“Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring…” except you who is very frustrated with the new family computer. Setting up the machine seems more of a hassle than the salesman made it out to be. Santa’s coming in a few hours and you need your sleep.
Don’t get terribly frustrated. There are a few things to remember when setting up a new PC. Virus software, wires, data… I plan to cover the basics, so keep this list next to Santa’s cookie plate and make sure there’s extra Toll House’s left for Ol’ Saint Nick.
Un-boxing the new computer should prove to be the most frustrating experience. I guarantee the first thing you’re going to run into is Styrofoam bricks packed around everything. Those white bricks will soon fragment into smaller-than-pea-size pieces that will stick to everything. Keep digging and you’ll find a keyboard, mouse, power cord, and tower.
Your new computer really isn’t that different than the one it’s replacing. Chances are the new one has many of the same ports on the back. Power plugs, internet connections, monitor cables, keyboards and mice will all plug in the same way they did ten years ago. Of course there’s exceptions, but the basics really haven’t evolved. As long as you match colors and shapes you should be all set.
Now the moment you’ve been anticipating. The first time you push that power button you expect the computer to just zip into Windows. No. You’re going to be asked for registration information, and I would expect to be sitting there for 20 minutes. You’re probably asking yourself if Santa really needs all those cookies.
What happened to all the software the salesman told you about? Most of the software is 30 day trials. Don’t worry, most of your old software can be installed on the new machine. Office, most games, and most modern printers will easily install on Windows 7. Before you install new titles you should remember to remove the old.
Removing the trial software in Windows 7 requires going to the “computer” menu. Once there, take a look at the blue menu bar for “uninstall or change a program,” then find what you want and remove it. Unless you paid the store or had it custom configured by the manufacturer, your new computer will have a lot of trial titles.
Can’t find titles to replace the ones you’re removing? Don’t fret. www.FileHippo.com has many free titles that function similarly to the higher priced trial titles that came on the machine. AVG, for example, is top rated virus software that happens to be free. Open Office, another freebie, is a Microsoft Office replacement.
Data relocation is the biggest hurdle to overcome. How are you going to get all that data moved from the old to the new? Maybe not tonight, and maybe not without a cup of coffee to go along with the Toll House, but you can move data yourself. Windows 7 has Windows Easy Transfer built in. You can transfer data from machine to machine with a USB transfer cable or over your home network. It takes some time, but does an exceptional job at migrating from machine to machine.
If all went well, there should be plenty of cookies left for Santa and you should be able to get a few hours of sleep before the kids wake up. Setting up the new computer really isn’t as daunting a task as you might think. After all, when compared to assembling the kids’ toys, the computer really isn’t that maddening.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at remoquin@gmail.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)