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What all to do immediately before using a new Laptop?
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grr
211 Posts
(Offline)
1
December 25, 2010 - 10:29 pm

Hi All,
I bought a new Sony Vaio laptop 2 days back.
i5, 4gb RAM and 500gb HDD.
W7 PRO, 64-bit

specs-attached.

I just created the system repair disk. Nothing else is changed in the laptop.

This is my first time for a new laptop & for Windows-7.
I need your help with the immediate steps I should be doing before I start installing programs, etc on this new laptop.

Appreciate your help.

Thanks,
Grr

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Jim Hillier
2700 Posts
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2
December 26, 2010 - 10:41 am

Not quite sure what you mean Grr. Just start downloading and installing mate. I don't think I really need to tell you that a decent anti-virus should be first cab off the rank.....but I just did anyway. LOL

I see you have written another post about creating a system image. Your new laptop already has a "Recovery Partition" which can be used to restore the system back to factory settings so creating an image at this early stage would be pretty much a duplication.

I would wait until you have all your favourite/usual programs installed, mail and everything else set up and[i:1j4vmv6r] then[/i:1j4vmv6r] create an image. That way, if ever you need to restore the image, you would not be going all the way back to the very beginning again but would be restoring a system with all your programs already in place and everything configured and ready to go.

Cheers mate....Jim

Nice machine BTW!!

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grr
211 Posts
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3
December 26, 2010 - 11:54 pm

[quote="ozbloke":18jgea4t]Not quite sure what you mean Grr. Just start downloading and installing mate. I don't think I really need to tell you that a decent anti-virus should be first cab off the rank.....but I just did anyway. LOL

I see you have written another post about creating a system image. Your new laptop already has a "Recovery Partition" which can be used to restore the system back to factory settings so creating an image at this early stage would be pretty much a duplication.

I would wait until you have all your favourite/usual programs installed, mail and everything else set up and[i:18jgea4t] then[/i:18jgea4t] create an image. That way, if ever you need to restore the image, you would not be going all the way back to the very beginning again but would be restoring a system with all your programs already in place and everything configured and ready to go.

Cheers mate....Jim

Nice machine BTW!![/quote:18jgea4t]

Ha ha thanks Jim..

How should I create the image once everything is set & installed by me:
1. use the system image option provided by WIndows? or
2. use another software, if so, which one to use.

Thanks,
Grr

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Jim Hillier
2700 Posts
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4
December 27, 2010 - 2:40 am

Hey Grr - The system image creation software built-in to Windows 7 is quite good, certainly better for backups than what has previously been included, but it does still have some drawbacks. The biggest of those would be that there is no image compression so they can be quite large.

If it were I, I would be installing the free version of Macrium Reflect. It is the absolute best freeware imaging program available. The free version does not include features for incremental or differential backups but it is brilliant for creating and saving compressed images. It is pretty quick and also includes the ability to create a bootable recovery disc (from within the software) for disaster recovery too.

[url=http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp:2ydes2al]MACRIUM REFLECT.[/url:2ydes2al]

Cheers....Jim

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grr
211 Posts
(Offline)
5
December 28, 2010 - 1:32 am

thanks Jim...

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David Hartsock
1117 Posts
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6
December 31, 2010 - 7:28 am

Late to the party... Again.

-What I do is immediately create any system restore disks - This covers me if something goes horribly wrong.
-I then use Acronis to create an image of the entire drive - This is primary recovery option until I finish.
-Next I visit the manufacturer's site and download the latest drivers and software for my laptop/computer and store them on external media.
-Now I would research and see which programs I don't need. An example would be extra media apps or a wireless controller program that isn't needed because the one in Win 7 is excellent. Not installing this added bloat is what makes a nice clean computer!
-Next I would use Activation Backup Restore and follow the [url=http://www.davescomputertips.com/articles/vista/clean_vista_install_without_activation.php:3ejpdrw1]Vista Clean Install with NO Activation[/url:3ejpdrw1] article to backup the OEM Windows 7 activation.
-Insert a Win7 Install DVD, blow out all partitions on the drive, install the correct version.
-Use Activation Backup Restore to restore your Win 7 activation.
-Install all drivers and the OEM programs you determined would be needed.
-Run Windows Update and select Microsoft Update so you receive updates for any installed Microsoft software.
-Run Microsoft Update and install all updates.
-Reboot and create a new image using Acronis. If you want to be double safe you can create a second image to DVDs.

Done.

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busdave
1 Posts
(Offline)
7
January 6, 2011 - 8:32 am

[quote="ozbloke":1ed7kxd5]
If it were I, I would be installing the free version of Macrium Reflect. It is the absolute best freeware imaging program available. The free version does not include features for incremental or differential backups but it is brilliant for creating and saving compressed images. It is pretty quick and also includes the ability to create a bootable recovery disc (from within the software) for disaster recovery too.
[/quote:1ed7kxd5]
I've been also using Macrium Reflect as a disaster recovery tool. Macrium Reflect is very reliable in creating images in hard disk or partitions. It is user friendly.

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