Unboxing your brand new computer is a great feeling. No matter if you are a new pc user or an experienced one, it is always pleasurable to get your hands on a new machine.
However, things can get complicated if you miss out on some essential tasks after getting your new laptop. To help you out on this journey, we are going to give you some handy tweaks in this content to do when you have a new laptop:
Update The Operating System
After buying a new laptop, the first thing to do is to check if your device has an updated operating system.
Sometimes the computer shops provide you the device with the latest update, and sometimes they don’t. So after coming home, find out if your laptop needs to install the operating system updates.
If it does, go for the Windows updates. Hence, you will be able to enjoy all the latest features to make your laptop safe and secure.
Perform the following steps to update your laptop’s operating system:
For Windows update in Windows 10, go to the search box, type settings, go to update and security, and select Check for Updates.
If your laptop requires an update, Windows will download and then install the updates automatically.
If you use Mac, Select System Preferences from the Apple menu, then go to Software Preference.
In the macOS High Sierra case, visit the App Store and search “macOS” there to download the latest version of your OS.
Use Antivirus Software
Nothing is more important than the system protection of your pc. If you run your new laptop on Windows 10, it has a built-in antivirus software known as Windows Defender.
This software works perfectly for the malware protection of your laptop. It comes with some decent security features to ensure the safety of your data. Also, you can use it with any other powerful security tool.
However, Mac doesn’t come with any antivirus. So we suggest you be sensible while browsing sites to avoid any virus attack on the laptop. Still, if you want, you can install Mac antivirus software.
Remove bloatware
Bloatware is an unnecessary part of your laptop that is preloaded on your OS. These apps don’t come in handy for any work. Instead, they fill up a lot of drive space on your laptop.
PC vendors add various pre-installed products to your device. But almost all of these products include lucrative free trial offers which many can’t resist in the end.
Since as it is now your property, don’t hesitate to get rid of any bloatware on your device. Generally, this occurrence takes place mostly in Windows whereas Mac usually is free of these troublesome apps.
So better you delete all the junk files and any unwanted software which you don’t need. Interestingly, in Windows 10, you can easily check out these apps.
To remove them, go to Cortana, type uninstalls, and choose Change or remove a program from the results.
After the dialog box of Programs and Features appears on the screen, choose applications from the list and press the uninstall button to remove them.
Optimize Power Usage
Battery life is a crucial point in using laptops. Since they are portable devices, you have to make sure you maximize their battery life to a great extent. So what are the ideal steps to optimize your laptop battery power settings?
Set Up Power Plan
It is not mandatory to continue using your pc at full power. If you wish to have your battery life’s longevity, you should select an efficient power plan for your laptop.
Now the question is how you would choose the right power plan? If you spend time on any high graphical tasks, you should enable the High-Performance plan. On the other hand, when you perform light functions on your laptop, choose the Power Saver plan.
In Windows 10, you can tweak the power option, whereas you can enable the Energy Saver function in Mac.
Turn on Night Light
The night light is another effective power plan when you don’t need full brightness on your laptop screen. Moreover, staring at your laptop screen for a while can be harmful to your eyes and cause trouble for your night’s sleep. In that case, you can reduce the display brightness in the evening hours. Go to the settings menu, click on system, go to display, and select the Night light. Now you can set the timeline as per your wish. You can also set up the Sleep Mode if you keep your pc unused for a specific time.
Adjust Display Settings
Choosing the appropriate settings of your laptop display is vital. Images of high resolution, size of text, and icons will vary depending on what type of display settings you choose. If you lower the screen resolution, that may result in a fuzzy image.
However, in Windows 10, you can set up the size of icons, text, folders, apps as per your requirement.
Right-click on the desktop and find Display Settings from the second bottom option. There you can customize the brightness and color of your laptop display. Below that section, you can change the scale of various items. To experience an improved visual experience, we recommend using the 1920*1080 screen resolution.
Set up Default Browser
If you use Microsoft software, it is obvious they will suggest their dedicated Microsoft Edge web browser. If you prefer anything other than it, you have to install that browser by yourself. When you install your desired browser, try to make it your default web browser.
You can use one of those browsers that consume less power and run smoothly. Google Chrome is notorious for wasting massive battery charge, whereas Internet Explorer is no more in vogue. So try other good quality web browsers, for example, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.
When you install it at first, it will offer you to use it as the default browser. If you want the same, type Settings on the search box, choose Apps and there you will find Default apps. And, you will get the opportunity to set up your default browser.
Turn on Find My Device
Previously, computer owners had no option to track a stolen or misplaced device. But now Windows 10 comes with an exclusive Find My Device technology to set the location of your device on the map.
To do so, see the following method:
Step 1: Open the Start menu and tap the Windows icon.
Step 2: Type Settings on the search box and open it.
Step 3: From a list of options, choose Update & Security.
Step 4: Check the bar on the left and select Find My Device
Step 5: Tap on the Change button and the process is complete.
Reduce Heat Issue
Laptops are more prone to higher heat issues than desktops. Desktop CPUs have sufficient area to bring out the hot air. That’s why desktops are less susceptible to heat for having a decent ventilation process.
On the other hand, laptop size is very compact and laptop manufacturers can’t provide enough space to ensure proper air circulation. Also, dusk accumulation can take place in laptops at large. As a result, your laptop CPU might lose its performance heavily that results in less battery life.
So try to use your laptop keeping on a hard and flat surface instead of placing it on a bed, couch, or your lap.
Show extensions of filename
Showing the extensions of files in your new laptop is crucial to understand what type of file one is. Is it an image file or a doc file? For easy understanding of a file type, enable its extension.
At first, open the File Explorer, select View from the top menu, and tick the File name extensions box.
Personalize Windows 10
If you use Windows 10 on your pc, the personalization of your operating system is very easy. You can customize the background and modify any content according to your preference. To perform this, right-click on the desktop, choose Personalize, and you will get various options like background, theme, background color to change.
Enable Automated Backup Options
Nothing can be worst than losing important data stored in your laptop. Often our laptops stop functioning for having a virus or lagging issues. In those circumstances, you might lose all the personal data that are vital to you.
That’s why always keep a backup plan to save all of your important files.
Sync with cloud storage
Cloud storage can come in handy if you use multiple devices to customize your files. There are various cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Onedrive (an editors’ choice), Dropbox, and many more. You can use any of them just by signing in from your Google account. If you want to keep some of your data and files on a cloud storage platform, copy files from your hard drive and paste them on your desired platform.
Install your required apps
When everything is ready, start installing the apps on your laptop that you need to use every day.
But always keep in mind to install them from authentic sites. If you start using a third-party site to download an app, it can cause your computer’s severe issues. These third-party sites are full of links that contain potential malware to attack your laptop. As a result, your pc might stop working well, and you have to recover files from the system recover point to get back your data. So be cautious while installing apps.
If you use Windows, you can find the apps from Microsoft Store. However, in using Mac, do the installation of the apps from the Mac App Store, and you are now ready to go with your computer.
Final Thought
The technology world is expanding a lot day by day. Once we bought a new laptop, we came back home and started using it after plugging it in for some hours. Now the situation is different. There are lots of essential things to do when you get a new laptop.
As a sensible person, you must maintain these things and give proper safety to your device. If you buy a laptop for the first time, the challenge to handle it is far more than ever. Just don’t do any unreal stuff, and be careful of managing your operating system with regular updates. Never forget to remove bloatware and update each software time-to-time. Also, be careful about installing any software from authentic sites.
We provided some valid points to keep in mind when you have a new laptop computer at home in this content. With your utmost carefulness and sensibility, you can have a great experience with a brand new laptop for sure.