Are You Buying a New Computer?
By George Harding Nov. 2006Before you start loading the internet or adding software you really should read the documentation in the “getting started” guide. In the event the system did not ship with disks that means you have restoration software on the hard drive. This may require you to burn a DVD or several cd’s to create your own system restore disks. The documentation will instruct you how to burn the disks through a program already installed on the system. It may give you reminders and warnings until you do. This is very important! The program is easy to use and it may only take a half hour of your time, it is necessary in the event your hard drive fails. If you fail to make the disks and your drive fails, you can still get Windows back because you have a certificate of authenticity on the computer itself that proves you have a valid license however if you without the restore disks it won’t have device drivers that make the hardware work correctly nor will have the extra software such as burner or DVD players. In the event this happens we can get your system loaded and most likely all the hardware drivers in place but not the software. You would have to contact the manufacturer to purchase these disks and the delay and cost could be a real inconvenience.
If you did get disks, make sure to keep them in a safe place and label them with the computer model so not to get confused later. We have experienced on many occasions a customer having several machines from the same manufacturer and the software is thrown in a box and not labeled as to what machine. These disks rarely give any idea on the label what machine they shipped with and most times they do not work on another machine. The same rule would apply for Office Suites and other software that has to be activated on a system. Getting the disks mixed up is not so important in this case as the key code. The key code is specific to each machine and keeping these in an organized fashion ensures you get the right license on the right machine later. The solution is to label the disks as soon as you get them!
The other area of concern on new systems is the antivirus that ships on the machine. Usually the software is good for ninety days before you have to pay for the right to continue downloading definitions. In nearly all cases you have to activate the program by accepting the license terms and agreements. If you do not activate the program, you have no protection at all. If you have an internet service provider that supplies a free protective suite such as SBC or RoadRunner you must uninstall the temporary version that shipped with the unit before installing your own. Most of the time the software will not allow you to remove the temporary version until you have activated it, sometimes you can just refuse to accept the license agreement when prompted. Only after uninstalling this is it safe to install your antivirus products.
If this sounds a little confusing you aren’t alone. Each brand name supplier has a unique twist to what must be done and they don’t use the same software on all models. When we build a system we ask you what you need, if you need special software, customization, data transfers or instruction we provide it. We also can help setup your new PC no matter what brand. If you want to go to a new machine without all the hassles of making it “your” machine give us a call. We can usually give an accurate estimate of costs before you even bring the machine in.
