateway P-7805U Service Manual
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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
CHAPTER 7: Maintaining Your Notebook 84 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 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 notebook components, almost any liquid can result in expensive repairs that are not covered under a standard warranty. Avoid dusty or dirty work environments. Dust and dirt can clog the internal mechanisms and can lead to permanent damage to the notebook. Do not block the ventilation fan slots. If these slots are blocked, your notebook may overheat resulting in unexpected shutdown or permanent damage to the notebook. When storing your notebook for an extended period of time, unplug AC power and remove the battery after discharging them partway. Cleaning your notebook Keeping your notebook clean and the vents free from dust helps keep your notebook performing at its best. You may want to gather these items and put together a notebook cleaning kit: A soft, lint-free cloth An aerosol can of air that has a narrow, straw-like extension
www.gateway.com 85 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 of dust. With your notebook turned off and unplugged, brush the dust away from the vents with a damp cloth. Be careful not to drip any water into the vents. Do not attempt to clean dust from the inside of your notebook with the exception of the memory bay. Cleaning the keyboard You should clean the keyboard occasionally by using an aerosol can of air with a narrow, straw-like extension to remove dust and lint trapped under the keys. If you spill liquid on the keyboard, turn off your notebook and turn the notebook upside down. Let the liquid drain, then let the keyboard dry before trying to use it again. If the keyboard does not work after it dries, you may need to replace it. A replacement keyboard may not be covered by your warranty. Cleaning the notebook screen Use a soft cloth and water to clean the LCD screen. Squirt a little water on the cloth (never directly on the screen), and wipe the screen with the cloth.Warning When you shut down your notebook, the power turns off, but some electrical current still flows through your notebook. To avoid possible injury from electrical shock, unplug the power cord, modem cable, and network cable from the wall outlets and remove the battery. TipYou may want to occasionally open the memory bay door and remove dust and lint using an aerosol can of air. CautionA notebook LCD screen is made of specially coated glass and can be scratched or damaged by abrasive or ammonia-based glass cleaners.
CHAPTER 7: Maintaining Your Notebook 86 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 patterns. Keep your lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car, for example. Charge often, but do not try to fully discharge the battery frequently. This only adds strain. Several partial discharges (regular use), with frequent recharges, are better for lithium-ion than one total discharge. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion battery does not cause any harm because it has no “memory.” Batteries with fuel gauges (notebooks) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the battery down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge becomes increasingly less accurate and in some cases will cut off the device prematurely. Using the right charger is important. By now you probably know that each kind of battery has its own technology, its own rate of charge, and so on. Charging lithium batteries correctly is one way to extend their life and to avoid damage. Storing batteries Do not charge up the battery, then store it away. A stored battery should be used every three to four weeks. Let the battery fully discharge, then recharge to 40% if you plan to store it again. If you store a battery for longer than three to four weeks, the battery could fully discharge because the battery circuitry itself consumes power. If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one exclusively and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Make sure that it is wrapped protectively and that nothing will be dropped on it. Do not freeze the battery. Do not use old batteries. Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries and storing them for later use. Do not buy old stock, even if it is sold at clearance prices. While it makes sense to have 2 or 3 extra batteries, so that you always have a fresh one charged up and ready to go, if you buy batteries and store them for years, they may not work when you decide to use them.
www.gateway.com 87 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 “unlocked,” which means its clock speed (operating speed) can be increased (overclocked) beyond the default processor speed. Overclocking may result in system instability. To change the clock speed of your processor: 1Restart your notebook. As soon as you see a startup screen, press F2. The BIOS Setup utility opens. 2Select the Advanced menu, then select Extreme CPU Speed. 3Press the space bar to change the speed of the CPU. 4Press F10, then type Y to exit BIOS saving changes. Caution When the battery is in the notebook and the notebook is running on AC power, the battery constantly charges, even though it has a full charge. This reduces the life of the battery. If the battery is fully charged and you want to run on AC power, remove the battery.
CHAPTER 7: Maintaining Your Notebook 88 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 soon as you can. You can use these discs later for recovering your system from significant hardware and software problems. For instructions, see “Creating recovery discs” on page 89. 2Perform minor fixes. If only one or two items of software or hardware have stopped working correctly, the problem may be solved by reinstalling the software or the device drivers. To recover software and drivers that were pre-installed at the factory, see “Recovering pre-installed software and drivers” on page 91. For instructions on reinstalling software and drivers that were not pre-installed, see that product’s documentation or technical support Web site. 3Revert to a previous system condition. If reinstalling 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 “Returning to a previous system condition” on page 92. 4Reset your system to its factory condition. If nothing else has solved the problem and you want to reset your system to factory condition, see “Returning your system to its factory condition” on page 94. Caution To prepare your computer for additional system recovery options, you should create a set of recovery discs as soon as possible. Recovery discs take some time to create, but for long-term reliability, the effort is worth it. For instructions, see “Creating recovery discs” on page 89.
www.gateway.com 89 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.
CHAPTER 7: Maintaining Your Notebook 90 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. Make sure that you have the required number of identical, blank discs ready before continuing. 3Insert a blank disc into the drive indicated in the Burn to list, then click Next. The first disc begins recording, and you can watch its progress on the screen. When the disc finishes recording, the drive ejects it.Important We recommend that you create each type of recovery disc as soon as possible.
www.gateway.com 91 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 software—If you need to recover software that did not come pre-installed on your computer, follow the instructions provided with the software. New device drivers—If you need to recover device drivers that did not come pre-installed on your computer, follow the instructions provided with the device. To recover your pre-installed software and drivers: 1Click (Start), All Programs, Gateway, then click Gateway Recovery Management. Gateway Recovery Management opens. - OR - If you are recovering from your driver and application recovery disc, insert it into the disc drive, then go to Step 3 after the Gateway Application Recovery main menu opens. Important Write a unique, descriptive label on each disc, such as “Windows Recovery Disc 1 of 2.” or “Apps/Drivers Recovery disc.”
CHAPTER 7: Maintaining Your Notebook 92 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 your system settings and saves them as restore points. In most cases of hard-to-resolve software problems, you can return to one of these restore points to get your system running again. Windows automatically creates an additional restore point each day, and also each time you install software or device drivers. Help For more information about using Microsoft System Restore, click Start, then click Help and Support. Type windows system restore in the Search Help box, then press E NTER.