You may even get one as part of a security suite. It used to be that you really needed personal firewall software to protect your PC from illicit access via the internet. Running multiple antivirus products isn't always good for Windows.) (When you install the third-party antivirus, Windows Defender goes dormant and only comes back to life if it detects that other antivirus isn't running. While the Microsoft Defender antivirus built into Windows has made big strides in the last few years, it's better to get a third-party antivirus that does more. Our current recommendation is Avast One Essential. There are plenty of decent free antivirus programs to be had. If you don't want to pay, you still need protection. Each contains more than anti-malware tools, like firewalls, antispam tools, and even parental controls to keep the kids who are online in line. Our current Editors' Choice security packages include familiar names like Bitdefender Internet Security and Norton 360 Deluxe. You should really pay to protect your system from malware. Or set active hours, so updates only happen overnight or on weekends. Delay updates by seven days if they're getting to be a bit much. By now, you should have a truly pristine Windows system. At this stage, updates tend to beget updates. When the downloads are done, run Windows Update again. It's going to take a while, and the Sandler flick will seem to last forever. Walk away, eat some leftovers, watch an Adam Sandler movie. You may have quite a few updates-large updates-to download. You may be behind, depending on when Windows was installed on the computer. Check for them via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. It might be worth keeping, especially if it's a free trial of a solid security product, which leads us to.Īt some point, your PC will tell you there are Windows updates available, probably about five minutes after you successfully boot up. It will hopefully be free of all the extras (except the Microsoft-supplied stuff, but you can uninstall most of that).ĭon't confuse crapware with trialware-a trial version of software you might actually want that is active for a limited time. Here's how to rid your PC of crapware, but on a new PC, it boils down to this: If it's got a lot of extra garbage software on it, use the built-in Windows Reset tool first to reset the operating system back to the basics. You're pretty much guaranteed to find extra pre-loaded software on a retail-bought consumer system, less so on a business-oriented one. The major system builders are reducing the amount of extra software (or at least making sure it doesn't appear all over your system), but there is a long way to go. Vendors install it under the guise of helping you out, but mostly they do it to get money from the software makers. That's because a lot of it is just that: Useless crap. These "extras" go by many names: bundleware, begware, bloatware, shovelware, and perhaps the most accurate, crapware. You don't have to set that up now, you can do that anytime.īig-name system vendors typically install software on their consumer PCs at the factory. You may also want multiple accounts on the PC for use by the kids or other family. This isn't as easy as it should be, but the secret is to disconnect from the internet when setting up Windows. So instead consider creating a local account. The upside is that by using the account, you can sync your wallpapers and settings among all the Windows PCs you own. Microsoft will push you to create a login-preferably by signing up for or using an existing Microsoft account.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |