
If you leave that enabled, you’re done here. Windows 10 and 11 come with security software pre-installed and enabled: Windows Security. If you’re not sure what to do, I have a process outlined for you. While you’ve got your backup software out, take the time to schedule regular automated backups.Įxactly what that looks like depends on your needs and how you use your computer, but in general, backing up your machine daily to an external hard drive is good practice.

It may not include everything the recovery drive made with your own machine would. The issue here is that this image will be generic. Once again, this is something you want to do shortly after getting your new machine because it’ll reflect the version of Windows as installed on your machine on the day it arrived.Īnother option is to download Windows Setup media and save it (or download it at some future date when you need it). How to Create a Windows Recovery Drive walks you through the process. Make a System Recovery driveĪ recovery drive is a USB flash drive created by Windows from which you boot your computer in order to perform a number of Windows recovery tasks, including reinstalling Windows from scratch. You don’t even need to know how to do that today the important thing is that you create the image backup and save it now. It will return your machine to the exact condition it’s in right now in a single step. Should you ever need to start over and reformat/reinstall the machine, you can restore this image backup instead. The reasoning here is simple: this backup is an image of your machine as you got it. It’ll be on the program’s list of features.Įven if you did get installation media, which is rare these days, a backup image taken now can be more convenient should you need to reset the computer to the state it was in on the day you got it. Make sure your backup tool supports what’s called a “ bare metal” restore: the ability to restore to a machine that has a completely empty hard drive. Using Macrium Reflect, EaseUS Todo (the free edition of either will do), or a similar tool, take a complete image backup - sometimes called a full system backup - of your entire machine. You may need to stay online to complete the initial setup of your computer using your Microsoft account, but until we’ve made sure of a couple of items, let’s pull off the highway for a moment if you can. I know you’ve already connected you just couldn’t help yourself, I’m sure.

Disconnect that new computer from the internet

The first things to do with your new computer
