New laptop; looking for a particular tip

sink

I remember seeing either on this forum or over in B&U a really handy tip on how to set up an out of the box laptop. It was a shortcut into a factory mode which allowed you to select which software you want to have on it for first boot into windows.

I have been asked to set up my dads new laptop but I can't find the post anywhere, can anyone help me?

demanufactured

Heres the easiest way to have a clean install on a brand new pc.

1. First time you boot it up you will be prompted to enter your name and set up the pc name. Dont enter your name, instead, Press CTRL+SHIFT +F3 together.
This will reboot the pc and will boot into the built in Administrator account and will be in whats called "Sysprep audit mode", Its what OEMs use to build new pcs.

Select "enter system audit mode" from the first drop down menu.
Select "quit" from the bottom drop down menu
DONT tick the generalize box.

2. Now while you are booted into the admin account you can remove any of the installed crap that comes with the machine and install the software you like, You can connect to the internet to download anything you need as normal.

I recommend going to http://www.ninite.com to download the apps you want, It is a great site that as all the essential free apps you will need.

(you may need to reboot when uninstalling or installing some apps, When you do you will be prompted with the sysprep window again, Select the same options as above.)

3. When you have everything installed and you are happy with how the system is,
Go to MY Computer - C: - Windows - System32 - Sysprep, And double click on the sysprep.exe file, This will bring up the same window you saw earlier, This time select "oobe (out of box experience)"
and you can either select reboot or shutdown from the second menu.

When the system reboots you will come to the create user screen like you saw when you first turned on the machine.
Enter your name and anything else windows asks for, it will create your profile and load your desktop.

What you will have now is a brand new PC with a clean windows install but without all the crap that Company's put on the machines they ship, You will have all your own selected software and a nice fast PC.


This may seem long winded and daunting but if you follow the steps above you wont get it wrong.

sink

Yeah that's the one thanks very much.

_AVALANCHE_

I don't get it, what's the difference between the above and just turning it on as normal and deleting stuff you don't want as normal?

U_Fig

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

I don't get it, what's the difference between the above and just turning it on as normal and deleting stuff you don't want as normal?

Would be handy if you were setting up the computer for someone else

johnnybmac

_AVALANCHE_ wrote: »

I don't get it, what's the difference between the above and just turning it on as normal and deleting stuff you don't want as normal?

It would be very handy if setting up stuff for many users...

Edit:
Actually, wait... If you go through the normal setup routine, would you not simply be able to do exactly the same stuff as above, once you've set up your system?

Another edit: Exactly what was said in the quote...

Thoie

demanufactured wrote: »

Heres the easiest way to have a clean install on a brand new pc.

1. First time you boot it up you will be prompted to enter your name and set up the pc name. Dont enter your name, instead, Press CTRL+SHIFT +F3 together...

So, if you were stupid and only looked here after going through the initial setup, is there any hope, or do you have to just manually uninstall all the crap then?