Planning to buy a new laptop? It will probably come with Windows 10 preinstalled, but don’t let that crush you. There are a few things you have to do right to get your machine working properly.
When you turn it on, you will be greeted by a setup wizard. Answer the questions from the drop down menu and set up your WiFi connection. Try not to skip this process. Microsoft will then offer you a choice. You can set up the computer using your own customised settings or its express settings. Choose the latter.
Then click on Windows Store and once it opens, click on the icon next to the search bar. Click on Sign in and choose ‘Microsoft account’. You will be given an option to create a new account if you don’t have one.
Sometimes your computer will come preloaded with garbage such as trial anti-virus software, games or the dreaded Ask taskbar. Download a couple of free utilities such as Revo Uninstaller (www.revouninstaller.com/ revo_uninstaller_free_ download.html) or PC Decrapifier (www.pcdecrapifier.com), which do the job of scanning your computer and removing bloatware thoroughly.
Your PC could have been sitting on the store shelf for quite some time during which Microsoft would have released a number of updates. So run Windows Update. Open the Start menu and head to Settings-Update and Security-Check for Updates. This may take a while. After you install the first set, reboot and repeat the process, as there may be updates for updates. Sometimes you may find that your updates are stuck at ‘Waiting to download’. If this happens type ‘troubleshooting’ in the search bar in Start and select it. Click on System and Security and choose Windows Update. This should fix the problem most of the time.
Once the security updates are in position, it is time to check if your Windows Defender has been uninstalled while installing some trialware. Windows Defender is your built-in, default security and works well to keep virus and malware out. It may throw out some of your programs as well if it does not recognise them. You can build your own security suite by including Malwarebytes and turning on Windows Firewall.
To get to Windows Defender go to Start-Settings-Update and Security and click on ‘Use Windows Defender’. To turn on Windows Firewall, type ‘firewall’ in Search and then select Windows Firewall. I would suggest you either use Microsoft’s own Edge browser or Google’s Chrome. These browsers do a good job of warning you when a site is potentially harmful.
You are now ready to install all the software, and free applications of your choice. I would recommend that you go to https://ninite.com and download the free installer there. You can now choose all the free applications you want. Ninite will say ‘no’ to toolbars or other junk, always install the latest version of an app and even upgrade an app if it is out of date. It also installs the right 32-bit or 64-bit version for a PC. In other words, it can be your best technical friend.
Send in your computer-related problems to askdoss@abpmail.com with bits&bytes as the subject line
