New Vista PC arrives tomorrow-The 1st thing you should do is?

[gaston55]

New Gateway DX430X is being delivered tomorrow. What are some of the things I should do before using it?
I know to inspect the inside of tower for components that may have come loose in shipping. And I would like to ?back up? the system before using it or installing additional software. I am not familiar with Vista. So what important steps do I take when the computer arrives?
Thank you for your input.

 

[Dahak]

1)The very first thing to do is create the recovery dvds if they dont ship with them.
2) turn on the trial anti virus or remove it and install your current ( some ppl may differ, ive personally have not had a virus in years)
3) do all the updates, which wont take long for a new vista box
4) remove the crap software that they ship on it that you wont use
5) install your preferred software


That would be pretty much the first few things that I would do
Another thing that I do is in the power management, advanced settings , i change the cpu throttle speed from the default 5% to 15%, so when it goes to a slower speed it doesn't go too slow

 

[grumpyboy]

install linux 😀

 

[grumpyboy]

not really I cant stand linux but could not turn down the chance to make the joke.

Change the network type from public to private.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: grumpyboy
not really I cant stand linux but could not turn down the chance to make the joke.

Change the network type from public to private.

This isn't OT and such drive by neffings are frowned upon in OS...

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: Dahak



That would be pretty much the first few things that I would do
Another thing that I do is in the power management, advanced settings , i change the cpu throttle speed from the default 5% to 15%, so when it goes to a slower speed it doesn't go too slow

i wouldnt do that... it is instantaneous change to what ever speed you cpu needs. But what ever makes you gay

But first thing i would do is upgrade to xp through there free upgrade plan 🙂 i kid i kid

 

[zig3695]

before i make restore dvd's off a new system, i usually install and configure a few of my most used programs first, like office, winrar, firefox, exactaudiocopy, f@H, ultr@vnc, jrmedia center, winamp (milkdrop), dvd shrink, flac, quicktime and real alternatives. and other small ones i just cant think of right away. that way you can save loads of time if you restore, and at worst you just need to update the programs, or usually let them update themselves.

 

[InlineFive]

1. Create the restore disks if the system didn't ship with it.
2. Reinstall the OS only if the system shipped with an OS disk (Dell does this I know) thereby eliminating crapware.
3. Install necessary drivers (however Vista driver database is huge and you shouldn't need much if any).
4. Install all system updates.
5. Install antivirus.
6. Install Flash, Adobe Reader and Java.
7. Install whatever else you need.
8. Change user account to Limited User and enable SRPs.

 

[trmiv]

If the system came with an OS disk I'd wipe it clean and reinstall with a fresh OS clear off all the crap software they ship on commercial computers.

 

[Aoleleb]

Originally posted by: zig3695
before i make restore dvd's off a new system, i usually install and configure a few of my most used programs first, like office, winrar, firefox, exactaudiocopy, f@H, ultr@vnc, jrmedia center, winamp (milkdrop), dvd shrink, flac, quicktime and real alternatives. and other small ones i just cant think of right away. that way you can save loads of time if you restore, and at worst you just need to update the programs, or usually let them update themselves.

If you create a backup for most oem computers it just copies the restore partition on the hard drive to a dvd. It's not going to create a actual back up of the computer at the time you ran the backup software.