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Gateway FX542X 8513162 - FX540 Hardware Reference Guide (with eRecovery) - Page 6

Appendix A: Legal Notices .. ., Index .. - support

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Contents Optical discs 109 Memory card reader 110 Mouse 110 Keyboard 111 Files 111 Memory 113 Audio 114 Passwords 114 Expansion cards 115 Media Center 115 Checking for device problems 117 Recovering your system 118 Creating recovery discs 119 Recovering pre-installed software and drivers 121 Returning to a previous system condition 122 Returning your system to its factory condition 123 Technical support 126 Before calling Gateway Customer Care 126 Calling Customer Care 126 Appendix A: Legal Notices 127 Index 137 iv

Section	Page
Contents	3
About This Reference	7
About this guide	8
For more information	8
Accessing your online User Guide	8
To access your User Guide:	8
Gateway contact information	9
Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity	9
Checking Out Your Computer	11
Front	12
Back	14
Video card ports	17
Setting Up and Getting Started	19
Working safely and comfortably	20
Reducing eye strain	21
Setting up your computer desk and chair	21
Sitting at your computer	22
Avoiding discomfort and injury from repetitive strain	22
Preparing power connections	22
Protecting from power source problems	22
Connecting to a broadband modem or network	23
To connect to a broadband modem or to an Ethernet network:	23
Connecting a dial-up modem	23
To connect the modem:	23
Starting your computer	24
To start your computer:	24
Waking up your computer	24
Turning off your computer	25
To put your computer to sleep:	25
To turn off your computer:	25
Restarting (rebooting) your computer	26
To restart your computer:	26
Using the keyboard	27
Premium multimedia keyboard features	27
Elite multimedia keyboard features	28
Using the mouse	30
Using optical drives	32
Features	32
Loading an optical disc	32
To insert an optical disc:	32
Identifying optical drive types	33
Playing discs	34
Playing a CD	34
Playing a DVD	34
Playing a Blu-ray Disc	35
Creating discs	35
Recording to optical discs	35
Creating audio and video files	35
Copying optical discs	35
Using the memory card reader	36
Memory card types	36
Using a memory card	36
To insert a memory card:	36
To remove a memory card:	37
Adjusting the volume	37
To adjust the overall volume using hardware controls:	37
To adjust the volume from Windows:	37
Configuring the audio jacks	39
To configure the audio jacks:	39
Installing a printer, scanner, or other device	40
Advanced Hardware Setup	41
Setting up dual video cards	42
To set up the single-monitor SLI connection:	42
Setting up multiple monitors	44
Setting up RAID	45
About RAID	45
RAID 0 for performance	45
How it increases performance	45
How it makes file storage cheaper	46
Drawbacks	46
RAID 1 for security	46
Drawback	47
RAID 5 and 10 for both performance and security	47
Understanding RAID 5	47
Understanding RAID 10	47
Drawback	48
Preparing your computer for RAID	48
To prepare your computer for RAID:	48
Configuring RAID	49
Creating a RAID volume	49
To create a RAID volume:	49
Deleting a RAID volume	49
To delete a RAID volume:	49
Getting help	50
Upgrading Your Computer	51
Preventing static electricity discharge	52
Opening the case	53
Removing the side panel	53
To remove the side panel:	53
Removing the front bezel	55
To remove the front bezel:	55
Closing the case	56
Replacing the front bezel	56
To replace the front bezel:	56
Replacing the side panel	56
To replace the side panel:	56
Adding or replacing memory	57
To install or replace DIMM memory:	57
Adding or replacing an optical disc drive	59
To add or replace an optical disc drive:	59
Replacing the memory card reader	61
To replace the memory card reader:	61
Adding or replacing a hard drive	63
To add or replace a hard drive:	63
Replacing the front fan	65
To replace the front fan:	65
Replacing the rear fan	68
To replace the rear fan:	68
Replacing the power supply	70
To replace the power supply:	70
Replacing the heat sink and processor	71
To replace the heat sink and processor:	71
Replacing the I/O board	73
To replace the front I/O board:	73
Adding or replacing an expansion card	75
To add or replace an expansion card:	75
Replacing the system battery	78
To replace the battery:	78
Replacing the system board	79
To replace the system board:	79
Maintaining Your Computer	87
Setting up a maintenance schedule	88
Caring for your computer	89
Cleaning your computer	90
Cleaning the exterior	90
Cleaning the keyboard	91
To clean the keyboard:	91
Cleaning the monitor	91
To clean the monitor:	91
Cleaning the mouse	91
To clean the mouse:	91
Cleaning optical discs	92
To clean an optical disc:	92
Updating Windows	92
Using BigFix	93
To start BigFix:	93
Managing hard drive space	94
Checking hard drive space	94
To check hard drive space:	94
Deleting unnecessary files	95
To delete unnecessary files:	95
Checking the hard drive for errors	96
To check the hard drive for errors:	96
Defragmenting the hard drive	97
To defragment the hard drive:	98
Backing up files	98
To back up files:	99
Scheduling maintenance tasks	100
To start the Task Scheduler:	100
Moving from your old computer	101
Transferring files and settings automatically	101
To move files and settings from your old computer:	101
Transferring files and settings manually	102
Finding your documents	102
To find files in the documents folder:	102
Finding other files	103
To find files using Find or Search:	103
Troubleshooting	105
Safety guidelines	106
Try these steps first	106
Error messages	107
Internet and networking	108
Internet	108
You cannot connect to the Internet	108
You see an “Unable to locate host” message and are unable to browse the Internet	108
People are sending you e-mails, but you have not received them	109
E-mails you send are returned as undeliverable	109
Modem (cable or DSL)	109
My computer cannot connect to the Internet.	109
Modem (dial-up)	110
Your modem does not dial or does not connect	110
To check the dialing properties:	110
You cannot connect to the Internet	111
Your 56K modem does not connect at 56K	111
The modem is not recognized by your computer	111
To run modem diagnostics:	111
The modem is noisy when it dials and connects	111
To turn down the modem volume:	111
Networking	112
You cannot see the other computers on your network	112
Your wired network is running slower than you expect	112
Power	113
Your computer will not turn on	113
Display	113
The screen resolution is not correct	113
The computer is on, but there is no picture	113
The color is not uniform	114
The text on the display is dim or difficult to read	114
Printing	114
The printer will not turn on	114
The printer is on but will not print	114
To set a default printer:	114
Optical discs	115
The computer does not recognize a disc or the disc drive	115
An audio disc does not produce sound	115
A movie disc will not play	115
Memory card reader	116
Drive letters for the memory card slots do not appear in the Computer window	116
Mouse	116
The mouse does not work	116
The mouse works erratically	116
Keyboard	117
The keyboard does not work	117
Liquid spilled in the keyboard	117
Files	117
You get an “Insufficient disk space” error message	117
A file was accidentally deleted	118
To restore deleted files:	118
You get a “Data error” message	118
The hard drive cannot be accessed, or you see a “General failure reading drive C” error message	118
You get an “Operating system not found” error message	118
You need to restore your computer to a working condition	118
Checking the hard drive for errors	119
To check the hard drive for errors:	119
Memory	119
You see a “Memory error” message	119
You see a “Not enough memory” error message	120
Audio	120
You are not getting sound from the speakers	120
Passwords	120
Your computer does not accept your password	120
Expansion cards	121
The computer does not recognize an expansion card	121
Media Center	121
The Media Center video display looks bad on your TV	121
You want to change monitor settings to get better TV or DVD image quality	122
You need to burn programs that were recorded with your computer to a DVD using Media Center	122
You want to play recorded programs on other computers	122
You get a “Download Error” message when Media Center tries to update the Program Guide	122
Checking for device problems	123
To check for device problems:	123
Recovering your system	124
To recover your system:	124
Creating recovery discs	125
To create recovery discs:	125
Recovering pre-installed software and drivers	127
To recover your pre-installed software and drivers:	127
Returning to a previous system condition	128
To return to a restore point:	128
Returning your system to its factory condition	129
Recovering from within Windows Vista	130
To reinstall Windows Vista and all pre-installed software and drivers:	130
Recovering from the hard drive during startup	131
To reinstall Windows Vista and all pre-installed software and drivers:	131
Recovering from your recovery discs	131
To reinstall Windows Vista and all pre-installed software and drivers:	131
Technical support	132
Before calling Gateway Customer Care	132
Calling Customer Care	132
Legal Notices	133
If your computer has a DVD-compatible drive and an analog TV Out port, the following paragraph applies:	141
A	143
B	143
C	143
D	144
E	145
F	145
G	145
H	146
I	146
J	146
K	146
L	146
M	147
N	148
O	148
P	148
R	148
S	149
T	150
U	150
V	150
W	150
X	151
Z	151

Match case Limit results 1 per page

Contents

Optical discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Memory card reader

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Mouse

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Keyboard

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Files

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Memory

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Passwords

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Expansion cards

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Media Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Checking for device problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Recovering your system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Creating recovery discs

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Recovering pre-installed software and drivers . . . . . . . 121

Returning to a previous system condition . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Returning your system to its factory condition

. . . . . . 123

Technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Before calling Gateway Customer Care

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Calling Customer Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Appendix A: Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

127

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

137