Setting Up a New Windows Laptop in 2026

https://matthewquerzoli.com/blog/18-06-2026-setting-up-a-new-windows-laptop-in-2026

by Quiza12 • 1 month ago

38 23 1 month ago

Quiza12• 1 month 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• 1 month 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.

rationalist2• 1 month 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.

rimworld• 1 month ago

"Even the U.S.'s FBI recommends it."

Really?

rationalist2• 1 month ago

First result of many after a quick internet search:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-b...

tim3332• 1 month ago

The article has uBlock lite, which works fine - I use it. It's actually a bit easier to add/remove custom filters compared to Origin.

conception• 1 month ago

Just an FYI for folks on the differences

uBO Lite:

Filter lists update only when the extension updates (no fetching up to date lists from servers) Many filters are dropped at conversion time due to MV3's limited filter syntax No crafting your own filters (thus no element picker) No strict-blocked pages No per-site switches No dynamic filtering No importing external lists

0xbadcafebee4• 1 month 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.

frollogaston4• 1 month ago

Linux on AMD laptop sounds like the worst combo. I wouldn't even take Linux on laptop, or anything on AMD.

0xbadcafebee4• 1 month ago

You're not wrong

t0mpr1c3• 1 month ago

Genuinely odd take

lobofta• 1 month 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.

0xbadcafebee4• 1 month ago

I appreciate that you're trying to help, but you're throwing a drowning man an anvil

not_the_fda• 1 month ago

If you are going to put Linux on a Laptop you must make sure its supported. Lenovo sells laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed. Its a breeze with the right hardware.

0xbadcafebee4• 1 month ago

I bought it, from Lenovo, with Ubuntu installed on it, by Lenovo, from the factory, brand new. It was not a breeze. In fact, it sucks.

caspper69• 1 month 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

coffe2mug• 1 month 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.

frollogaston4• 1 month ago

I still don't know what "get fucked" means, are these the steps that pissed him off the most?

timnetworks• 1 month ago

this is the instruction to the microsoft product manager that put that there

ivraatiems• 1 month ago

I really like this breakdown of what one has to do. For my little laptop-selling side business, I have the install-and-setup process pretty heavily streamlined, and it still takes time to do things like get all the relevant driver updates installed and test the machine to ensure it's fit for sale. Probably around an hour or two per machine, but with a lot more downtime than this process involves.

I would generally advise against buying an HP in this day and age, though.

Setting Up a New Windows Laptop in 2026

Related Stories