A new laptop or computer is like a blank slate: ready to be customized with your preferences and programs

A new laptop or computer is like a blank slate: ready to be customized with your

preferences and programs. Whether this is your first computer or your fiftieth, these

5 steps for setting up your new computer will create an important foundation going

forward.
1. Get Rid of Bloatware
Bloatware, or software installed by the manufacturer that you don't want (such as

trial versions of picture greeting software), is less common in new computers these

days--and definitely less likely to be in business computers as opposed to consumer

computers. Bloatware is still around, though, and if you want a lean, mean computing

machine, you may prefer to wipe your drive of these unwanted programs. It's easiest

to do this at the start, as soon as you get your laptop. One way to get rid of the

bloatware is to just use the regular program uninstall feature in Windows' Control

Panel, but this can still leave your system with stray entries in the system's

registry. A cleanup utility like Ccleaner can more thoroughly get rid of all traces

of unwanted programs. Otherwise, you can wipe your laptop's hard drive and install

your operating system from scratch (provided you have the OS installation disks or

you make your own for this purpose). About's Guide to PC Support has some

instructions for how to do a clean install. Now you'll really be starting with a

clean slate.
2. Set Up Laptop Security
Password-protect your user accounts. When you set up your user account(s) on the

laptop, make sure you add a strong password (that you'll remember): one that's 10 or

more characters long; includes a combination of numbers, special characters, and both

uppercase and lowercase letters. Because laptops are more easily stolen or lost, you

want to make sure anyone who finds your laptop won't be able to access its contents.

Change the Administrator password. The default Administrator account is disabled by

default in Windows 7 and Vista, but if you're using an older version of Windows,

you'll want to change the default Administrator password (find the account under the

Control Panel > User Accounts. Install security programs. The first programs you

should install on your laptop are security ones to help protect against viruses and

other threats.

Anti-theft sofware for laptops can help you retrieve a lost or

stolen laptop--but you need to install it before you lose your laptop or it gets

swiped. Prey (previously reviewed), is free laptop recovery software that has a light

footprint, so there's no reason not to install it.
* Encryption software: For true mobile security, it's critical you encrypt all

sensitive information stored on your laptop. The open source utility TrueCrypt can

create an encrypted volume on your laptop to store that important information, and it

can encrypt your entire system as well. Globaleworld