In these festive hours have you received or have you given yourself a new Windows 10 Notebook or Desktop as a gift and do you find yourself a little confused because it is the first time that you use a device with the latest Windows? Don't worry, you are in the right place to get to know everything about the new Microsoft Operating System and get off to a good start with your new Computer with Windows 10!

You have just purchased a new computer and, after the first power up, you have found that the operating system installed on it is Windows 10. You have not replaced your old and trusted computer for several years and you are still left with the old versions of Windows, such as Windows 7, Windows Vista or, even, Windows XP.

To tell the truth, you are a little confused in front of this new graphical interface and you are now trying to understand where all the tools you used are located. How do you say? Do you want to give it up? Don't give up, because I'm here to help you. In this post, in fact, I will explain how to use Windows 10 so that you can understand the basics to orient yourself and learn how it works.

How to Set up a New Computer with Windows 10
Set up Your Network
Firstly, you need to connect to the Internet. Just navigate to Start > Settings > Network & Internet and you can choose how you want to connect, for example, VPN, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.

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If you are using a PC with a touch screen, you can use a long tap on the networking icon in the system tray in the lower right of the screen.

Run Windows Update
Another step of the computer setup is to run Windows Update on the new machine. Microsoft continually releases Windows updates to fix some security issues and let the machine run better although your computer is new. Thus, make sure your Windows is the latest version before doing anything else.

This process may take a few minutes or an hour depending on how many updates the machine needs to install. And one or more restarts may be required.

Step 1: Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security.

Step 2: In the Windows Update window, click Check for updates. Windows will detect and download available updates.

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Step 3: Restart your computer and perform the update process.

Protect Your Computer
After running the latest version of Windows 10, the third step of the computer setup is to set up the new PC’s security. And there are two ways you can try to protect your computer from malware – using Windows built-in tool named Windows Defender or downloading antivirus software.

By default, Windows Defender is enabled unless the computer has a third-party antivirus program. In our opinion, it is a perfect and viable antivirus software and can keep your PC safe.

It can find malicious programs and potential threats, as well as recognize and prevent malicious websites. Four scan types are offered, for example, full scan, quick scan, custom scan, and Windows Defender offline scan.

Just go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender > Open Windows Defender Security Center and then choose a section to perform a scan.

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Install Your Favorite Web Browser
In Windows 10, the PC comes with Microsoft Edge as the default browser. If you don’t like it, you can download and install another browser for the new computer. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox has gained much popularity from persons. So, you can also install one of them from the official website.

After installing your favorite browser, you can choose to set it as the default web browser. Just go to Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps. Scroll down to Web browser and click Microsoft Edge to see a list. Just choose Google Chrome or Firefox to set it as the default browser.

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Clean up Bloatware from Your Computer
You should know, some software that you don’t want always comes preinstalled on most computers and it is known as junkware or crapware.

Getting rid of bloatware is a necessary step for the computer setup. This is because leaving these apps installed won’t do you much good but may slow your computer down.

The simple way to do this work is downloading an uninstaller like PC Decrapifier to scan the PC for bloatware and wipe it away at a draught or using the built-in tool in Windows.

Just open Control Panel, click Uninstall a program from the Programs section and get the following window. Then, right-click the software you don’t want and choose Uninstall.

Install New Software on Your Computer
One of Windows 10 initial setup walkthroughs is to install some essential software on your computer after uninstalling the bloatware. Microsoft Office, PDF editor, chat tool, compressed software, etc. may be what you need. Just download them from the Internet and install them.

Personalize Your Device
How to set up a new computer with Windows 10 besides the above ideas? One step is to personalize the machine. You can go to Start > Settings > Personalization to choose the desktop background, colors, fonts, themes, etc.

Update Your Drivers (Optional)
This computer setup operation is not available for all of you. Usually, Windows Update should have installed new drivers for your computer. But Windows Update isn’t always at the forefront of driver updates.

If you are a gamer, you should often update the graphics card driver to make sure optimal performance in the newest games. Besides, updating the device driver can avoid some issues caused by a Windows update.

To do this work, you can right-click the Start button to choose Device Manager. Then, right-click each driver that you want to update and choose Update driver. Then, let Windows search for updated software and install it. This requires updating the driver one by one, which is a bit troublesome.

Here you can try another way – using a professional driver update tool like Driver Easy. This tool can scan your computer and list all the outdated drivers. Just choose to update them one by one with the free edition. Also, you can upgrade to the pro edition and update all drivers at a time.

Back up Your New Computer
After finishing the above PC setup steps, now your computer is safe, up-to-date, clean (no garbage), and now it can meet your specific needs. But things haven’t been done. Backing up your new computer is a last but very important part of the computer setup.

Your computer is in a good state and it is time to create a clone or image of the primary hard drive from which Windows boots and save it to another hard drive. By this, you can restore your PC to a healthy state without reinstalling Windows when something wrong.

You may ask what the difference between clone and image is. Simply speaking, a clone creates the same copy of the disk including files, system settings, programs, etc. And it will consume the entire hard drive but it is plug-and-play.

While system image means creating an image file for the Windows system. For more information, refer to this post - Clone VS Image: What's the Difference? Get the Answer Now!

How can you back up your new computer to finish the last computer setup? A professional Windows backup software can be used to help you and it is MiniTool ShadowMaker.

If you want to deepen the topic on backing up Windows 10 with MiniTool ShadwoMaker, you just have to read the tutorial on how to backup on Windows 10.

To Sum Up
The tips for making the best use of Windows 10 don't end there. There are many tools and features integrated in this operating system, so new ones are often introduced, through automatic updates.

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