If you have just bought a laptop, it most likely already comes with the operating system pre-installed and with a lot of manufacturer applications, as well as demos of Office, Antivirus and others. In this article we are going to teach you how to configure a new laptop so that you can have the best performance from day one .
Here we are going to give you a series of tips and recommendations on how to configure your new laptop to work in the best possible way, also avoiding problems or falling into “cheat offers” with the bloatware installed by the default manufacturers. Logically each laptop is different and you should not take this as a bible, but as a guide to follow. With that said, let’s go there.
Update the operating system
Most new laptops come with Windows 10 already installed from the factory, but almost certainly not in its latest version since they will take weeks in their boxes. So, one of the first things you should do as soon as you turn on your computer for the first time is to update it as much as possible.
To do this, go to Settings -> Update and security -> Windows Update and click on the Check for updates button. Let the system update and reboot as many times as you need until you have the latest version installed.
Remove Bloatware
Virtually all manufacturers install their own software when they sell you a laptop. Some things are useful, but most are nothing more than pieces of software that only serve to slow down the computer, such as trial versions of Office, Antivirus, etc.
The recommendation is that you go to Settings -> Applications -> Applications and Features and remove absolutely all the software that you do not consider essential. And as essential, considering that we are talking about a recently purchased laptop, it is practically everything that is not Windows components.
Configure laptop power options
Since laptops are mostly intended to provide mobility for users, they often come with an optimized power setting to save battery power and not provide the best performance. For this reason it is a good idea to edit the power settings to put it with the best possible performance, although keep in mind that this will affect the autonomy of the battery when you use the laptop without having it connected. Therefore, configure it at your discretion.
To access these settings, click on start and type “Energy”, and then click on “Edit energy plan”.
Set up the Windows laptop as you like
This will depend on the tastes and hobbies of each one, but there are a series of Windows 10 parameters that can be intrusive and annoying, in addition to being in some cases a complete violation of user privacy. These are the adjustments that we recommend you make, but as we have said, it will depend on the tastes of each one:
Disable Wi-Fi Sense
This functionality serves to share your WiFi connection with your contacts, an idea that can be good but involves risks and also consumes the laptop battery.
Deactivate the Activity Center
The activity center can be very good if you focus all your activity on the Microsoft ecosystem, including contacts, calendars, etc. But if it is not your case, it is usually something that bothers rather than helps and it is recommended to disable it.
To disable it you must access the local group policy editor by running the command “gpedit.msc” (through Start -> Run and type gpedit.msc). Once in the editor, in the left panel you must navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start menu and taskbar. Once there, select “Remove notifications and activity center” with a double click and check “Disabled”.
Set up laptop privacy
Privacy in Windows 10 is one of the points that was most discussed initially, and it was that it really was a bomb for the security of the user. By default, information about how we write is sent to Microsoft servers, that is, a full-blown Keylogger. That has already been removed, but it is still recommended to disable any type of shipping to Microsoft.
To do this, access through Settings -> Privacy and in all tabs (General, Voice, Personalization of handwritten input and writing, Comments and diagnostics and Activity history) we recommend deactivating all the options.