First things to do after receiving laptop

I am just curious what are the most important things to do after you receive a brand new laptop to make sure everything (mostly hardware) is operating as it should?

I don't really mean stress testing to see what the limits of the hardware are, I mean tests to make sure everything is healthy.

Also, what is the best software to monitor fan speed, CPU/GPU/RAM temps, and anything other important things that are all in one program? Are software of this kind usually able to run on any system regardless of hardware brands?



I know that's a lot of questions so thanks in advance to anybody who helps.

 

one of the first things i do when i buy a windows machine regardless if its a laptop or desktop is update windows and then install Acronis True Image. You can use this to make a mirror image of your hard drive. so if anything happens in a click of a button you can restore your computer back the way it was the day you bought it in minutes with no hassle.

even though many laptops come with recovery media, a mirror of the hard drive is always best. it certainly is less hassle.

i wouldnt worry about temps or any other things unless you are overclocking.

 

Thanks. I'll look into that program.

Definitely no overclocking for me!

 

Install a good ccleaner program, a different defrag program, malewarebytes.
Pm me and i can send you a list of good maintenance programs that i use.

 

Other than updating Windows, it's also a good idea to update the BIOS and drivers if newer ones are available since those updates usually fix bugs and incompatibility problems.

However, sometimes updates can actually break things so that's why you need a way to restore your system. The System Restore feature in Windows is usually adequate, so I never bother with the hassle of making a hard drive backup. It's still a good idea to make one though.

As for monitoring software, there's really no all in one software that I know of since different computers have different hardware combinations. I use HWMonitor, Cpu-Z, Gpu-Z, and EVGA Precision for all my monitoring needs. If you're not the obsessive compulsive type and don't do any overclocking, monitoring software is not needed. Only once you encounter problems with your notebook should you use monitoring software to investigate the problem.

 

first thing to do after getting your laptop is to install os/x if it came with windows. that or linux to install on it. i replaced 7 hp with 7 pro.

I also added a second 320gb 7200rpm 16mb cache wd black hard drive

 

First thing: drool over it
Second thing: post review for NBR.

 

I was thinking more like running a program like PCMark for benchmarking but I'm assuming this is not needed...?

How do you update BIOS and how do you know if a new update is available?

 

It's not a bad idea to run benchmarking programs such as PCMark (or 3DMark for gaming-capable notebooks) once just to make sure that there are no major defects in the notebook. If it ever crashes, hangs, blue screens, blanks out, etc on you during the benchmark, then you know there is a major problem with the notebook.

But even if it passes those benchmarks, it doesn't mean your notebook is completely problem-free. Only through regular prolonged use will problems show up if there are indeed defects in the notebook. That's why you get at least 1 year warranty to cover that. I believe Asus gives you 2 years warranty on recent models.

BIOS updates are available in the download page for your particular notebook model, and Asus provides a WinFlash utility to update the BIOS under Windows. Asus notebooks have an Asus Live Update utility which automatically checks for updated drivers/BIOS/utilities and also downloads & installs them, but it's flaky and unreliable. So, safest way is to regularly check the download page for new versions. If you're not the obsessive compulsive type then you don't really need to update the BIOS or drivers unless you run into problems. Updating Windows is a must though for security reasons since I'm sure you don't want your precious notebook to be filled with malware or be compromised by hackers while connected to the Internet.

BTW, I'm the obsessive compulsive type that must have the latest and greatest for my notebook so I always keep everything up to date. You don't have to be that way to enjoy your notebook though.

 

I would install some free essential tools like Avast!, ZoneAlarm, Office software, WinRAR, Cuteftp....etc

Then test out a few games.

Run benchmark after that.

 

I may be wrong but as per me ...
1. Update the OS with service packs/updates
2. Update hardware drives and BIOS
3. Once all softwares are updated make a disk image of your system partition (may be keep it on HDD as hidden partition or burn a DVD)
4. Then suitably partition the HDD as per your convenient (keep OS partition separate from data)
5. Then do for what you have spent the $ for the laptop and do not forget to post your experience at NBR

 

i would divide the hard drive into

Windows 7 boot files partitation (full win 7 will do this if you delete all partitations including restore)

Windows 7 OS Partitation

Windows 7 Programs partitation

Windows 7 Swap File partitation (best on second high speed drive as only thing on it)

Windows 7 Data partitation

 

zonealarm and avast are resources hogs, use only mcafee 2010 or norton 2010 they are resource light

 

norton being light app? I must be really out of touch

 

and what are some of the best free programs to grab right away?

 

I think you got that backwards.

 

http://ninite.com/

 

Sandboxie creates a virtual sandbox that isolates browsing data and automatically deletes it when you're done. Keeps you safe from malware, cookies, and other things that you can get while browsing "sites you are unfamiliar with..."


Edit: I did not know that which the internet is built for is a banned word here.

 

awesome sites guys, thanks!

 

Not really, Zonealarm Extreme Security Suite version 2010 is fantastic.
They have done an excellent job. It is very light weight and does not slow the system down at all.
I have been using Zonealarm for about 4 years now.
Before that I was a Norton Antivirus user (+ Free Zonealarm Firewall) for many more years.
The last year version of Zonealarm was slow and sometimes annoying, but now they improved it.

Norton Security suite 2009; I tried it last year and I really hated it.
It is really annoying for me. It made me run mad after the first trial day.
It had some false positive and it always deleted the files even if I asked him to put it into exception list.
I found it hard to do some advanced configurations manually in Norton, where as Zonealarm lets me do all the setting myself.

 

What's the verdict on the program "PC Depcrapifier" to get rid of all the bloat?

 

I personally perfer to remove all the bloat ware manually.
In my experience sometimes tools like these could lead to more trouble.

 

What exactly should/can go? I've already removed all the terrible games that shipped with mine, but I'm not sure what else could be safely deleted.

 

Check out THIS thread. It has a pretty comprehensive list of the utilities and bloatware that come with some Asus laptops.

 

Glorious, thank you for that link.