satya - 3/25/2013 10:59:30 AM

7 things (or More ...)


Take snapshot of labels on the back 
Write down critical numbers: serial, model, windows license
Register: websites, logins, phone numbers
write down computer login userids/passwords
Order recovery media from the manufacturer

uninstall software you don't want
Download any new updates

Buy a couple of empty dvds
Buy a highspeed usb drive with lot of space (300mb or more)
Get a permanent marker

Create a system image on the usb drive
Create a repair DVD

satya - 3/25/2013 11:01:26 AM

Prepare first


Buy a couple of empty dvds
Buy a highspeed usb drive with lot of space (300mb or more)
Get a permanent marker
Get labels

you will need these to create the necessary things for restoring your pc as things are BOUND to go wrong in a few months or a year or two or 4.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:02:41 AM

Use your smart phone to take pictures of all the labels containing


Serial number
model number
windows license number
any phone numbers listed

satya - 3/25/2013 11:03:32 AM

Send yourself an email of all the numbers for quick reference

I use gmail.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:04:28 AM

Register


write down websites
write down phone numbers
write down login ids and passwords

satya - 3/25/2013 11:04:51 AM

You should have


manufacturers website name
account email
account userid
account password

satya - 3/25/2013 11:06:40 AM

Go ahead and order repair disks

these days manufacturers are not shipping these. This should be a punishable crime. But again many punishable crimes go unpunished.

Go a head and order repair media for your computer. this may be a number of cds, or a dvd, or a usb drive.

this may cost 30 to 40 dollars. I think it is worth the peace of mind.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:08:02 AM

Uninstall the software you don't need

You may not know on day one what is required or what is not. That is ok. You can do a bigger system purge later. But you can quickly see the obvious ones that you can spot and uninstall them.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:08:31 AM

Get the new windows updates

Go ahead and get the new updates.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:10:17 AM

Get your anti-virus software

manufacturers typically ship norton or mcafee preloaded for a month. I have especially bad experience with norton.

I have installed bitdefender at 30 dollars a year. This is the first time I am trying.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:10:46 AM

Order of installing anti-virus


Install the new anti-virus first
then uninstall the norton

satya - 3/25/2013 11:12:01 AM

what I didnt like about Norton


it is in my face all the time
they continue to bill me even when I don't use it
it is hard to keep track of automatic renewals
helpdesk is peripherally helpful
they lost touch with the customer

satya - 3/25/2013 11:12:49 AM

Why bitdefender


seem cheap
I coulnd find a free one
(Some money is better than cheap to promote growth!!)
Rated relatively high

satya - 3/25/2013 11:14:13 AM

Experience with bitdefender


mixed
install is nice enough to trigger norton de-install
fairly not-in-yourface
but has some problems logging into their account as they use flash
ok so far
I will report later how it is working
they claim i can use it for 3 pcs. I have yet to try this.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:15:01 AM

Make sure you have account information for anti-virus


their website
userid/password
mail these to your email along with other information for keeps

satya - 3/25/2013 11:16:24 AM

So you have a good system by now


You have uninstalled unwanted stuff
you have the windows updates
you have the right antivirus

This is a good time to take a copy of your system.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:17:51 AM

Make a copy of your system image for recover later


Connect your large usb drive
Go to backup and restore in control panel
Select create a system image
choose  your usb drive
it may take about 30 minutes to create this image

satya - 3/25/2013 11:19:23 AM

Experience with system image


it may take sometime to locate this
It will not delete anything else on your usb drive
It creates its own root level sub directory 
The sub directory has another subdirectory based on your pc name
You can rename this pc-name sub directory later for keeping multiple images

satya - 3/25/2013 11:21:13 AM

System image WILL NOT delete anything else on your usb drive

The program didnt ask me in what directory on the usb drive i need to save the system image. This gave me the impression that the program may be using all the usb drive and may even format it!!!

I am reporting here that it doesn't. So if there is a poor soul like me searching before invoking the system image, then breath easy and let it do its thing.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:21:57 AM

On a new laptop it may be about 30 to 50G of data in the system image.

You may want a drive that is about 300 to 500G byes.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:23:34 AM

You will ALSO need to create a repair disk

you will need this disk to recover from the system image if all else fails. So use a DVD media to create this. Same backup and restore that you have used for system image has a link to create this.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:24:19 AM

Label all


power cables
repair disks
usb drives

satya - 3/25/2013 11:25:40 AM

You should have recorded the following


serial number
model number
license number

manufacturer website
userid
password

anti-virus website
userid
password

computer userid
password

labeled repair disk
lableed usb drive

satya - 3/25/2013 11:26:12 AM

Future system images

As you install new software like microsoft office, take a system image again.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:26:35 AM

What is a system image

it is a bit by bit copy of your entire hard drive!!

satya - 3/25/2013 11:27:44 AM

Another beauty with system image to upgrade your hard drive

Once you have a system image you can put the new hard drive like an SSD in and just recover the system image to load it with everything you have.

satya - 3/25/2013 11:28:57 AM

What do I use the manufacturer repaid media for?

If all else fails you reboot your machine with these media. This will reformat your hard drive and reinstall to the factory settings.

for me it came in 4 cds and it took me 3 hours to fully bring it back.

satya - 9/14/2013 5:53:57 PM

Just to keep things moving in windows 8 it is no longer system repair disk but drive

satya - 9/14/2013 5:54:37 PM

Read the link above to see how to create a system repair drive

Just like the repair disk, this can be created from any working windows installation.

satya - 9/14/2013 5:59:06 PM

The recovery drive may need to be as large as 20GB

And also it may have to be a dedicated one as all data on it will be deleted...

satya - 9/14/2013 6:03:22 PM

taking a system image in windows 8

Search for: taking a system image in windows 8

satya - 9/14/2013 6:06:51 PM

So here are some instructions for system image for windows 8

satya - 9/15/2013 12:04:50 PM

windows 8 multiple drives and system image

Search for: windows 8 multiple drives and system image

satya - 9/15/2013 12:26:04 PM

windows 8 system image fails with another process using the drive

Search for: windows 8 system image fails with another process using the drive

satya - 9/15/2013 12:44:03 PM

windows 8 system image fails

Search for: windows 8 system image fails

satya - 9/15/2013 12:49:15 PM

Windows 7 File recovery program that is used to create the system image also allows you to create a system repair disc

satya - 9/15/2013 12:50:50 PM

Now I have a whole bunch of options


System repair disc
System repair drive
System image
Manufacturer like: Lenovo OneyKey Recovery tool

In the end, a users luck is such that, none of these will work when this $300.00 computer fails with a wonderful virus. This got be easiery than thin.

satya - 9/15/2013 12:51:06 PM

Just provide a red button that says RESET.....

satya - 9/18/2013 9:20:19 AM

Four more things


Locate/Keep a copy of the user manual for the computer
  (As this might tell you how to change memory etc)
Locate recovery screens to understand without actually doing it.
Setup parental controls through OpenDNS
Setup your 4G phone as a hotspot for your computer

satya - 9/18/2013 1:48:29 PM

Ok the list as of now


serial number
model number
license number

manufacturer website
userid
password

anti-virus website
userid
password

computer userid
password

labeled system repair disk
labeled system image usb drive
labeled system backup usb drive

An online copy/pdf of the user manual
Locate recovery screens to understand without actually doing it.
Setup parental controls through OpenDNS
Setup your 4G phone as a hotspot for your computer

satya - 12/27/2013 9:53:52 AM

Before you take a system image


Uninstall unwanted software
turn on windows defender or equiv
install office
install chrome
get latest updates
open a windows office document and test it

satya - 12/27/2013 12:28:34 PM

Can you boot from a system repair drive in windows 8

Search for: Can you boot from a system repair drive in windows 8

satya - 12/27/2013 3:50:43 PM

why does creating the recovery partition drive take so long....

It is more than 15 minutes and it is barely half way. Is it because of usb 2.0 or something like that? wonder?

satya - 12/27/2013 4:17:40 PM

What is System restore and Push Button Reset in windows

Search for: What is System restore and Push Button Reset in windows

satya - 12/27/2013 4:37:07 PM

Looks like here is how windows 8 is expected to work for recovery needs

satya - 12/27/2013 4:38:27 PM

PC Reset

PC Reset, which returns the PC/device to its factory-fresh condition

satya - 12/27/2013 4:38:50 PM

PC Refresh

PC Refresh, in which your documents, music, photos and other data files are retained but Windows is reinstalled

satya - 12/27/2013 4:51:54 PM

Here is a video from Microsoft on this

satya - 12/27/2013 4:52:13 PM

It baffles me why it took 30 years for microsoft even to address this???????

satya - 12/27/2013 4:59:14 PM

what is the meaning of turn on system protection in windows 8?

Search for: what is the meaning of turn on system protection in windows 8?

satya - 12/27/2013 5:02:19 PM

push button reset on or off?

Search for: push button reset on or off?

satya - 12/27/2013 5:02:51 PM

windows 8 push button reset on or off?

Search for: windows 8 push button reset on or off?

satya - 12/27/2013 5:09:32 PM

Here is a little bit more detail on this stuff

satya - 12/27/2013 5:09:55 PM

Can't believe it took me all day so far and it might take few more days before I understand this....

satya - 12/27/2013 5:12:51 PM

windows 8 system recovery drive and push button restore

Search for: windows 8 system recovery drive and push button restore

satya - 12/27/2013 5:14:43 PM

Here is how to create and what you can do with a recovery drive

satya - 12/27/2013 5:14:58 PM

and it states...


you can boot from
refresh
reset
etc.

satya - 12/27/2013 5:18:59 PM

Prerequisites for push button restart to work in windows 8

Search for: Prerequisites for push button restart to work in windows 8

satya - 12/27/2013 5:21:18 PM

Here are some answers for this

satya - 12/27/2013 5:22:12 PM

Pre-requisites

A preloaded recovery partition on the PC, configured by the OEM.

Recovery media provided by the OEM.

Installation media, such as a Windows 8 DVD or USB flash drive.

satya - 12/27/2013 5:22:56 PM

windows 8 and system image and reset

Search for: windows 8 and system image and reset

satya - 12/27/2013 5:23:50 PM

Here is a bit of discussion on this

satya - 12/27/2013 5:26:59 PM

This is an explicit link to create and use a recovery drive in windows 8

satya - 12/27/2013 5:27:43 PM

This article also concludes...

Now you can boot the Windows 8 USB recovery drive and perform a refresh, reset, system restore, system image recovery, and an automatic repair.

satya - 12/27/2013 5:28:13 PM

Notice...


refresh, 
reset, 
system restore, 
system image recovery, 
and an automatic repair

satya - 12/27/2013 5:29:43 PM

windows 8 password recovery

Search for: windows 8 password recovery

satya - 12/27/2013 5:30:40 PM

Read this article

satya - 6/28/2014 10:42:20 AM

How to see performance of the PC

In windows 8 and on use the task manager to see what startup programs are taking more time and disable them

there may be a vendor supplied system information analyzer that shows bench marks of meory, cpu, disk etc

use windows defender and remove the external virus vendor programs as they seem to hog the machine during startup and even later

satya - 6/28/2014 10:43:02 AM

In Lenovo this application is under


Lenovo Soluton center
System
System information

satya - 6/28/2014 10:45:23 AM

what i see on G505 out of the box


Base score; 4.7
Processor: 6.3
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 4.7
Gaming: 6.1
primary disk: 5.9

satya - 6/28/2014 10:45:42 AM

this is based on a 4G ram, AMD a6 4 cores

satya - 6/28/2014 10:46:03 AM

keen to see when I put in 16G and see if that moves this one way or the other