Setting Up a New Windows Laptop in 2026

(matthewquerzoli.com)

19 points | by Quiza12 11 hours ago

6 comments

  • rationalist 8 hours ago
    > 24. Download and install Google Chrome. (Yeah, nah, ~6 minutes) > 1. Make default browser

    Install Chrome sure, but also install Firefox with the uBlock Origin addon and make Firefox the default browser.

    Seriously, having an adblocker will help older people avoid scams and such. Even the U.S.'s FBI recommends it.

  • coffe2mug 2 hours ago
    Despite lots of controversy I still either buy Chromebook or install chromeosFlex (without playstore) for some of my relatives. Just works.

    ublock origin lite is OK for these folks that need laptop only for the rare situation to fillup some PDF, airline tickets or printout.

    For love or hate, people already have Google account. One password to remember. And google syncs everything incl. password, even payments. So no more brain fatigue.

  • Quiza12 11 hours ago
    Like many IT-inclined folk, I was recently tasked with setting up two new laptops for my father and brother, who run a mortgage broking business. Bog-standard Office 365 apps, OneDrive, Chrome over Edge, Outlook set up and all that. Given all the commentary I've read about the decline in quality of Windows, I was interested to see how frustrating the set up would be and how much bloatware and unasked-for installs were weighing it down.

    Bit of fun too because it coincided with Australia's first World Cup game!

    • technion 7 hours ago
      If they run a mortgage broking business, they should have a very different experience to what's described in this post about setting up like a personal machine. They presumably have business managed Microsoft accounts, none of that setup happens, and most of setup prompts are totally automated away from you after logging into such an account.
  • 0xbadcafebee 5 hours ago
    That's at least 24 hours faster than it took me to set up my Ubuntu Linux Thinkpad new from Lenovo. I have a document of some 70+ steps in case I ever need to format and set it up again. (My fault for expecting Ubuntu to operate like a normal desktop out of the box) Turns out there are also multiple bugs in the AMD drivers (it was an AMD version of the Thinkpad) that have been known issues for years, and the fix is basically to turn off power saving. Windows version doesn't have those bugs of course.
    • lobofta 1 hour ago
      Try NixOs. Somewhat of a steep learning curve, but once you're over the hump setting up a machine is about half an hour of work and most of that is just waiting for stuff to download. Set up a new machine the other day and it immediately became my daily driver as everything works nearly exactly as on my other machines.
    • frollogaston 1 hour ago
      Linux on AMD laptop sounds like the worst combo. I wouldn't even take Linux on laptop, or anything on AMD.
  • frollogaston 1 hour ago
    I still don't know what "get fucked" means, are these the steps that pissed him off the most?
  • caspper69 3 hours ago
    Step 1: download windows media tool

    Step 2: create iso with said tool

    Step 3: use rufus to make iso into bootable usb with the installation options you want

    Step 4: reformat & install

    Step 5: Drivers

    Step 6: chrome and/or firefox

    Step 7: o365

    ???

    Profit