First things first, get yourself 3 or 4 blank DVD-R’s or DVD+R’s and use the built in program to create the emergency recovery disks. This takes about a half hour to do, but should be done before you do anything else on the computer. These disks will put a copy of your operating system on it and should be saved in cases for emergency purposes (i.e, your computer crashes and won’t start).
Once that’s done, you’ll want to download the following free software and install it.
- All Windows updates (there will be a link in your All programs menu)
- Adobe Reader (be sure to uncheck any toolbars that it wants to install)
- Java (uncheck toolbars)
- Quicktime
- Malwarebytes AntiMalware
- Flash player (you’ll have to open Internet explorer and search google to do this, then follow prompts)
- I would also download and install Firefox – and then install flash player in it by opening Firefox, searching google for flash player and following prompts)
- If you want iTunes
on it, you’ll have to make sure and download the 64-bit version of it
- If the computer comes with McAfee, I would uninstall it in the control panel and install Norton or AVG
One more thing I would do (especially if you have a laptop), is create a document to save your important product keys and other info in. And if your laptop has a Windows 7 sticker on the bottom of it (as well as service tag or express code), you’ll want to be sure to include the Win7 product key, and any express or service codes in this docs. These labels then to wear off, so I like to get them written down as soon as possible.
This may seem like a lot to do, but they will help with the overall health of your new computer.
