Top “Must-Do” things on Windows 10 fresh installation

Setting up a Windows 10 PC for me or as a favor to someone I know happens from time to time. When I am doing this I tend to be a bit picky and methodical and at least put some effort into making sure things work the way I like it.

This is a list, of the things I usually find often get overlooked by novice users, that are venturing into setting up PC, themselves.

Table of contents

• 1. Install or Update Hardware Vendor Drivers
• 2. Install Windows Updates
• 3. Disable Windows Ad Content
• 4. Clean up pre-installed apps you do not need
• 5. Clean up temporary garbage from the disk
• 6. Setup Folder View in File Explorer
• 7. Backup your PC
• Conclusion

1. Install or Update Hardware Vendor Drivers

Microsoft made sure, that Windows 10 installs and starts flawlessly on most PCs, without much need for additional driver installation. Usually, things like Network, Audio, and Integrated Graphics would work 'out of the box'.

For the most part, the Windows-provided drivers might do just fine, but it is a good idea to install the hardware vendor-provided drivers to utilize the full PC potential.

• If you own a branded PC, there is about a 95% chance, that all the required drivers would come preinstalled. Checking for newer versions, would require you to know your specific make and model number, and armed with this information you need to dig into the manufacturer's website for drivers. Some manufacturers like Lenovo, pre-install software like Lenovo System Update, that would automatically find any available updates and install them.
• If you own assembled PC, then you need to be a bit more informed on what components are inside of it, so you can proceed to find the proper drivers.

  • The best way to start is to download and install CPU-Z. This little utility software would show just enough information to get you started: CPU, Motherboard, and Graphics Card information.

    

  • The Mainboard page would show you information on the mainboard maker and model. Google the manufacturer and model, and search for the Support or Download section on the manufacturer`s site.

    

  • On the Graphics tab, you should be able to see enough video card information so you can find the proper drivers. Usually using Name + drivers in google would suffice.

    

2. Install Windows Updates

After fresh installation Windows 10 usually starts installing the latest and greatest security patches and other updates. It is a good idea to wait for these to get installed before continuing to install other software on your PC.

It has been more than once, my PC has ended up severely altered or plain broken after massive Windows updates get pushed by Microsoft. So to spare yourself some nasty surprises, wait until the Windows Update does its business.

Type Check for Updates in the Windows search bar and make sure you are up to date.

3. Disable Windows Ad Content

Unfortunately, even though Windows 10 is not free, it seems it does not stop Microsoft from pushing Advertisements to us all over the place. This is much more pronounced in the Home versions, but not totally absent in Pro flavor.

It is both annoying and distracting to have unexpected things show up in your Start Menu. I fully understand the goal of baiting people into installing applications, but it is not something I like.

So I would just Google for 'Windows 10 disable Ads' and clean up the house using the help of articles, like this one:

• How to remove those nagging ads from Windows 10

4. Clean up pre-installed apps you do not need

There are some pre-installed apps in Windows, that I find hardly useful, so I open 'Add or remove programs' in settings and do a clean-up of all things I do not find useful.

If you are setting up a PC for someone else, make sure to check they are not fans of the precious windows built in games like Solitaire.

5. Clean up temporary garbage from the disk

Upon installing stuff and updating itself, Windows 10 has a tendency to leave a whole bunch of files behind.

So right-click on your main drive C: Properties and select Disc Cleanup. Click on Clean up system files and additional clean up items will show.

Select them all and click OK.

Additionally, drivers from Intel, NVidia, and AMD do extract themselves on the C: drive before actual installation. So check for folders C:\AMD , C:\NVidia and C:\Intel on your main drive, and if such folders exist, these are leftovers from driver installation and can be deleted.

6. Setup Folder View in File Explorer

As an advanced user, I do not like, what Microsoft has picked as the default folder and file view configuration in File Explorer. For example, I find the latest default setting, which groups the files by Date, extremely annoying.

So setting up this to your convenience would give you a little productivity boost from the get-go.

Open File Explorer and configure your preferred Folder View settings.

My preferred settings are shown. Once you have set the settings you like, click on the Change folder and search options dropdown.

In the view tab, you can apply your setting to all folders.

Tip! In the Advances settings there are other useful options, that you might want to adjust like Display the full path in the title bar. So feel free to explore.

7. Backup your PC

After you are all set up and have installed and configured your most important applications, it is a good time to do a system backup.

Doing this ensures you have a safety net, that allows you to get back on track in case something goes wrong.

Since this is a bit more complicated operation I would recommend you check this article:

• How to Backup Your PC Automatically

Conclusion

If you have reached, this far in the article, it means I got your attention and hopefully, you have learned something useful. Enjoy your PC and keep on learning.