It’s tempting to jump into using your new computer, whether it’s Microsoft’s Surface Book, a Windows 11 laptop, or a traditional desktop, for work, school, or as a Christmas present. However, adequate preparation is required to set it up correctly in the first place.
Instead, here are five things to address before doing anything else.
First, make sure you have a strong, fast Internet connection. This will make the difference between endless or rapid preparation of your new computer.
Update your antimalware program
The last thing you want is for your new computer to become infected with malware.
Since computers run Windows 10/11, they come with the Windows Security program preinstalled. This built-in tool from Microsoft ensures that most computers are ready to use.
The problem is that after several weeks in the warehouse until its sale, the “virus planet” has evolved a lot. Go to the player settings and update the “definitions”, that is, the instructions that allow the program to identify and remove new viruses, Trojans, worms, etc.
Install available Windows updates
You might think your brand new computer is fully updated, but chances are that’s not the case. Microsoft releases security and other updates for Windows at least once a month, and often more often than that!
For this purpose, the Windows Update tool is preconfigured to automatically download and install updates. It can also install driver updates for you, which are necessary for your hardware to function properly.
Install a file recovery program
This question may surprise you. Why install an accidentally deleted file recovery program if you haven’t used your computer yet, let alone lost anything?
Here’s why: The big pitfall of file recovery programs is that it’s best to install one before you actually need it.
If you wait until the file has been deleted to install the program, you risk overwriting the storage space where the file is located, which will prevent you from recovering it. It’s not a risk worth taking.
There are excellent removal tools that are completely free. Set one up and forget it. If you need it in the future, it will be there.
Sign up for an online backup service
Online backup services are a combination of software tools and subscription services that automatically store the data you want protected on secure servers located outside of your home or business.
An online backup service is the most effective and cost-effective long-term solution to keeping your data safe.
The top-rated services on our list are inexpensive, allow you to backup as much data as you want, and are very easy to download and install.
However, if purchasing a new computer is the last big purchase you want to make for a while, consider using a free backup service or, at the very least, a local backup tool.
Surface Laptop 7th Edition
Microsoft
Uninstall programs you don’t want
You may have already noticed that your computer comes with a lot of software… most of which you won’t need.
In theory, leaving these programs installed is not very dangerous, except that they take up a little space on the hard drive. In reality, many of these preinstalled programs run in the background and hog memory and CPU power that you would rather use for other purposes.
Our advice? Go to Settings or Control Panel, depending on your version of Windows, and uninstall these programs.
A simpler option, if you wish, is to use a specially designed uninstaller available from the Microsoft Store app store.
Support for Windows 10 ends in October 2025
Microsoft has announced that as of October 14 next year, it will end support for the Windows 10 system. There will therefore no longer be any free software updates in Windows Update, no technical support or any security patches.
