just bought a t61p...getting started

Hey everyone, new to this forum. Just wanted to ask a question that I know I've seen the anwer to before -> what are they recommended steps with a new laptop? Can someone point me to a thread where this is addressed? I plan to do the following:

-Run clean Vista Install (including new drivers, etc...) using the guide in the Lenovo thread
-Intall virus and spam protection

anything else?

thanks

oh and here's my system spec...

43Y3426 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T9300
42V8010 VBB MS WIN VISTA BUSINESS
42V8504 SBB MS WIN VISTA BUSS.32 US EN
42V8287 ** SBB 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
42X5976 SBB NVID QUA FX570M-256MB OPGL
41W2064 VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 1DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V8295 SBB UN(TRACKPOINT TOUCHPAD)
42X5218 SBB 160GB HDD,7200RPM
42V8172 SBB DVD REC.8XMAXDUAL LAY UB-S
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK4965AGN
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
39T6651 SBB 9 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
42X1524 SBB LP-US ENGLISH

 

The very first thing I did after opening the package, verifying that all the laptop components and manuals/instructions were accounted for, following the Initial Setup Instructions to setup the operating system was to create the Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery disks so that I could restore back to the factory default operating system and setup (Lenovo does not provide these disks since they expect you to burn these disks using your DVD Rec or CD-RW/DVD drives).

Here are the two links I used as reference for creating the Thinkvantage Rescue and Recovery disks:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-68317.html
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Pre-Installation_steps

Please note the following line in the IBM/Lenovo support page:
"Note: You will need 1 CD and 1 DVD or 8 CD's to complete this process."
Additionally, under the Recovery Discs section – “Note: DVD-RAM is not supported for disk 1 of the Product Recovery set”. Disk 1 should be a CD since it is the Rescue and Recovery Media boot disk. Disk 2 (and Disk 3; I had two in my case) are DVD disks and is/are the Product Recovery disk.

Here is a helpful guide that I used for those wondering about what may need to be done to set up your new PC before surfing the web:

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877-5885513.html

 

thanks for the help. I've tried using the search function but can't seem to find the right thread. Any help?

many thanks