Lenovo THINKPAD P71, User Manual

Page: 76 / 146

driver. If you add a component, the operating system must be instructed on how to operate that piece of
hardware. After you install the driver, the operating system can recognize the hardware component and
understand how to use it.
Note: Because drivers are programs, like any other file on your computer, they are susceptible to corruption
and might not perform properly if corruption occurs.
It is not always necessary to download the latest drivers. However, you should download the latest driver for
a component when you notice poor performance from that component or when you added a component.
This action might eliminate the driver as the potential cause of a problem.
Getting the latest drivers from the Web site
You can download and install updated device drivers from the Lenovo Support Web site by doing the
following:
1. Go to http://www.lenovo.com/support.
2. Select the entry for your computer and then follow the instructions on the screen to download and
install necessary software.
Getting the latest drivers using Lenovo Companion
The system update function of Lenovo Companion helps you keep the software on your computer
up-to-date. Update packages are stored on Lenovo servers and can be downloaded from the Lenovo
Support Web site. Update packages can contain applications, device drivers, UEFI BIOS flashes, or software
updates. When Lenovo Companion connects to the Lenovo Support Web site, the program automatically
recognizes the following information and determines what updates are available for your computer:
• Machine type and model of your computer
• Installed operating system
• Language of the operating system
Lenovo Companion then displays a list of update packages and categorizes each update as critical,
recommended, or optional to help you understand the importance. You have complete control of which
updates to download and install. After you select the update packages you want, Lenovo Companion
automatically downloads and installs the updates.
Lenovo Companion is preinstalled on your computer and is ready to run. The only prerequisite is an active
Internet connection. You can start the program manually, or you can use the schedule feature to enable
the program to search for updates automatically at specified intervals. You also can predefine scheduled
updates to search by the critical severity level so the list you choose from contains only those update
types that you need.
For more information about how to use Lenovo Companion, see the help system of the program.
Using the ThinkPad Setup program
The ThinkPad Setup program enables you to select the preferred settings for your computer through
configuring the BIOS.
Configuring ThinkPad Setup
The ThinkPad Setup program menu lists various items about system configuration.
Attention: The default configurations are already optimized for you. Improper change of the configurations
might cause unexpected results.
60
Yoga 370 User Guide