New Laptop..1st things to do?

[AceHBK]

Hey everyone,

I got a new laptop this past friday and what are the first things that I should do with it? I have a desktop which still runs great and I do all my d/l'ing on and software tests on and will continue to do so and it has XP.

My new laptop came with Vista and I know nothing of Vista except the few times I have used it on someone else's pc, I hated it. I feel tempted to change the OS from Vista to XP but I am wondering what will I loose if I do so.

I was going to take that resource hog (Norton) off and replace it with NOD32. Below are specs to my new laptop. I paid less than $1000 for it brand new so I couldn't pass it up. And I really wont do any gaming on it.

http://www.jr.com/toshiba/pe/TOS_X205SLI5/

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Remove Norton or McAfee.
Install Grisoft or another system friendly free AVS.
Install Adaware and/or Spybot spyware protection
Check that firewall is up and running correctly.
Make sure all Micro$oft updates and security packs are installed.

Bout all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Andrew Green]

Windows update -> repeat half dozen times until its doesn't do anymore.

get rid of all crapware that came installed on it

Anti-virus

Anti-spyware - run a full scan

a browser other then IE

Pass out (after dealing with Vista's Access control crap you'll have been drinking pretty heavily)

 

[MBuzzy]

Delete basically all of the software that came installed on it. Especially if it requires you to join AOL or any of the other providers.

 

[terryl965]

What you already did log onto MT and start quality threads.

 

[AceHBK]

lol@ Terry. This place was the first place I thought of when I turned my laptop on.

I will do as everyone suggested, thank you!

When removing all this bloatware, should I just use the uninstall software from the control panel or should I get a program to remove the pre-installed software? I know some people say you should use a program instead of just the basic uninstall through the control panel.

Should I just keep Vista and learn it or drop it for XP?

 

[terryl965]

I know Ace, you know I know nothing about computers so best of luck.

 

[HKphooey]

Windows update -> repeat half dozen times until its doesn't do anymore.

get rid of all crapware that came installed on it

This would include Vista!

 

[fireman00]

as long as your laptop has 2Gig of RAM you'll have no issues with Vista. I've been running it for 8 months an no problems. Remove the bloatware via "add/ remove programs" in Control Panel (you might want to revert to the "classic view") to make things easier. Once you've done that look for any directory(s) that might be used to reinstall the crapware - they're just taking up space.
Install Firefox.
Take off Norton and go with AVG (or the app of your choice).
Run defrag.

 

[Mimir]

You might want to limit the Gadgets that you have running on the side (or turn them off completely) as they take memory and resources from the computer. I second the recomendation of 2 gig minimum memory.

Make sure you keep the anti-virus up to date as well as the windows updates.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Ya know, I got a new laptop a couple months ago that has Vista, and I haven't any problems with it. I like it just fine.

 

[AceHBK]

Ok, THANK YOU TO ALL!!!

I got rid of the excess bloatware and did the MS updates.
For now I am using AVG free anti-virus to "keep me safe" lol
I need to get Ad-aware which I just remembered.

What other programs do you all think are good to have?
I was thinking about a uninstaller and Tune Up utilities.

 

[wushu2004]

i would go to http://www.revouninstaller.com/

and download it...it works very well when you want to clear out every file/folder from a stubborn program

for a firewall...get zonealarm for comodo (http://www.comodo.com/) - and actually you should download all of the freebies they have

 

[jim777]

I would keep Vista, definitely, and I would also have kept Norton Anti Virus. Of all the others mentioned here, Norton is the only one that will cure a virus embedded as an object in another file. (For example, a spreadsheet table infected with a macro virus, like Slacker, embedded in a Powerpoint presentation). Norton is worth the hit for what you get, which is industrial strength protection. McAfee is absolutely the worst.

I would also make a ghost image of your hard drive as soon as its "ready" and keep it hand in case something ever destroys your system.