Lenovo THINKPAD L420 User Manual

Chapter9.Preventingproblems
AnimportantpartofowningaThinkPadNotebookismaintenance.Withpropercare,youcanavoid
commonproblems.Thefollowingsectionsprovideinformationthatcanhelpyoutokeepyourcomputer
runningsmoothly.
•“Generaltipsforpreventingproblems”onpage151
•“Makingsuredevicedriversarecurrent”onpage152
•“Takingcareofyourcomputer”onpage153
Generaltipsforpreventingproblems
1.Checkthecapacityofyourharddiskdrivefromtimetotime.Iftheharddiskdrivegetstoofull,Windows
willslowdownandmightproduceerrors.
Note:InWindows7andWindowsVista,clickStart➙Computer.InWindowsXP,clickStart➙
MyComputer.
2.Emptyyourrecyclebinonaregularbasis.
3.Usediskdefragmenttoolregularlyonyourharddiskdrivetoimprovedataseekandreadtimes.
4.Tofreeupdiskspace,uninstallunusedapplicationprograms.
Note:Youmightalsowanttolookforapplicationprogramduplicationoroverlappingversions.
5.CleanoutyourInbox,Sent,andTrashfoldersfromyoure-mailclientprogram.
6.Atleastonceaweek,makeapointtobackupyourdata.Ifcriticaldataispresent,itisagoodidea
toperformadailybackup.Lenovohasmanybackupoptionsavailableforyourcomputer.Rewritable
opticaldrivesareavailableformostmachinesandareeasilyinstalled.
7.UseorscheduleSystemRestoretotakeasystemsnapshotperiodically.Formoreinformationabout
SystemRestore,see“Performingbackupandrecoveryoperations”onpage83.
8.UpdatedevicedriversandBIOSwhenneeded.
9.Proleyourmachineathttp://www.lenovo.com/think/supporttokeepuptodatewithcurrentdrivers
andrevisions.
10.Keepuptodatefordevicedriversonothernon-Lenovohardware.Youmightwanttoreadthedevice
driverinformationreleasenotespriortoupdatingforcompatibilityorknownissues.
11.Keepalogbook.Entriesmightincludemajorhardwareorsoftwarechanges,driverupdates,minor
issuesyouhaveexperiencedandhowyouresolvedthem.
12.Ifyoueverneedtorunarecoveryonyourcomputertoreturnthepreloadontothemachine,the
followingtipsmighthelpalongtheway:
•Removeallexternaldevicessuchastheprinter,keyboard,etc.
•Makesurethatyourbatteryischargedandthatyouhavetheacpowerconnected.
•BootintotheBIOSandloadthedefaultsettings.
•Restartthemachineandstarttherecovery.
•Ifyourmachineusesdiscsastherecoverymedia,DONOTremovethediscfromthedriveuntil
promptedtodoso.
13.Forsuspectedharddiskdriveissues,referto“Diagnosingproblems”onpage157andrunadiagnostic
testofthedrivepriortocallingtheCustomerSupportCenter.Ifyourcomputerdoesnotstartup,
downloadthelestocreateabootableself-testmediafromthefollowingWebsite:
http://www.lenovo.com/hddtest
Runthetestandrecordanymessagesorerrorcodes.Ifthetestreturnsanyfailingerrorcodesor
©CopyrightLenovo2012
151

Lenovo THINKPAD L420 Specifications

General

Bus type	DMI
L3 cache	3 MB
Stepping	J1
Tjunction	100 °C
Processor cores	2
Processor model	i5-2520M
System bus rate	5 GT/s
Processor family	Intel® Core™ i5
Processor series	Intel Core i5-2500 Mobile Series
Processor socket	Socket 988
Processor threads	4
Processor codename	Sandy Bridge
Processor frequency	2.5 GHz
Processor cache type	Smart Cache
Processor lithography	32 nm
Processor manufacturer	Intel
Processor front side bus	- MHz
PCI Express slots version	2.0
Processor boost frequency	3.2 GHz
Processor operating modes	64-bit
ECC supported by processor	No
PCI Express configurations	1x16, 2x8, 1x8+2x4
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	35 W
CPU multiplier (bus/core ratio)	25
Maximum number of PCI Express lanes	16
HDD speed	- RPM
HDD interface	SATA
Optical drive type	DVD-RW
Total storage capacity	320 GB
Number of HDDs installed	1
Display diagonal	14 \
Display resolution	1366 x 768 pixels
Native aspect ratio	16:9
Memory slots	2x SO-DIMM
Internal memory	3 GB
Memory clock speed	1333 MHz
Internal memory type	DDR3-SDRAM
Maximum internal memory	8 GB
Memory layout (slots x size)	1 x 1 + 1 x 2 GB
On-board graphics card	Yes
On-board graphics card ID	0x116
Discrete graphics card model	-
On-board graphics card model	Intel® HD Graphics 3000
On-board graphics card family	Intel® HD Graphics
On-board graphics card base frequency	650 MHz
On-board graphics card dynamic frequency (max)	1300 MHz
Type	PC
Power requirements	100-240V
Compliance industry standards	IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3ab
Audio system	HD
Speaker power	1.5 W
Pointing device	ThinkPad UltraNav
Cabling technology	10/100/1000Base-T(X)
Networking features	Gigabit Ethernet
Charging port type	DC-in jack
USB 2.0 ports quantity	3
Firewire (IEEE 1394) ports	0
Cable lock slot type	Kensington
Sustainability certificates	ENERGY STAR
Product color	Black
AC adapter power	65 W
Processor code	SR048
Processor ARK ID	52229
Processor package size	37.5 x 37.5 (rPGA988B); 31 x 24 (BGA1023) mm
Supported instruction sets	AVX
Intel Identity Protection Technology version	1.00

Weight and Dimensions

Depth	232.9 mm
Width	343.9 mm
Weight	2300 g
Height (rear)	36 mm
Height (front)	32 mm