I'm aware of that... the videos are labelled as being in English to signify that I'm aware of this as an issue. I'm a little bit embarrassed that I cannot speak anything other than English, but I've never had any particular reason to learn anything else. This is a cultural problem rather than me being malicious or deliberate.
@@sterntechdaddy I mean that you speak too fast. For me watching such video is always a practice, so thank u for that. However it really made me struggle to understand due to your pace.
@@ИндираВахитова-о1я I wanted to keep the video as short as possible and assumed people would stop and rewind. But I'll slow down for future videos. :D
I DID IT!! I DID IT!! Thank you SO much Nic! this video helped me GREATLY. I learned SO much. And your calm voice kept me from getting anxious. Thank you again!
The only person on youtube I have seen who has replied to all the comments. It shows how much you value your subscribers. I really pray and hope you get more subscribers mate. I am expecting my new laptop in a couple of days and this video was super helpful. Thanks for making an elaborate video on this topic.
I collect my new laptop tomorrow. I haven't owned a personal laptop or computer for 7 years, and that one was 3 years old when I snapped it over my knee so this is really helpful. Nice one, cheers
Hi Nic. Just bought a Lenovo ideapad laptop and dreading the setup. But you helped sidestep all the usual hoops we jump through. Now I have a password free access to my desk top. Thank you so much from New York City!
omg iv never met someone who is lefty with their mouse before. this is so cool. i’m getting a new laptop similar to this one, later this week for online school and this is going to help a lot. thanks!!
Bought a laptop a few days ago...just now setting this up with ur help...I'm a little bit slow...so I kept on repeating every details...thanks from Riyadh KSA...i subscribed
Glad I could help! I was thinking that the video would be rather long if I slowed everything down and explained it all - so I decided to do the tweaks fairly quickly. Some people have complained about the speed, but its not a memory test and UA-cam does allow people to pause and play sections as many times as they like. I could do a 'real time' click along video - which I may well do in the future. :D
Well done. I like that you went step by step and didn't gloss over any set up steps. I just got a new gaming laptop and your tuturoieal should prove to be immensely helpful.
Thank you so much for this! I was struggling with my laptop because I have never owned one before but with your YT tutorial helped me get everything situated. Thanks so much!
Tell you what Nic,,,,, you saved me a TON of time, headache, frustration and money! I bought a refurbished Acer and got stuck at the Microsoft account sign in page,,,,, and I followed on screen instructions that said to connect to the internet. The trackpad wasn't working worth a crap and many other problems. After listening to your video,,, especially where you said you don't have to be connected to the internet, it was smooth sailing. Thank you sooooooooooo much!!
Thank you Nic for this stellar video. I didn't bother to look at others' laptop setup, yours is so thorough. I ended up watching this video on my old Toshiba laptop and with my left hand I would pause when you were explaining and with my right hand I would do it on the Lenovo as you were showing. It only took me about 5 hours over a two week period but I finally managed to complete everything, plus I read through most of the comments and your replies and that way I learned so much more! Instead of bring the new flexpad Lenovo to a local guy I decided to follow you, diy, and learn. I now feel competent and I did subscribe and I will donate. This deserves a whole lot more than a cup of coffee so I will give what I can. You are helping so many people with this content. And, I send you a high ten for helping me leapfrog MS and their INvasive data collection. P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed your humor "Noooo", "eeehhh" and by now I am quite used to your accent and bips and bops! Oh, btw, I received my new flexpad two months ago and was dreading the setup so I just left it on the chair. It really wasn't so bad after all. Cheers!
Very interesting and informative. My new laptop is still in its box for fear of being overwhelmed as I am a technophobe but now having watched your video I shall venture towards the seal with my pocket knife...I feel my confidence level rising.
Hi Nic and thank you for this well-made, helpful and generous video! I have some questions tho: - Does the setting of the preferences option make an important difference in the computer's responsiveness? I personally find it quite pleasant to have some of these settings, but wouldn't want to sacrifice much efficiency for it... - About what you do next in the startup and recovery settings, I understand that debugging info can end up weighting quite a lot, but isn't it also an important function to have to understand why your system failed? - Why turning off the sleep modes and boosting the energy consumption for when the laptop is plugged in, doesn't it tend to reduce the battery lifespan and to waste more energy? Thanks again!
I love questions! First, if you have any general worries about something then you don't have to do it... but.. 1. There's no single setting that makes everything faster - just lots of little effects that have a cumulative benefit - but I'm not sure what you mean by 'preferences option' so if you clarify that I'll answer - just me know where in the video you see it. 2. The PC not automatically restarting means it hangs on the BSOD and the error message associated with that can be noted. Crash dumps have a purpose, obviously, but with this setting unaltered, Windows will make one every time the PC has a problem - I have seen computers with nearly 1GB of crash dump data files. Personally, I have never needed to analyse these files - with the subsequent repair being diagnoses from other sources. Some forums like to ask for crash dumps as some kind of automated firs answer - which is fine, but that's also a little test to see if the person asking the question is serious. 3. Batteries don't need the 'conditioning' like they used to, but remember that there are two power modes for a laptop - plugged into the mains and on battery. So there are two parts to any power plan. I altered the mains section of the power plan - to maximise performance and stop the laptop doing the usual power saving tricks like turning off the screen or going into sleep. When it's plugged in you can, and probably should, have maximum performance and convenience because you're not worried about running out of power. There are, of course, important factors when considering the life of a laptop... I discuss what I think is the most important one in another video.... ua-cam.com/video/ss2kbYFUNl8/v-deo.html (Adjusting what happens when you close the lid close action is the biggest thing - that one setting will probably make your laptop last longer more than worrying about the battery.) But most modern laptops are aware of battery preservation issues and do things like not fully charge the battery when the laptop is on mains for an extended periods so don't be too concerned about the battery. :)
Absolutely BRILLIANT tutorial. I very recently bought a Dell Inspiron 15 1502 laptop and I'm not at all tech savvy, so your video is honestly priceless and so appreciated! I like your "How to avoid using a Microsoft account" section, but unfortunately I didn't realise that avoidance was even an option, so when the set-up process got to "Let's connect you to a network" I input my Hotmail details and continued the setting-up process. Is it now too late for me to return, and select "I don't have internet" (around 6:30) or can I still revert back and opt out? I actually like the idea of having a password into the laptop however, even though you point out that such passwords are "not a high security thing". Many thanks for any tips, and kudos again for a great video!
You can change to a local account at any time - just check the account section in settings. Also, there’s no right/wrong here. You can make your own choice. I’m going to do a separate video soon so people can make an informed choice about what kind of user account to use. :D
@@juncrow2007 Familiarity is key... Just use the one you normally use. :) I tend to use Edge because every PC will have that regardless of which browser the customer usually uses. Also, if Edge is working then that helps with the diagnosis of problems that customers report when using the Web. i.e. is it their browser, Windows or something external. :)
LoL To be honest, I was a little worried... but if it had b0rked then this video wouldn't exist. It's actually helpful for people who are buying a laptop for the first time... so I left it unedited. :)
Word isn't activated unless you buy a licence... either a retail key or via Office 365. It's preinstalled... so if you sign in with a Microsoft Account that has Office associated with it then it'll set itself up for you. :)
Can we getta like for every time he says brand spanking new 😂 Anyways, thanks for this. Also thanks for not editing the long break where you powered it up cos I was worrying when I setup this thing.
I'd rather have £5 for each time... And I don't generally edit my videos because it makes them more authentic and honest, but I'm also not getting paid for making them - so any time spent editing is more time spent not getting paid for something. :)
@@JackieMackenzie That feels like too long... but by the time you read this it will probably be OK. :) If your computer has a mechanical hard drive the disc thrashing takes longer that it would do with a solid state drive, for example, but the initial installation can take a while on some computers.
It’s pretty much the same for all new computers... the differences between manufacturers are in what they install additionally to what comes with Windows. Lenovo, to their credit, have dramatically reduced the amount of bloatware that’s installed in their machines, so pretty much everything in this video will apply to every new computer. :)
Yes.... The McAfee 'paid for year' is notional and not included in the price of the laptop. McAfee might even pay Lenovo, etc to preinstall thier AV software anyway... they hope you'll carry on using it and start paying once that expires. Which quite a lot of people do...
Excellent video, extremely well explained and easy to follow. I will be using the 'Windows 11 version' for my new laptop, which I see is available on Nic Bunting's UA-cam page. Hello Nic, a quick question: in Power Options, Advanced settings, the 'Power buttons and lid' option on my laptop does not seem to exist, so having the very useful transporting with lid closed and not going to sleep mode doesn't seem to be available. Can this be 'fixed'? Thanks once again for a really well explained tutorial. Excellent.
It can be fixed… try this… www.tenforums.com/tutorials/107865-add-remove-lid-close-action-power-options-windows.html 🙂 It’s there with the vanilla version of Windows supplied by Microsoft and their Media Creation Tool, but some OEMs have customised power management which means it might not be there.
Thank you so much! I used it for a Lenovo AIO. If I ever come back to the Ideapad then I'll revisit this video. I had no idea there were so many settings.
Thanks! There’s no need for a specific desktop version - apart from a laptop always having Wi-Fi and desktop usually needing a LAN cable there’s actually no difference - the initial setup of Windows 10 will be the same. OEM preinstalled software will vary. Lenovo don’t preinstall much compared to others.
Do you need any drivers to install .Becuse I just bought one completed your steps,but do you need drivers or its ok?. Edit:Btw Thanks for the tutorial was so helpful .keep it going 👍
Generally... if its not broken you don't try and fix it. Check Device Manager and see if there are any unidentified devices - if there are you'll need to grab the drivers. If there aren't you won't - apart from audio and possibly graphics. For the laptop in the video Windows found everything, but you will always need to install the audio drivers - Windows will detect that as generic HD audio so that will need updating for better audio controls. You update the display drivers if you plan on doing more than general word processing and Web browsing - otherwise Windows will install ones that will work. Other videos about this aren't helpful because they just say 'now install drivers' without being specific... because the want to appeal to as many people as possible. which confuses people and isn't necessary because Windows 10 is actually pretty god at spotting hardware now. :)
Thanks a lot Nic for doing this video that really helped although I had to pause it quite a lot and Wiz back you were pretty fast for me but all good. I was wondering which security you do recommend to get? I know there are plenty of free ones I've recently bought a Dell.
Yes, definitely! The setting I alter are all standard Windows settings - so apply to anything running Windows 10 regardless of the brand. The laptop in the video is a Lenovo, which to their credit has the least amount of bloat pre-installed, but nothing I tweaked is unique to any particular brand.
Very good and interesting to watch but I have never used a PC so much of what you showed us went way above my head .Is there any way I can get a spoon fed video or course that would help. I am retired but one of the comments came from an 87 year old lady, she said it was so easy to follow made me feel quite inadequate.
There are four main areas... 1. Using a PC more efficiently - generally applicable aspects of using Windows. 2. Hardware troubleshooting and repairs. 3. How to assemble a PC. 4. The terms and language used when talking about computers. Which aspect are you interested in finding out about? :)
Thank you for uploading this video good Sir. Apologies if this question has already been addressed in the comments, but at what point would you suggest that a recovery drive should be created? Kind regards.
I wouldn’t bother with a recovery drive… it’s not needed if you’ve confidently got all your important data backed up. Which just means having a copy of it in more than one place. If the worst happens - usually the hard drive breaking - then you’ll be reinstalling Windows and your programs anyway. Then you just copy your data from the back up and it’s sorted out. People tend to forget browser faves and passwords, but these can all be saved. Just just have to remember to do it before something bad happens. ;)
I've set up more laptops and tweaked them (most for friends) than I've had hot dinners and it made my day when you said you didn't like trackpads and plugged in your mouse. :-) All so much easier and quicker with a mouse. I have a 17" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch screen laptop on which I've never used the track pad and also never touched the screen; too lovely a display to have fingerprints all over it......(think I need to get out more)......Think I could have powered up the Battlestar Galactica before yours booted up. :-)
It did take a long time! To be honest I was about to stop recording to get an RMA sorted, and don't worry... you're perfectly normal. I've never had a customer ever use a touch screen on any of the hundreds of devices I've seen over the years. And if they did, then it was only for the few minutes it took for them to realise the grubby finger marks are a proper problem. :) Touchpads do what they are told - which might not be what the person thinks they are telling it to do and that's the main reason people hate touchpads This is because that they are NEVER calibrated! If a few minutes is spent setting it so that dragging a finger from the bottom left to the top right moves the pointer across the screen from the bottom left to the top right then it works fine. Also, the 'stroking' to get the pointer moving often counts as a 'tap' so disabling 'tap to click' helps some people. And acceleration needs a bit of experience to handle - so turning that off makes life easier too. :) Personally, you wouldn't get in a new car and just drive off. There's a good chance you might crash... You take a bit of time adjusting the mirrors, getting to know where the indicators are and moving the seat about. Same thing for touchpads - except its frustration rather than crashing that happens. :) I plug a mouse in because I can't stop to calibrate every touchpad, and if I did it might mess up the settings the owner is used to - even if they are 'wrong'. I also don't own a laptop myself - so only ever use touchpads when dealing with a customer. It's amazing how much people adjust themselves to the thing they are interacting with - when in this case that thing can adjust to them instead.
It'll depend upon where you get it from, but the tips in this video will normally apply to every PC you can buy from major companies that make them. :)
Hi Nic thank you very much for the nice detailed informative video. I recently bought Lenovo T15 windows10 laptop and your video was very useful to do the initial settings. I have few queries as the setting options are slightly different from what you have shown. In the power option ~advanced settings this laptop showing only desktop background sleep display and battery. In control panel power option there are menu showing choose what power button do and inside it is showing Options 1 when I press the power button when I close the lid these 2 already mentioned in yr video but one more option When I press sleep button - pls guide what to select. Can we select hybrid for both plugged in and battery? Another doubt is there is shutdown setting under this which shows settings like turn on fast startup recommended: Sleep (show in power menu);lock (shown in account picture menu) which are all ticked by default when we press “change settings currently unavailable “ and Hibernate (show in power menu) is untucked Pls guide us what to do with this. Also pls advise whether window defender to be installed or not as I see from yr video it is not but just want to confirm. Thank you very much once again.
Don't worry. These settings aren't crucial - I like to remove 'Sleep' from the Start button menu so I don't accidentally click it when I want to power off! It's going to be a more useful thing for laptops rather than desktops too. So if you're likely to be using it and then have to move locations, 'Sleep' will let you leave applications open for you to resume using later. The settings are universal but don't always apply - desktops don't generally have a 'Sleep' button, but laptops often have one of the function keys assigned - it's probably got 'Zz' on it. The main reason sleep and hibernation are used by default is that a PC will boot faster than it would when doing a full shutdown/turn on. This is mainly dues to the legacy speeds of mechanical hard drives. The sustained read/write when dumping the RAM to hard drive is going to be faster than the stop/start read/write when cold booting. This has changed now though... if you have an SSD then the boot speed is actually going to be really fast anyway - so you can save some drive space and maintain a cleaner system by disabling the hibernation features completely. The second reason is that laptops are often on battery power - so they need to do something when the battery starts to run out. Sleep is easier because it doesn't require programs to close - which will bring up all sorts of prompts about saving, etc. Open the admin power shell and type this: powercfg.exe /h off Then see how the laptop behaves. Remember that being able to Sleep is a pretty handy feature for laptops - desktops not so much because they are always on mains power. You can revert back by typing the same command with on instead of off. :) That command turns of Fast Start because Fast Start uses hibernation features - so try it and see if you notice anything that irritates you. If you do then switch back.
@@kingmohammadthe6st159 You'll definitely notice an improvement in the responsiveness of Windows! Lenovo, to their credit, are really good at not putting on very much bloatware, but other manufacturers will install stuff that I can't really discuss. If there is AV pre-installed the remove it, for one example, and HP have a whole load of programs that you can safely remove too.
Glad it helped... I didn't include S Mode because its pretty rare. For other readers, it just stops Windows from installing anything that doesn't come from the Microsoft Store and can be disabled using the info here: support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-in-s-mode-faq-851057d6-1ee9-b9e5-c30b-93baebeebc85 I've only ever seen it on two laptops.... which is a tiny percentage of all the Windows computers I've seen, and you have to have a PC with Windows S Mode on to turn it off. Which only happens on a new device... so a bit of a problem when it comes to including it in a video. :)
May I assume Nic, that you are wholly relying on Windows defender for your antivirus protection, given that you log onto the internet and deleted McAfee? Very helpful video! Thank you!
Thanks and yes - in the video I remove McAfee and just use Windows Defender. I recommend the free Windows antivirus to all my home user customers. I actually completely disable the Microsoft AV on my own PC, but I'll be doing a video to explain what I think about AV and why I recommend and do the things I do. But I would like to say that I'm not suggesting you shouldn't have AV or that you should only use the free Microsoft software. I'm more about informed choices. :)
They mainly focus on making Windows more responsive, but some of the tweaks reduce background tasks which might impact gaming. But quantifying that in terms of frame rates would be largely an academic issue and I wouldn’t expect the difference to be detectable by the player. Having said that... Removing AV can make a noticeable difference depending upon what comes preinstalled.
It should be there… Some DELL laptops have rather intrusive DELL power management software which can hide some features. But it should be there… you might have to use Control Panel to find it.
@@sterntechdaddy Thanks. Still can't find it with Control Panel. Some UA-cam videos suggest typing in this command prompt: powercfg -attributes SUB_BUTTONS 99ff10e7-23b1-4c07-a9d1-5c3206d741b4 -ATTRIB_HIDE I'm not so good with computers. Do you know of an easier way?
@@sarahchongo2021 It depends on who made the PC... Normally it's this... Click the search box near the Start button and type 'power'. Click 'Power and Sleep Settings'. Then click 'Additional power settings' - it'll be on the right, or just scroll down a bit. Then you should be here: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options On the left laptops have a 'what to do when you close the lid' that you can click on. That's the setting you want. But if you're not seeing that then I'd guess you've got a DELL. As mentioned, they can have some pretty invasive power management software installed that removes these options.
Nic, Excellent..... Very informative. Much appreciated. Well, I'm going to follow this process as is with my new Dell 5402 Vostro 14" laptop Few questions: 1) Advice the process of OS recovery to USB & System image backup. Should or shouldn't login to Microsoft account in this process? And is this is a repetitive process on each patches update? 2) Help to identify and remove all built-in apps and temp or junk files 3) if I register windows and office with Microsoft account will that be restored after every format or I need to rely on USB recovery. Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
Couple of thoughts... I only backup my personal data... I don’t bother doing a full system backup. I’m going to do a video about Microsoft accounts... but even if I don’t log in with one, I do have one that holds my Windows 10 activation. And it can hold your Office activation depending upon where you bought Office from and whether or not you’ve got a key that you type in. Essentially, I make sure I have the installation files and licence keys I would need to reinstall my programs if I ever need to reinstall Windows. If you think about that... that will usually happen when you get a new PC - in which case making a whole system backup isn’t going to help because it usually won't work if you restore to the new system. In other cases it’s actually going to be easier to clone the system onto a separate SSD rather than do the backup. That might be worth doing a video on at some point. App removal and identification probably also needs a separate video, but generally if you don't use it and you can remove it then you probably should. :) Finally, the registration of Windows and Office with Microsoft is part of the activation and that depends on the type of licence you have - retail, OEM, etc. A previously activated version can normally be reactivated provided you have the licence key - so it's not related to recovery. As mentioned, I just keep the installation files and keys safe - so when I upgrade my PC or otherwise need to reinstall, I can just use those. But watch this space... I'll have a think and do some videos on it.
Simple exercise is just to make a note of what you use on a bit of paper, then everything else is probably removeable assuming nothing depends on it to function. It sounds a bit silly, and you might be not be very surprised at the list you produce, but as the computer gets older, the number of installed programs you don't use will usually get progressively longer than the list of programs you actually use. That was for the other people that might read this comment, as we're looking at a new PC, it's much simpler. Essentially you don't remove the stuff you use, but you can remove the stuff you don't use IF nothing else needs it AND Windows lets you. So you can remove '3D Viewer', 'Feedback Hub', 'Films & TV' and 'Groove' if you don't use them, but you can't remove 'Get Help' or 'Maps' - because Windows won't let you. You shouldn't remove anything that relates to a programming API because that might break another application. This is generally C++ 20xx distributions. There are 'debloaters' that strip out the Apps, but I'd be careful about using them... if your motives for debloating are because you've got a device with a tiny hard drive then it's worth looking at, but space saving isn't an issue on drives larger than 120GB. So you don't need to get intense... and should just go with what you can manipulate using 'Apps and Features'. Normally, it's not about space, it's about speed... so here's a few things I have to say about that... Installed Apps get updated periodically even if they aren't being used... so by removing them you reduce the overheads associated with doing that. It won't make a massive deference, but it's still a factor that needs a mention. But.. it's actually the running applications that you aren't using that are the problem. It might be worth a video - I can show the techniques I use when optimising a PC and how to identify what can be removed.
It's really a great help since my new laptop will come next week and i'm literally clueless that's why i searched and see this so ya thank you! Mabuhay ka!LOL💛💛💛
@@sterntechdaddy hi nick I've got my dell 2 in 1 laptop arriving this morning I will do everything in the video shown hope it will be all fine is there anything I shouldn't ? .
thanks for the good advice bro , l would like to knw the type of computer and printer with high quality that can work together in typing, printing and scanning thank you.
Great video! I'd love to learn more about the indexing settings you changed on the drive and such. I didn't quite catch the reasons for doing that. Any info would be appreciated, thanks!
There are two levels to indexing... Files and the contents of these files. By default, Windows indexes both to speed up searches. As folder contents change, the index is updated and because you might want to search for a filename and something in it, Windows compiles data for both.` This is a background task that uses resources and involves disc accessing - so by limiting the number of folders to the bare minimum (i.e. the start menu only) overheads are reduced in terms of monitoring and index list generation. Windows is clever enough not to try this while you're doing something, but when you idle it gets to work... you know this happens because there's disc activity when you're doing nothing and a subtle but noticeable stutter when you resume and Windows switches from disc optimisation/indexing to what you're doing. Disc optimisation is actually more of a burden than Indexing. In Windows 7 you could completely disable the Indexing service, but in Windows 10 doing so stops jump lists - which are actually pretty handy - and disrupts some other Windows functions. So you should leave Indexing running, but limit the folders it monitors and indexes for searching. If you use Outlook then you should keep Outlook in the Indexing list or it won't be happy. To be fair, if you do use Outlook them you probably search quite often anyway - Outlook is really good at it because it uses Indexing to help. So you just have to think about the last time you searched for something else... and whether or not it matters if it takes fractionally longer to get the results. Adjusting the Indexing Options doesn't prevent searches from working - it just means they might take longer as Windows doesn't have a pre-made list to check. It will scan the folders recursively looking for things. This used to be rather slow on the older mechanical drives - so Microsoft introduced Indexing to speed that up and it worked well once the indexing data was collected. Modern drives are much faster though - so they search faster and its hard to tell the difference between an Indexing assisted search and a recursive manual one. You can test this yourself... Write down the folders that Indexing has by default, try the tips for Indexing for a few weeks and then change them back and see if you notice. Note that C:\Users is one of the defaults - and if you open File Explorer, right click on that folder and select 'Properties' you'll see how big it is. It's not hard to see how indexing and monitoring that could take up resources...
Hello Nic. Just found your channel. I am trying to buy a laptop but everything seems to be out of stock.That was a lot of changes, would they reduce the risk of viruses and laptop running slow? What are your main reasons if you don't mind please?
I actually do a few more tweaks for the laptops and desktops that I service for customers... ;) Essentially the idea is to reduce system overheads - in a few key areas. The main way to do that is to adjust certain default Windows settings. Any setting that can be adjusted needs to be set to something by default and a lot of these settings are historically set by Microsoft according to a couple of main ideas... 1. Laptop considerations in a business context - especially power conservation. 2. To make Windows look visually exciting and different to previous versions. 3. Legacy and convention for system utility and security. 4. Personal customisation and vibrancy - to allow customers to ‘take ownership’ of their computer by changing the way it looks and the way images and information interact with the owner. There appears to be a lot of things to change... but each one is a proverbial ‘straw’ removed from the ‘camels back’. When done, there’s a nice pile on the floor and the camel is a lot happier! First time, it looks daunting, but with narration the tweaks take about 20 minutes. Without, I can do them in 10 minutes. Remove the preinstalled Antivirus and some of the OEM utilities and the computer works faster... You can test this... when you get your new one, use it for a week and then do the tweaks in this video. For the full effect, do as Microsoft tell you and use a Microsoft account when you turn it on for the first time. Then use the laptop without the tweaks... You can switch to local user account after a week, and perform all the tweaks the video shows. Then see if you think the changes were worth it. :) My thoughts on virus protection and vulnerability are for a separate video, but in the meantime here’s an interesting question... Which is more important; the safety features of a modern car or how it gets driven?
@@sterntechdaddy Thank you for the quick reply. and yes how the car is driven is more important, good point. Great vlog by the way. Anything that makes a laptop faster is always good. I will try all the changes. Thank you.
Hello Nic. Thanks. Brilliant video . I made as many of these changes to my old laptop first, 2013 Samsung. And Wow its a lot faster. Also very happy with my new Dell. Getting familiar with it is interesting.
Thank you for the tutorial! I just got a new Lenovo IdeaPad whichbis waiting to be installed so started to check tutorials! :) Please two questions and one suggestion arised! Would be very happy to hear your point of view about them! 1. How to make several local accounts? Earlier I only had one main user account which corrupted and I had no way to get in to my laptop. After getting help I created three accounts to choose from whether one would corrupt I would anyhow have I chance to log in to my computer. But that was Win 7, Win 10 is new to me so far. 2. Image! Should ine be aware and burn a image of a new laptop right after it is totally new and not connected to jnternet. Then one would always have a fresh copy of the system in case something went wrong in the future. I am planning to burn another image after having installed my own "must" software like local word 2013 from my previously bought disks. Do not want to pay every year again and again to Microsoft. 3. Would appreciate a lot if you please could tell in your tutorials what are you aiming at when you able or disable something in a computer set up! At this tutorial you mainly disabled everything! :D Is it for security, privacy reasons? Or so save capacity of a otherwise quite a small computer? Or possibly to get the desktop as simple as possible? Or some other reasons? Again Thank you so much for your great tutorials! You certainly are helping a lot for us who are not so into the computing secrets! Best of luck for your future plans!
For the first question... You can add as many local user accounts as you like - Select Start > Settings > Accounts and then click 'Family & other users'. For the second question... Don't bother making an image... on a modern PC it only take around 20 minutes to install Windows anyway. Then you just install extra software as you find you need it. Just make sure you've got a copy of the licence keys and/or the discs in a safe place. For the third question... In this video I'm optimising - so virtually everything is getting disabled for speed and/or efficiency reasons. For example turning off the way Windows hides scroll bars is an efficiency thing... so you don't have to hover the mouse and wait a few seconds for them to appear if you need them. Turning off most of the visual GUI enhancements is a speed thing - windows are much more responsive if they don't have to animate when you open and close them. Using a local user account has privacy and speed issues... My advice would be to try the tweaks and then see if you notice anything other than a speed improvement. :D
Thank you so much for this video, it was. BIG help. But... In some places you go so fast... And I'm not very computer savvy so it was hard.. but thanks !! I'll watch again till I get it!
Hi Nic I found this video really helpful. I followed you most of the way but some of the very useful adjustments made towards the end went a bit too quick for me as I was unfamiliar with the menus selected, and the effect of the change was not always apparent. Should you do a review of best advice on those type of adjustments can you go a little slower please! Otherwise I look forward to your further videos. Peter
It’s a bit like removing straw from a camels back... each tweak has an effect, but some pretty subtle and there is a cumulative effect. The settings at 16:10 will have the most obvious effect though... Thanks for letting me know about the speed... I’ll slow down for the next video. It’s always nicer to pause rather than have to replay sections several times. And I’ll organise things into categories too - some of the tweaks are just usability tweaks rather than direct optimisations and that will help clarify things better.
If you mean which Antivirus software do I use, then I don't use any! I actually disable the Windows AV and run my systems without and antivirus software running at all. :)
When setting up, creating the user account comes AFTER the request to join a network. The older versions of Windows Setup used to have an option to create a local user account. It was a pretty small thing to click on, but it was there... The latest versions don't have any option to do this... And Windows is really good at spotting network adaptors - so if you don't know this trick, you'll be using a Microsoft Account or you cannot continue the setup. BUT.... If you don't connect when it first asks you then you can force Windows into allowing a local user account so the setup can continue. Once that's done and you get the Desktop, you can obviously join a network. So its not about not using a network... its about not using it at a specific time to allow a local user account to be created. If you already have a Microsoft Account then you can, of course, use that... it has some advantages - especially if you use multiple Windows devices - but if you can't think of any reasons to use one then I'd suggest using a local user account because of the faster boot and lower system overheads. :)
For people with very limited pc knowledge like me, it's no use just saying WHAT you do if you don't TELL what it is or does what you're doing. We (I) still don't have a clue WHY you're doing those things and therefore can NOT know what the possible consequenses will be and if WE would want to do those settings or not.
Trust me. This is also meant for people with little knowledge. I don’t have a detailed understanding of how aircraft work or how to fix and fly them. But I trust the pilot and ground crew to take off and land safely. How much detail do you want anyway? Simple fact is that if you follow the video your new PC will work faster. I do these tweaks on ALL the Windows computers I see. And most actually date back as far as Windows XP.
@@sterntechdaddy Sorry, but I don't randombly trust strangers who tell me to do things without explaining exatly why and what it DOES, so I can at least make my own (informed) decissions.
K. I'm not forcing you to follow the video. It's also unclear as to how much explaining you would actually need anyway. Just read the other comments because literally thousands of other people have done this and I do this to EVERY computer I handle directly - either new or as part of a repair/upgrade. Most of the tweaks actually date back to Windows XP - so I've tweaks *thousands* of computers this way over the last 20 years. It simply boils down to turning things off anyway - so I'm not really sure how that needs explanation. So follow it if you want a faster computer. Or don't. 🤷♂️
I'm ding a video on this... I actually don't use any AV - because the tools I use to fix computers trigger them, but if you're asking if you need to pay for it then you probably don't.
Hello mate good video! My new Lenovo arrived today. Will any of this setup affect the Akai mpc mk2 keyboard controller I’ve bought for basic music production?
Brilliant, thanks Nic, I set up my hp easily following your excellent tutorial, if I can do it aged 87 then anyone can.
Glad to help!
except for those who are non native speakers. I constantly watch us youtubers however I could barely understand what he was saying.
I'm aware of that... the videos are labelled as being in English to signify that I'm aware of this as an issue.
I'm a little bit embarrassed that I cannot speak anything other than English, but I've never had any particular reason to learn anything else. This is a cultural problem rather than me being malicious or deliberate.
@@sterntechdaddy I mean that you speak too fast. For me watching such video is always a practice, so thank u for that. However it really made me struggle to understand due to your pace.
@@ИндираВахитова-о1я I wanted to keep the video as short as possible and assumed people would stop and rewind.
But I'll slow down for future videos.
:D
I DID IT!! I DID IT!! Thank you SO much Nic! this video helped me GREATLY. I learned SO much. And your calm voice kept me from getting anxious. Thank you again!
Fantastic!
Really pleased it helped.
😀
Tysm my computer is coming in on Thursday and I haven’t been near one since I was 16. So I was clueless this really helped me
Have fun setting your laptop sir!
I am getting a new desktop
Practice is the mother of perfection... :D
@@sterntechdaddy wow can you review acer aspire 3 laptop
@@luttappi22389 If you send me one...
:D
Excellent video, I'm almost completely computer illiterate and this has guided me to a new PC setup without any hiccups whatsoever. Thank you
Glad it helped!
The only person on youtube I have seen who has replied to all the comments. It shows how much you value your subscribers. I really pray and hope you get more subscribers mate. I am expecting my new laptop in a couple of days and this video was super helpful. Thanks for making an elaborate video on this topic.
Glad it helped!
And thanks for the compliments too...
:)
I collect my new laptop tomorrow. I haven't owned a personal laptop or computer for 7 years, and that one was 3 years old when I snapped it over my knee so this is really helpful. Nice one, cheers
Glad it helped!
Absolutely brilliant. I wanted to set up a new laptop for some elderly friends and wanted the simplest settings possible. So, this came in very handy
Glad it helped!
:D
It is brilliant Im going to buy a new laptop and dont want to pay extra bucks will try do it myself
Thanks!
You'll be fine... but any problems or questions just let me know.
:)
Hi Nic. Just bought a Lenovo ideapad laptop and dreading the setup. But you helped sidestep all the usual hoops we jump through. Now I have a password free access to my desk top. Thank you so much from New York City!
Glad I could help!
Thank you so much for this! Wish I’d seen this 6 years ago when I set up a laptop! Doing it again tomorrow so this will be a big help!!
Glad it going to help.
:)
omg iv never met someone who is lefty with their mouse before. this is so cool. i’m getting a new laptop similar to this one, later this week for online school and this is going to help a lot. thanks!!
Have fun!
This video help me to setup my new laptop for online class
Glad it helped.
@@sterntechdaddy sir,I didn't see"this pc " option in file manager ...plse help me out sir ...
Bought a laptop a few days ago...just now setting this up with ur help...I'm a little bit slow...so I kept on repeating every details...thanks from Riyadh KSA...i subscribed
Glad I could help!
I was thinking that the video would be rather long if I slowed everything down and explained it all - so I decided to do the tweaks fairly quickly.
Some people have complained about the speed, but its not a memory test and UA-cam does allow people to pause and play sections as many times as they like.
I could do a 'real time' click along video - which I may well do in the future.
:D
I’m getting an asus vivobook 14 soon for online classes and other stuff thnx for the straightforward review and setup
No problem!
Bro
How was performence asus vivo 14
Laptop because I also ordered in online 😬
im getting a dell ryzen laptop lol
Everyone's ordering the asus vivobook 14. That includes me.😅
Same, i've also ordered asus vivobook 14
Well done. I like that you went step by step and didn't gloss over any set up steps. I just got a new gaming laptop and your tuturoieal should prove to be immensely helpful.
Thanks!
Glad it helped.
thank you so much! i used this on an HP laptop and it was so helpful.
Great to hear!
Thank you for this simple yet detailed start up tutorial! Getting my very own laptop soon and this video is clear and not too fast and easy to follow.
This is for Windows 10… if you new laptop is Windows 11 then have a look at this one…
ua-cam.com/video/G9yumqzVm2w/v-deo.html
😁
Thank you so much for this! I was struggling with my laptop because I have never owned one before but with your YT tutorial helped me get everything situated. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help!
Tell you what Nic,,,,, you saved me a TON of time, headache, frustration and money! I bought a refurbished Acer and got stuck at the Microsoft account sign in page,,,,, and I followed on screen instructions that said to connect to the internet. The trackpad wasn't working worth a crap and many other problems. After listening to your video,,, especially where you said you don't have to be connected to the internet, it was smooth sailing. Thank you sooooooooooo much!!
Glad it helped.
🙂
I am getting my new Lenovo laptop today and you really helped me a lot! thank you ♡
Glad I could help!
Thank you Nic for this stellar video. I didn't bother to look at others' laptop setup, yours is so thorough. I ended up watching this video on my old Toshiba laptop and with my left hand I would pause when you were explaining and with my right hand I would do it on the Lenovo as you were showing. It only took me about 5 hours over a two week period but I finally managed to complete everything, plus I read through most of the comments and your replies and that way I learned so much more! Instead of bring the new flexpad Lenovo to a local guy I decided to follow you, diy, and learn. I now feel competent and I did subscribe and I will donate. This deserves a whole lot more than a cup of coffee so I will give what I can. You are helping so many people with this content. And, I send you a high ten for helping me leapfrog MS and their INvasive data collection. P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed your humor "Noooo", "eeehhh" and by now I am quite used to your accent and bips and bops! Oh, btw, I received my new flexpad two months ago and was dreading the setup so I just left it on the chair. It really wasn't so bad after all. Cheers!
I set you up with two ko fis. : )
Thanks!
That's really nice of you.
:D
Very interesting and informative. My new laptop is still in its box for fear of being overwhelmed as I am a technophobe but now having watched your video I shall venture towards the seal with my pocket knife...I feel my confidence level rising.
Thanks!
If you have any questions or worries then just ask.
I'm getting my new laptop today and already I'm so excited... It's my first time owning one so I'm looking forward to it 😁
If your new laptop is Windows 10 then this video will help.
I have a separate video for Windows 11 though.
🙂
Hi Nic and thank you for this well-made, helpful and generous video!
I have some questions tho:
- Does the setting of the preferences option make an important difference in the computer's responsiveness? I personally find it quite pleasant to have some of these settings, but wouldn't want to sacrifice much efficiency for it...
- About what you do next in the startup and recovery settings, I understand that debugging info can end up weighting quite a lot, but isn't it also an important function to have to understand why your system failed?
- Why turning off the sleep modes and boosting the energy consumption for when the laptop is plugged in, doesn't it tend to reduce the battery lifespan and to waste more energy?
Thanks again!
I love questions!
First, if you have any general worries about something then you don't have to do it... but..
1. There's no single setting that makes everything faster - just lots of little effects that have a cumulative benefit - but I'm not sure what you mean by 'preferences option' so if you clarify that I'll answer - just me know where in the video you see it.
2. The PC not automatically restarting means it hangs on the BSOD and the error message associated with that can be noted. Crash dumps have a purpose, obviously, but with this setting unaltered, Windows will make one every time the PC has a problem - I have seen computers with nearly 1GB of crash dump data files. Personally, I have never needed to analyse these files - with the subsequent repair being diagnoses from other sources. Some forums like to ask for crash dumps as some kind of automated firs answer - which is fine, but that's also a little test to see if the person asking the question is serious.
3. Batteries don't need the 'conditioning' like they used to, but remember that there are two power modes for a laptop - plugged into the mains and on battery. So there are two parts to any power plan. I altered the mains section of the power plan - to maximise performance and stop the laptop doing the usual power saving tricks like turning off the screen or going into sleep. When it's plugged in you can, and probably should, have maximum performance and convenience because you're not worried about running out of power. There are, of course, important factors when considering the life of a laptop...
I discuss what I think is the most important one in another video.... ua-cam.com/video/ss2kbYFUNl8/v-deo.html
(Adjusting what happens when you close the lid close action is the biggest thing - that one setting will probably make your laptop last longer more than worrying about the battery.)
But most modern laptops are aware of battery preservation issues and do things like not fully charge the battery when the laptop is on mains for an extended periods so don't be too concerned about the battery.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy OMG, your such a nice guy and found it so impressive that you explained, all of this to him!
@@jeritornincasa2776 Thanks!
Thanks so much Nic. Now I have moved from London to Oz, I don't have my tech-savvy brother to help me so this was great!
Glad it helped.
:)
Absolutely BRILLIANT tutorial. I very recently bought a Dell Inspiron 15 1502 laptop and I'm not at all tech savvy, so your video is honestly priceless and so appreciated! I like your "How to avoid using a Microsoft account" section, but unfortunately I didn't realise that avoidance was even an option, so when the set-up process got to "Let's connect you to a network" I input my Hotmail details and continued the setting-up process. Is it now too late for me to return, and select "I don't have internet" (around 6:30) or can I still revert back and opt out? I actually like the idea of having a password into the laptop however, even though you point out that such passwords are "not a high security thing". Many thanks for any tips, and kudos again for a great video!
You can change to a local account at any time - just check the account section in settings.
Also, there’s no right/wrong here. You can make your own choice.
I’m going to do a separate video soon so people can make an informed choice about what kind of user account to use.
:D
@@sterntechdaddy Hi again. Errr... and would you advise using Edge, which seems to be already on my new laptop, or sticking with Chrome?
@@juncrow2007 Familiarity is key...
Just use the one you normally use.
:)
I tend to use Edge because every PC will have that regardless of which browser the customer usually uses.
Also, if Edge is working then that helps with the diagnosis of problems that customers report when using the Web.
i.e. is it their browser, Windows or something external.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy Thanks so much for your advice. Appreciated!
@@juncrow2007 No problem.
Glad it helped.
Nic, I could tell that long pause after you turned it on you were thinking 'Oh bloody hell, don't tell me I did all this and I bought a lemon!'
LoL
To be honest, I was a little worried... but if it had b0rked then this video wouldn't exist.
It's actually helpful for people who are buying a laptop for the first time... so I left it unedited.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy Haha too true!
Thanks so much getting a new device in a week, it will help a lot!
You're welcome!
Well done and Thanks so much on your step by step and didn't gloss over any set up steps. (next things.. How did you activate microsoft words?
Word isn't activated unless you buy a licence... either a retail key or via Office 365.
It's preinstalled... so if you sign in with a Microsoft Account that has Office associated with it then it'll set itself up for you.
:)
Can we getta like for every time he says brand spanking new 😂
Anyways, thanks for this. Also thanks for not editing the long break where you powered it up cos I was worrying when I setup this thing.
I'd rather have £5 for each time...
And I don't generally edit my videos because it makes them more authentic and honest, but I'm also not getting paid for making them - so any time spent editing is more time spent not getting paid for something.
:)
For each time....
:D
How long would you say your laptop was on the “just a moment” screen? Mine has been stuck on that screen for about 39 minutes + 😬
@@JackieMackenzie That feels like too long... but by the time you read this it will probably be OK.
:)
If your computer has a mechanical hard drive the disc thrashing takes longer that it would do with a solid state drive, for example, but the initial installation can take a while on some computers.
i like you man! completely missed the connect to network thing ... neat trick
They tuck it away in the bottom corner... easy to miss... but not a problem once you know it's there.
;P
lol I like how Nic mocks microsoft/windows
I just came home with the E14 and the setup was close to identical
It’s pretty much the same for all new computers... the differences between manufacturers are in what they install additionally to what comes with Windows.
Lenovo, to their credit, have dramatically reduced the amount of bloatware that’s installed in their machines, so pretty much everything in this video will apply to every new computer.
:)
Is everything on here safe to do even with the year McAfee paid for
Yes....
The McAfee 'paid for year' is notional and not included in the price of the laptop. McAfee might even pay Lenovo, etc to preinstall thier AV software anyway... they hope you'll carry on using it and start paying once that expires.
Which quite a lot of people do...
Thank you for the help I didn't know how to login to a new laptop.
Hope it helps.
Thank you so much!
Glad it helped!
Excellent video, extremely well explained and easy to follow. I will be using the 'Windows 11 version' for my new laptop, which I see is available on Nic Bunting's UA-cam page. Hello Nic, a quick question: in Power Options, Advanced settings, the 'Power buttons and lid' option on my laptop does not seem to exist, so having the very useful transporting with lid closed and not going to sleep mode doesn't seem to be available. Can this be 'fixed'? Thanks once again for a really well explained tutorial. Excellent.
It can be fixed… try this…
www.tenforums.com/tutorials/107865-add-remove-lid-close-action-power-options-windows.html
🙂
It’s there with the vanilla version of Windows supplied by Microsoft and their Media Creation Tool, but some OEMs have customised power management which means it might not be there.
All 'fixed', thank you.@@sterntechdaddy
6:40 what did it say? loool
It's the internationally accepted noise for whinging.
:D
Was really useful for me as a beginner . So thank you so much
Glad it was helpful!
:)
Bruh u deserve more subscribers than u have
That comment made my day. Thanks!
guy responses to everything, how nice
Thanks!
😁
Thank you so much! I used it for a Lenovo AIO. If I ever come back to the Ideapad then I'll revisit this video. I had no idea there were so many settings.
Glad it helped!
Apart from the initial unboxing, obviously, this video will apply to all OEM computers that come with Windows 10 preinstalled.
:D
watching from India. Thanks for uploading this.
Hope it helped.
Thanks for the video especially for show not to connect to my network straight off the bat.
watching this cause hoping i'll get my first laptop next week. this is really helpful. thank you very much!
Thanks!
Hope it helps.
Hi Nic. Great video and very helpful. Have you done a video like this for desktop computers?
Thanks!
There’s no need for a specific desktop version - apart from a laptop always having Wi-Fi and desktop usually needing a LAN cable there’s actually no difference - the initial setup of Windows 10 will be the same.
OEM preinstalled software will vary. Lenovo don’t preinstall much compared to others.
Thanks for the instruction on how to set up new laptop , its worth while.
Do you need any drivers to install .Becuse I just bought one completed your steps,but do you need drivers or its ok?.
Edit:Btw Thanks for the tutorial was so helpful .keep it going 👍
Becuse I saw in some videos people dowloading drivers and i didnt knew what to do .Waiting you answer
Generally... if its not broken you don't try and fix it.
Check Device Manager and see if there are any unidentified devices - if there are you'll need to grab the drivers. If there aren't you won't - apart from audio and possibly graphics.
For the laptop in the video Windows found everything, but you will always need to install the audio drivers - Windows will detect that as generic HD audio so that will need updating for better audio controls.
You update the display drivers if you plan on doing more than general word processing and Web browsing - otherwise Windows will install ones that will work.
Other videos about this aren't helpful because they just say 'now install drivers' without being specific... because the want to appeal to as many people as possible. which confuses people and isn't necessary because Windows 10 is actually pretty god at spotting hardware now.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy thanks a lot for the info.you helped me a lot .you saved me some money .and have a great day .❤❤❤
Thanks a lot sir…I have now started university..wish me well
Thx I might be getting a laptop for this Christmas and I’m just checking how to set it up
All you need is this video... :)
Nic Bunting mhm thanks 😊
Christmas isnt even near 😭😂
@@exzid It's always less than a year away.
Which in geological terms is a really really short time.
:P
@@sterntechdaddy true
Thanks a lot Nic for doing this video that really helped although I had to pause it quite a lot and Wiz back you were pretty fast for me but all good.
I was wondering which security you do recommend to get?
I know there are plenty of free ones I've recently bought a Dell.
I'm going to make a video about this....
:)
Super video. Excellent job 👌
Thank you pal👏👍
Glad it helped.
🙂
Most helpful video, thanks. I suppose a lot of the suggested settings apply to other new laptops, such as, HP?
Yes, definitely!
The setting I alter are all standard Windows settings - so apply to anything running Windows 10 regardless of the brand.
The laptop in the video is a Lenovo, which to their credit has the least amount of bloat pre-installed, but nothing I tweaked is unique to any particular brand.
Thanks so much for your helpful and a quick response. Great to be in the same time zone when thinking out loud 🤔
@@desmurtagh489 That certainly helps!
But I tend to answer pretty quickly anyway.
Very good and interesting to watch but
I have never used a PC
so much of what you showed us went way above my head .Is there any way I can get a spoon fed video or course that would help.
I am retired but one of the comments came from an 87 year old lady,
she said it was so easy to follow made me feel
quite inadequate.
There are four main areas...
1. Using a PC more efficiently - generally applicable aspects of using Windows.
2. Hardware troubleshooting and repairs.
3. How to assemble a PC.
4. The terms and language used when talking about computers.
Which aspect are you interested in finding out about?
:)
Thank you for uploading this video good Sir. Apologies if this question has already been addressed in the comments, but at what point would you suggest that a recovery drive should be created? Kind regards.
I wouldn’t bother with a recovery drive… it’s not needed if you’ve confidently got all your important data backed up.
Which just means having a copy of it in more than one place.
If the worst happens - usually the hard drive breaking - then you’ll be reinstalling Windows and your programs anyway.
Then you just copy your data from the back up and it’s sorted out.
People tend to forget browser faves and passwords, but these can all be saved.
Just just have to remember to do it before something bad happens.
;)
Great video, clear and helpful - thank you.
Thanks!
Glad it helped.
Thanks sir,i need this coz im planning to buy laptop,and i dont have any idea how to use it.coz this is the first time that i use laptop.🙏🙏🙏🙏
Hope it helps.
Remember you can stop and rewind to watch as often as you need to… I go pretty fast when doing the optimisations layer in the video.
:)
I've set up more laptops and tweaked them (most for friends) than I've had hot dinners and it made my day when you said you didn't like trackpads and plugged in your mouse. :-) All so much easier and quicker with a mouse. I have a 17" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch screen laptop on which I've never used the track pad and also never touched the screen; too lovely a display to have fingerprints all over it......(think I need to get out more)......Think I could have powered up the Battlestar Galactica before yours booted up. :-)
It did take a long time!
To be honest I was about to stop recording to get an RMA sorted, and don't worry... you're perfectly normal.
I've never had a customer ever use a touch screen on any of the hundreds of devices I've seen over the years.
And if they did, then it was only for the few minutes it took for them to realise the grubby finger marks are a proper problem.
:)
Touchpads do what they are told - which might not be what the person thinks they are telling it to do and that's the main reason people hate touchpads
This is because that they are NEVER calibrated!
If a few minutes is spent setting it so that dragging a finger from the bottom left to the top right moves the pointer across the screen from the bottom left to the top right then it works fine.
Also, the 'stroking' to get the pointer moving often counts as a 'tap' so disabling 'tap to click' helps some people.
And acceleration needs a bit of experience to handle - so turning that off makes life easier too.
:)
Personally, you wouldn't get in a new car and just drive off. There's a good chance you might crash... You take a bit of time adjusting the mirrors, getting to know where the indicators are and moving the seat about.
Same thing for touchpads - except its frustration rather than crashing that happens.
:)
I plug a mouse in because I can't stop to calibrate every touchpad, and if I did it might mess up the settings the owner is used to - even if they are 'wrong'. I also don't own a laptop myself - so only ever use touchpads when dealing with a customer.
It's amazing how much people adjust themselves to the thing they are interacting with - when in this case that thing can adjust to them instead.
Great video bro would’ve liked the video twice
Thanks!
:D
"and this paper boring ! Mmm boring ..huhhh mmmmm boring " 1:35 😂
I have a low boredom threshold.
:P
im getting my new HP laptop tomorrow, im so happy! thank you for this video !
Glad I could help!
O n
Thanks Nic... Really appreciate your work... I set my laptop Lenovo Ideapad S340 just you did... Cheerio!
Glad I could help!
Yeah it did helped, hoping for better performance. Thanks!
Thanks Nic.. This video is super helpful for someone like me who is a computer novice!
Glad it was helpful!
Ty so much this really
help me with my new lp
Glad it helped.
Thanks helped me with setting up my new HP OMEN 15
Nice laptop!
Glad this video helped.
Getting the dell g5 se next month exited
Thx! Am new to laptop and this helped me 😃
No problem!
Thank you! I'm gonna get my first gaming PC and I'm very curious on how to set up a computer!
It'll depend upon where you get it from, but the tips in this video will normally apply to every PC you can buy from major companies that make them.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy Aw that's such a nice reply!
Hi Nic thank you very much for the nice detailed informative video. I recently bought Lenovo T15 windows10 laptop and your video was very useful to do the initial settings. I have few queries as the setting options are slightly different from what you have shown. In the power option ~advanced settings this laptop showing only desktop background sleep display and battery. In control panel power option there are menu showing choose what power button do and inside it is showing Options 1 when I press the power button when I close the lid these 2 already mentioned in yr video but one more option When I press sleep button - pls guide what to select. Can we select hybrid for both plugged in and battery? Another doubt is there is shutdown setting under this which shows settings like turn on fast startup recommended: Sleep (show in power menu);lock (shown in account picture menu) which are all ticked by default when we press “change settings currently unavailable “ and Hibernate (show in power menu) is untucked Pls guide us what to do with this. Also pls advise whether window defender to be installed or not as I see from yr video it is not but just want to confirm. Thank you very much once again.
Don't worry. These settings aren't crucial - I like to remove 'Sleep' from the Start button menu so I don't accidentally click it when I want to power off!
It's going to be a more useful thing for laptops rather than desktops too. So if you're likely to be using it and then have to move locations, 'Sleep' will let you leave applications open for you to resume using later.
The settings are universal but don't always apply - desktops don't generally have a 'Sleep' button, but laptops often have one of the function keys assigned - it's probably got 'Zz' on it.
The main reason sleep and hibernation are used by default is that a PC will boot faster than it would when doing a full shutdown/turn on. This is mainly dues to the legacy speeds of mechanical hard drives. The sustained read/write when dumping the RAM to hard drive is going to be faster than the stop/start read/write when cold booting.
This has changed now though... if you have an SSD then the boot speed is actually going to be really fast anyway - so you can save some drive space and maintain a cleaner system by disabling the hibernation features completely.
The second reason is that laptops are often on battery power - so they need to do something when the battery starts to run out. Sleep is easier because it doesn't require programs to close - which will bring up all sorts of prompts about saving, etc.
Open the admin power shell and type this:
powercfg.exe /h off
Then see how the laptop behaves.
Remember that being able to Sleep is a pretty handy feature for laptops - desktops not so much because they are always on mains power. You can revert back by typing the same command with on instead of off.
:)
That command turns of Fast Start because Fast Start uses hibernation features - so try it and see if you notice anything that irritates you. If you do then switch back.
This is very good thank you my sister is buying me my new windows 10 laptop so this video is uself for one time
Hope it helps!
:)
@@sterntechdaddy I hope It does
@@kingmohammadthe6st159 You'll definitely notice an improvement in the responsiveness of Windows!
Lenovo, to their credit, are really good at not putting on very much bloatware, but other manufacturers will install stuff that I can't really discuss.
If there is AV pre-installed the remove it, for one example, and HP have a whole load of programs that you can safely remove too.
Very useful video, thankyou - one minor addition would be how to take Windows out of S mode which I had never come across before.
Glad it helped...
I didn't include S Mode because its pretty rare.
For other readers, it just stops Windows from installing anything that doesn't come from the Microsoft Store and can be disabled using the info here:
support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-in-s-mode-faq-851057d6-1ee9-b9e5-c30b-93baebeebc85
I've only ever seen it on two laptops.... which is a tiny percentage of all the Windows computers I've seen, and you have to have a PC with Windows S Mode on to turn it off.
Which only happens on a new device... so a bit of a problem when it comes to including it in a video.
:)
May I assume Nic, that you are wholly relying on Windows defender for your antivirus protection, given that you log onto the internet and deleted McAfee? Very helpful video! Thank you!
Thanks and yes - in the video I remove McAfee and just use Windows Defender.
I recommend the free Windows antivirus to all my home user customers.
I actually completely disable the Microsoft AV on my own PC, but I'll be doing a video to explain what I think about AV and why I recommend and do the things I do.
But I would like to say that I'm not suggesting you shouldn't have AV or that you should only use the free Microsoft software.
I'm more about informed choices.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy thank you! 😊
Very informative and learned quite a lot. 😊
Thanks!
Does this advice apply to the USA? BYW great video.
Yes it does!
Apart from the region selection.... but yours will probably default to USA anyway so that should make it easier.
Does these changes effect gaming performance for games you want to download and play? Good video by the way.
They mainly focus on making Windows more responsive, but some of the tweaks reduce background tasks which might impact gaming.
But quantifying that in terms of frame rates would be largely an academic issue and I wouldn’t expect the difference to be detectable by the player.
Having said that... Removing AV can make a noticeable difference depending upon what comes preinstalled.
I don't have the power buttons and lid option on my laptop. Any ideas what to do? Great video by the way.
It should be there…
Some DELL laptops have rather intrusive DELL power management software which can hide some features.
But it should be there… you might have to use Control Panel to find it.
@@sterntechdaddy Thanks. Still can't find it with Control Panel. Some UA-cam videos suggest typing in this command prompt:
powercfg -attributes SUB_BUTTONS 99ff10e7-23b1-4c07-a9d1-5c3206d741b4 -ATTRIB_HIDE
I'm not so good with computers. Do you know of an easier way?
@@sarahchongo2021 It depends on who made the PC...
Normally it's this...
Click the search box near the Start button and type 'power'. Click 'Power and Sleep Settings'.
Then click 'Additional power settings' - it'll be on the right, or just scroll down a bit.
Then you should be here: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options
On the left laptops have a 'what to do when you close the lid' that you can click on. That's the setting you want.
But if you're not seeing that then I'd guess you've got a DELL.
As mentioned, they can have some pretty invasive power management software installed that removes these options.
im using the laptop too
Excellent 👍 job
Thanks!
Nic, Excellent..... Very informative. Much appreciated.
Well, I'm going to follow this process as is with my new Dell 5402 Vostro 14" laptop
Few questions:
1) Advice the process of OS recovery to USB & System image backup.
Should or shouldn't login to Microsoft account in this process?
And is this is a repetitive process on each patches update?
2) Help to identify and remove all built-in apps and temp or junk files
3) if I register windows and office with Microsoft account will that be restored after every format or I need to rely on USB recovery.
Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.
Couple of thoughts...
I only backup my personal data... I don’t bother doing a full system backup.
I’m going to do a video about Microsoft accounts... but even if I don’t log in with one, I do have one that holds my Windows 10 activation. And it can hold your Office activation depending upon where you bought Office from and whether or not you’ve got a key that you type in.
Essentially, I make sure I have the installation files and licence keys I would need to reinstall my programs if I ever need to reinstall Windows.
If you think about that... that will usually happen when you get a new PC - in which case making a whole system backup isn’t going to help because it usually won't work if you restore to the new system.
In other cases it’s actually going to be easier to clone the system onto a separate SSD rather than do the backup.
That might be worth doing a video on at some point.
App removal and identification probably also needs a separate video, but generally if you don't use it and you can remove it then you probably should.
:)
Finally, the registration of Windows and Office with Microsoft is part of the activation and that depends on the type of licence you have - retail, OEM, etc.
A previously activated version can normally be reactivated provided you have the licence key - so it's not related to recovery.
As mentioned, I just keep the installation files and keys safe - so when I upgrade my PC or otherwise need to reinstall, I can just use those.
But watch this space... I'll have a think and do some videos on it.
@@sterntechdaddy I'm waiting for your video on Microsoft account
@@sterntechdaddy I'm finding it difficult to identify the unwanted / built in apps. Help to identify and remove them
Simple exercise is just to make a note of what you use on a bit of paper, then everything else is probably removeable assuming nothing depends on it to function.
It sounds a bit silly, and you might be not be very surprised at the list you produce, but as the computer gets older, the number of installed programs you don't use will usually get progressively longer than the list of programs you actually use. That was for the other people that might read this comment, as we're looking at a new PC, it's much simpler.
Essentially you don't remove the stuff you use, but you can remove the stuff you don't use IF nothing else needs it AND Windows lets you.
So you can remove '3D Viewer', 'Feedback Hub', 'Films & TV' and 'Groove' if you don't use them, but you can't remove 'Get Help' or 'Maps' - because Windows won't let you.
You shouldn't remove anything that relates to a programming API because that might break another application. This is generally C++ 20xx distributions.
There are 'debloaters' that strip out the Apps, but I'd be careful about using them... if your motives for debloating are because you've got a device with a tiny hard drive then it's worth looking at, but space saving isn't an issue on drives larger than 120GB. So you don't need to get intense... and should just go with what you can manipulate using 'Apps and Features'.
Normally, it's not about space, it's about speed... so here's a few things I have to say about that...
Installed Apps get updated periodically even if they aren't being used... so by removing them you reduce the overheads associated with doing that. It won't make a massive deference, but it's still a factor that needs a mention.
But.. it's actually the running applications that you aren't using that are the problem.
It might be worth a video - I can show the techniques I use when optimising a PC and how to identify what can be removed.
@@sterntechdaddyThis helps . Thanks .
I am getting a Lenovo or hp 14 inch laptop soon thx for the info
Did it help?
:)
Very informative 👏
Thanks!
It's really a great help since my new laptop will come next week and i'm literally clueless that's why i searched and see this so ya thank you! Mabuhay ka!LOL💛💛💛
Hope it helps.
:)
@@sterntechdaddy hi nick I've got my dell 2 in 1 laptop arriving this morning I will do everything in the video shown hope it will be all fine is there anything I shouldn't ? .
Can you make a separate comment?
I almost missed this one...
:)
thanks for the good advice bro , l would like to knw the type of computer and printer with high quality that can work together in typing, printing and scanning thank you.
Pretty much any combination of computer and printer that fits your budget.
😊
The best and very well explained 👏
Thank you! 😃
@@sterntechdaddy whats the benefits of having a local user account rather than a microsoft account
That's a great question....
I'll do a separate video for that.
Great video! I'd love to learn more about the indexing settings you changed on the drive and such. I didn't quite catch the reasons for doing that. Any info would be appreciated, thanks!
There are two levels to indexing... Files and the contents of these files.
By default, Windows indexes both to speed up searches. As folder contents change, the index is updated and because you might want to search for a filename and something in it, Windows compiles data for both.`
This is a background task that uses resources and involves disc accessing - so by limiting the number of folders to the bare minimum (i.e. the start menu only) overheads are reduced in terms of monitoring and index list generation.
Windows is clever enough not to try this while you're doing something, but when you idle it gets to work... you know this happens because there's disc activity when you're doing nothing and a subtle but noticeable stutter when you resume and Windows switches from disc optimisation/indexing to what you're doing.
Disc optimisation is actually more of a burden than Indexing.
In Windows 7 you could completely disable the Indexing service, but in Windows 10 doing so stops jump lists - which are actually pretty handy - and disrupts some other Windows functions. So you should leave Indexing running, but limit the folders it monitors and indexes for searching.
If you use Outlook then you should keep Outlook in the Indexing list or it won't be happy. To be fair, if you do use Outlook them you probably search quite often anyway - Outlook is really good at it because it uses Indexing to help.
So you just have to think about the last time you searched for something else... and whether or not it matters if it takes fractionally longer to get the results.
Adjusting the Indexing Options doesn't prevent searches from working - it just means they might take longer as Windows doesn't have a pre-made list to check. It will scan the folders recursively looking for things.
This used to be rather slow on the older mechanical drives - so Microsoft introduced Indexing to speed that up and it worked well once the indexing data was collected.
Modern drives are much faster though - so they search faster and its hard to tell the difference between an Indexing assisted search and a recursive manual one.
You can test this yourself... Write down the folders that Indexing has by default, try the tips for Indexing for a few weeks and then change them back and see if you notice.
Note that C:\Users is one of the defaults - and if you open File Explorer, right click on that folder and select 'Properties' you'll see how big it is.
It's not hard to see how indexing and monitoring that could take up resources...
@@sterntechdaddy Thanks so much for the response!
@@ethanschortinghuis3622 No problem.
Do you have any tips on cleaning up an old Dell Kap Top that still works very well , Thanks, Elaine
I do...
I'll make a video the next time one comes in for a clean up.
Awesome video thank you
Glad it helped.
Thank you Nic, very clear and concise
You're welcome!
Hello Nic. Just found your channel. I am trying to buy a laptop but everything seems to be out of stock.That was a lot of changes, would they reduce the risk of viruses and laptop running slow? What are your main reasons if you don't mind please?
I actually do a few more tweaks for the laptops and desktops that I service for customers... ;)
Essentially the idea is to reduce system overheads - in a few key areas.
The main way to do that is to adjust certain default Windows settings. Any setting that can be adjusted needs to be set to something by default and a lot of these settings are historically set by Microsoft according to a couple of main ideas...
1. Laptop considerations in a business context - especially power conservation.
2. To make Windows look visually exciting and different to previous versions.
3. Legacy and convention for system utility and security.
4. Personal customisation and vibrancy - to allow customers to ‘take ownership’ of their computer by changing the way it looks and the way images and information interact with the owner.
There appears to be a lot of things to change... but each one is a proverbial ‘straw’ removed from the ‘camels back’. When done, there’s a nice pile on the floor and the camel is a lot happier!
First time, it looks daunting, but with narration the tweaks take about 20 minutes. Without, I can do them in 10 minutes.
Remove the preinstalled Antivirus and some of the OEM utilities and the computer works faster...
You can test this... when you get your new one, use it for a week and then do the tweaks in this video.
For the full effect, do as Microsoft tell you and use a Microsoft account when you turn it on for the first time. Then use the laptop without the tweaks...
You can switch to local user account after a week, and perform all the tweaks the video shows.
Then see if you think the changes were worth it.
:)
My thoughts on virus protection and vulnerability are for a separate video, but in the meantime here’s an interesting question...
Which is more important; the safety features of a modern car or how it gets driven?
@@sterntechdaddy Thank you for the quick reply. and yes how the car is driven is more important, good point. Great vlog by the way. Anything that makes a laptop faster is always good. I will try all the changes. Thank you.
Hello Nic. Thanks. Brilliant video . I made as many of these changes to my old laptop first, 2013 Samsung. And Wow its a lot faster. Also very happy with my new Dell. Getting familiar with it is interesting.
Thanks a lot you made this hard step very very easy🙂
Glad it helped!
Thank you for the tutorial! I just got a new Lenovo IdeaPad whichbis waiting to be installed so started to check tutorials! :)
Please two questions and one suggestion arised! Would be very happy to hear your point of view about them!
1. How to make several local accounts? Earlier I only had one main user account which corrupted and I had no way to get in to my laptop. After getting help I created three accounts to choose from whether one would corrupt I would anyhow have I chance to log in to my computer. But that was Win 7, Win 10 is new to me so far.
2. Image! Should ine be aware and burn a image of a new laptop right after it is totally new and not connected to jnternet. Then one would always have a fresh copy of the system in case something went wrong in the future.
I am planning to burn another image after having installed my own "must" software like local word 2013 from my previously bought disks. Do not want to pay every year again and again to Microsoft.
3. Would appreciate a lot if you please could tell in your tutorials what are you aiming at when you able or disable something in a computer set up!
At this tutorial you mainly disabled everything! :D Is it for security, privacy reasons? Or so save capacity of a otherwise quite a small computer? Or possibly to get the desktop as simple as possible? Or some other reasons?
Again Thank you so much for your great tutorials! You certainly are helping a lot for us who are not so into the computing secrets!
Best of luck for your future plans!
For the first question...
You can add as many local user accounts as you like - Select Start > Settings > Accounts and then click 'Family & other users'.
For the second question...
Don't bother making an image... on a modern PC it only take around 20 minutes to install Windows anyway. Then you just install extra software as you find you need it. Just make sure you've got a copy of the licence keys and/or the discs in a safe place.
For the third question...
In this video I'm optimising - so virtually everything is getting disabled for speed and/or efficiency reasons. For example turning off the way Windows hides scroll bars is an efficiency thing... so you don't have to hover the mouse and wait a few seconds for them to appear if you need them.
Turning off most of the visual GUI enhancements is a speed thing - windows are much more responsive if they don't have to animate when you open and close them.
Using a local user account has privacy and speed issues...
My advice would be to try the tweaks and then see if you notice anything other than a speed improvement.
:D
2:00 what a British thing to say "Grand spanking new!"
Being an irritating pedant is also a British thing…
It’s ‘brand spanking new’, not ‘grand spanking new’
🤣😂🤣🤪
Thank you so much for this video, it was. BIG help. But... In some places you go so fast... And I'm not very computer savvy so it was hard.. but thanks !! I'll watch again till I get it!
I did some sections quickly to keep the overall length shorter... viewers can stop and rewind as often as the like though!
:D
Hi Nic
I found this video really helpful. I followed you most of the way but some of the very useful adjustments made towards the end went a bit too quick for me as I was unfamiliar with the menus selected, and the effect of the change was not always apparent. Should you do a review of best advice on those type of adjustments can you go a little slower please! Otherwise I look forward to your further videos.
Peter
It’s a bit like removing straw from a camels back... each tweak has an effect, but some pretty subtle and there is a cumulative effect.
The settings at 16:10 will have the most obvious effect though...
Thanks for letting me know about the speed... I’ll slow down for the next video.
It’s always nicer to pause rather than have to replay sections several times.
And I’ll organise things into categories too - some of the tweaks are just usability tweaks rather than direct optimisations and that will help clarify things better.
@@sterntechdaddy h ow do i set up my hp laptop ?yes it is connected but no internet🙁how do get turn on use my internet
What spyware do you use, please .
If you mean which Antivirus software do I use, then I don't use any!
I actually disable the Windows AV and run my systems without and antivirus software running at all.
:)
Hi what do you mean by window AV , I have always had mcAfee .
Windows has Anti Virus (AV) included for free.
:)
Hi
I will get my laptop tomorrow
So while setting up should I connect to wifi or not
Please explain
When setting up, creating the user account comes AFTER the request to join a network.
The older versions of Windows Setup used to have an option to create a local user account. It was a pretty small thing to click on, but it was there...
The latest versions don't have any option to do this... And Windows is really good at spotting network adaptors - so if you don't know this trick, you'll be using a Microsoft Account or you cannot continue the setup.
BUT....
If you don't connect when it first asks you then you can force Windows into allowing a local user account so the setup can continue.
Once that's done and you get the Desktop, you can obviously join a network.
So its not about not using a network... its about not using it at a specific time to allow a local user account to be created.
If you already have a Microsoft Account then you can, of course, use that... it has some advantages - especially if you use multiple Windows devices - but if you can't think of any reasons to use one then I'd suggest using a local user account because of the faster boot and lower system overheads.
:)
Wow this video is very informative and helpful, thank you so much, New sub. 😀
Glad it was helpful!
For people with very limited pc knowledge like me, it's no use just saying WHAT you do if you don't TELL what it is or does what you're doing. We (I) still don't have a clue WHY you're doing those things and therefore can NOT know what the possible consequenses will be and if WE would want to do those settings or not.
Trust me. This is also meant for people with little knowledge.
I don’t have a detailed understanding of how aircraft work or how to fix and fly them.
But I trust the pilot and ground crew to take off and land safely.
How much detail do you want anyway?
Simple fact is that if you follow the video your new PC will work faster.
I do these tweaks on ALL the Windows computers I see. And most actually date back as far as Windows XP.
@@sterntechdaddy
Sorry, but I don't randombly trust strangers who tell me to do things without explaining exatly why and what it DOES, so I can at least make my own (informed) decissions.
K.
I'm not forcing you to follow the video. It's also unclear as to how much explaining you would actually need anyway.
Just read the other comments because literally thousands of other people have done this and I do this to EVERY computer I handle directly - either new or as part of a repair/upgrade.
Most of the tweaks actually date back to Windows XP - so I've tweaks *thousands* of computers this way over the last 20 years.
It simply boils down to turning things off anyway - so I'm not really sure how that needs explanation.
So follow it if you want a faster computer.
Or don't.
🤷♂️
Thanks
bRaND sPaNKing lol
Btw is free antivirus software enough or should i get the paid one
I'm ding a video on this...
I actually don't use any AV - because the tools I use to fix computers trigger them, but if you're asking if you need to pay for it then you probably don't.
Hello mate good video! My new Lenovo arrived today. Will any of this setup affect the Akai mpc mk2 keyboard controller I’ve bought for basic music production?
The tweaks are meant to help speed up the laptop and make it more responsive.
Other than that, there should be no other affects...
:)
Did mine today ! Many Thanks ❤👍
Hope it helped.