Got a new laptop? Don’t just switch it on and start using it until you’ve read our simple guide to making it safe, secure and speedy first.
If Santa leaves a new laptop in your stocking this Christmas, you probably will spend some of the festive season setting it up.
However, don’t just switch on and start using it – you may be leaving yourself open to online security risks. Instead, once you’ve activated Windows and created a system restore DVD (if required – not all new laptops offer this), you should then follow this simple six-point checklist before you do anything else.
Since it’s difficult to buy a new laptop with any other operating system at the moment, we’ve assumed you’re using Windows 8 on your new laptop and are already connected to your home network. The same steps still apply to all freshly installed or just-activated versions of Windows, but the specific actions for each will differ.
Step 1: Run Windows update
The very first thing you should do when you finally see the Windows 8 Start screen is run Windows Update. Your new laptop may come with the older Windows 8.0 installed, but the latest Windows 8.1 update improves upon it in many ways – and it’s a free download.
Even a laptop with Windows 8.1 will be out of date by the time you open its box, however, so it’s important to download and install the latest security fixes and other updates from Microsoft before you do anything else.
At the Windows 8 Start screen, open the Charms bar by moving the mouse pointer to the top-right of the screen and click the Search option.
Type windows update into the search box and select Check for updates from the list of results on the right of the screen.
When Windows Update opens, click the Check now button and wait while Windows checks what updates are available.
When the check has finished, click View details. Tick the box for Select all important updates and click the Install button. You may need to restart your laptop after this first round of updates, but you should repeat the update process until no more important updates are found.
Step 2: Turn on Windows Defender
Microsoft’s anti-malware application, Windows Defender, is built into Windows 8, but it may be disabled. Laptop manufacturers often disable because they bundle free trials of other anti-malware software – software that you don’t need.
So the next step is to check that Windows Defender is enabled and protecting your computer, regardless of what other anti-malware software is installed.
Back on the Start screen (press the Windows key to return to the Start screen), type windows defender – you no longer need to open the Charms bar now that Windows 8.1 is installed. Select Windows Defender from the list of results on the right of the screen.
When Windows Defender opens on the Windows Desktop, click its Settings tab. Click Real-time protection on the left of the window, tick the box to turn it on in the right of the window and click the Save changes button.
Click the Update tab and click the Update button to download any Windows Defender updates.
Finally, click the Home tab, select the Full option and click the Scan button to scan your for malware. Just because your new laptop is fresh from the factory doesn’t mean it hasn’t picked up malware from somewhere, so a ‘just in case’ scan now will prevent problems later on.
Step 3: Install a different web browser
Microsoft is no longer legally required to offer a choice of web browsers when you activate Windows for the first time. So unless the laptop maker has installed something else, the only browser you’ll have will be Internet Explorer.
This may or may not suit, but there’s nothing to stop you downloading and using a different browser – though you’ll still need to use Internet Explorer to get it.
Step 4: Set up user accounts and parental controls
Unless you’re the only person who’ll be using your laptop, we strongly recommend setting up different user accounts for everyone else.
Back on the Start screen, type user accounts and select Add, delete, and manage other user accounts from the list of results at the right of the screen.
Click the Add an account option to create and configure another user account. Windows will ask for the other person’s email address, so that it can save their settings and use them on other Windows 8 PCs. This is optional, however, and you can instead click Sign in without a Microsoft account at the bottom of the screen to create a ‘local’ account that’s unique to your laptop.
You’ll also see an Add a child’s account option here. Click this and you can enable parental controls for any children that use your laptop. These include blocking which web sites they can access and the controlling when they’re allowed to use the laptop. See guide on how to set up parental controls in Windows 8 for more information.
Step 5: Switch to Desktop-first mode
Windows 8 was criticised for making the Start screen view the default view when you boot your laptop and hiding the more-useful Desktop mode behind a keyboard shortcut.
Windows 8.1 (which should be installed after Step 1) changes this and lets you boot straight to the Desktop, if you desire. To do this, press Windows + D to switch to Desktop mode, right-click the Taskbar and select Properties.
Click the Navigation tab on the dialog box that opens and tick the box for When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, got the desktop instead of Start. Click the OK button and you can now click the Start button on the Desktop, or press the Windows key, to return to the Start screen at any time.
Step 6: Uninstall unwanted software
Laptop manufacturers are paid to install software from third parties, no matter how useful it is. This ‘pre-installed software’ (to use a polite term) can include anything from free trials of anti-malware applications (see Step 2) to web browser toolbars that serve no useful purpose.
While wasted hard disk space is seldom a problem on most new laptops, pre-installed software can slow a computer down and cause conflicts with other, more desirable, applications. So our advice is to get rid of anything you don’t recognise or want.
Back on the Start screen, type uninstall and select Uninstall a program from the results on the right of the screen.
When the Programs and Features dialog box opens on the Desktop, select applications from the list one-by-one and click the Uninstall button to remove them.
If deleting the unwanted junk leaves your laptop without much else installed, take a look at our guide to the best free software for your PC – there’s plenty there to get you started.
