Bought new laptop. What now

shugy

I've bought a new hp laptop from Harvey Norman. Retail price 799euro but got got 500. I know nothing about computers/laptop/tablet's apart from turning them on, logging into email,facebook or surfing the net.

Looking information on what next to do!

Do I install an antivirus or is this just for if I need to download. If I do need to install an antivirus, is it free or do I need to pay.

Someone suggested I need office for reading plans. Is this expensive?

I have windows 10 on other broken laptop but can't remember paying for this. A Friend suggested I've to pay Microsoft for this winds 10 . Is this true?

mordeith

If the laptop came with Windows 10 pre installed you do not have to pay for it. It should have Windows Defender installed already but you can get other free AVs if you want (Avast, AVG).

excollier

mordeith wrote: »

If the laptop came with Windows 10 pre installed you do not have to pay for it. It should have Windows Defender installed already but you can get other free AVs if you want (Avast, AVG).

Is Defender any good? Got a Win 10 laptop for someone, but being a Linux user, I have lost touch with AV software.

riclad

https://www.libreoffice.org/
libroffice reads ms office documents .
download chrome browser .
download vlc media player . plays any video file .dvd etc.
make a google drive account ,first 15gig is free.
https://www.google.com/drive/
I cant bear to use internet explorer ,it seems slower and it wants you to
download all sorts of ms apps . i don,t trust it.
Or go to ms approved websites .

https://www.google.ie/chrome/browser/desktop/

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

unless you need it as part of your job , theres no need to install
ms office

avast and avg antivirus is free .

https://www.avast.com/en-eu/index

create a restore point
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/e6bbddb0-9db4-4d88-9063-42c52c79a96e/create-a-system-restore-point

IN case you get a virus , you can go back to the last restore point

mordeith

excollier wrote: »

Is Defender any good? Got a Win 10 laptop for someone, but being a Linux user, I have lost touch with AV software.

It's grand coupled with good browsing practice. Nothing special but as a free option it's fine.

shugy

riclad wrote: »

https://www.libreoffice.org/
libroffice reads ms office documents .
download chrome browser .
download vlc media player . plays any video file .dvd etc.
make a google drive account ,first 15gig is free.
https://www.google.com/drive/
I cant bear to use internet explorer ,it seems slower and it wants you to
download all sorts of ms apps . i don,t trust it.
Or go to ms approved websites .

https://www.google.ie/chrome/browser/desktop/

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

unless you need it as part of your job , theres no need to install
ms office

avast and avg antivirus is free .

https://www.avast.com/en-eu/index

create a restore point
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/e6bbddb0-9db4-4d88-9063-42c52c79a96e/create-a-system-restore-point

IN case you get a virus , you can go back to the last restore point

I'm using internet explorer on the laptop, it's only one that's installed already.

Liboffice, can this read plans, take measurements from them?

Is chrome browser just the search engine?

Will download vic player

Avast and avg, how good are they. There's a mcafee app sign on my screen, does this mean I have mcafee antivirus installed. If so, if I install avast or avg, would they not conflict with mcafee and slow laptop down.

I know nothing about restore point, will need to learn more about this.

shugy

riclad wrote: »

https://www.libreoffice.org/
libroffice reads ms office documents .
download chrome browser .
download vlc media player . plays any video file .dvd etc.
make a google drive account ,first 15gig is free.
https://www.google.com/drive/
I cant bear to use internet explorer ,it seems slower and it wants you to
download all sorts of ms apps . i don,t trust it.
Or go to ms approved websites .

https://www.google.ie/chrome/browser/desktop/

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

unless you need it as part of your job , theres no need to install
ms office

avast and avg antivirus is free .

https://www.avast.com/en-eu/index

create a restore point
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/e6bbddb0-9db4-4d88-9063-42c52c79a96e/create-a-system-restore-point

IN case you get a virus , you can go back to the last restore point

I clicked the avast link. What does this mean by hiding your IP address and if it does hide it, how easy is it to get around it

FSL

You could dual boot it with a linux distro there are many out there. I like Fedora but it really is down to personal preference.
There are lots of things you can do and experiment with, a whole host of free software.

I have a Raspberry Pi on which I managed to put a web server, a database server and a PABX. Not the speediest of machines but a great learning/experimenting tool.

If you do decide to experiment I would recommend you take an image of the system after you have installed all the basic software you want. Then experiment away and if you screw it up, which is inevitable when experimenting, you can just reload the image.

shugy

FSL wrote: »

You could dual boot it with a linux distro there are many out there. I like Fedora but it really is down to personal preference.
There are lots of things you can do and experiment with, a whole host of free software.

I have a Raspberry Pi on which I managed to put a web server, a database server and a PABX. Not the speediest of machines but a great learning/experimenting tool.

If you do decide to experiment I would recommend you take an image of the system after you have installed all the basic software you want. Then experiment away and if you screw it up, which is inevitable when experimenting, you can just reload the image.

This is like reading Chinese to say the least

degsie

Did it come with HP Support Assistant? If so fire it up and look for updates. It will also advise you on how to create a recovery media.

shugy

degsie wrote: »

Did it come with HP Support Assistant? If so fire it up and look for updates. It will also advise you on how to create a recovery media.

Don't know? Where would I find this

degsie

shugy wrote: »

Don't know? Where would I find this

Type it into search. You running windows 10?

Ted111

libre office is free. but if you're that way inclined you can get
ms office for a hundred quid. No formatting or
compatibility issues if you use microsoft in work


Ninite for other useful downloads.

riclad

Chrome is a web browser , like firefox, opera , internet explorer Browser
Theres lots of free programs to read ms office documents ,
can you desribe it, eg file format, word file ,eg text.doc
or story5.txt last 3 letters is the file format
story 5 is the file name.

here s the web adress ignore the rest ,
https://www.avast.com/en-eu/index
theres no point in installing another antivirus if you have avg antivirus installed.
click start ,,menu ,programs, is avg antivirus there,
or type avg in the start menu search box.
You can click download , avast,
ignore the words in the top web adress bar.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/windows-10-enable-create-system-restore/

Theres no harm in using internet explorer,
i just think the menu on chrome is nice ,neat,small,
and its easy to use ,
the web adress bar is the search bar on the chrome browser
i hate the ie browser menu layout ,

ZENER

OP, By plans do you mean drawings of buildings ? That's not really what Office is for ? Can you be more specific of your needs ? Is the laptop for work or for home ?

Ken

riclad

the Start menu has a blank search bar, type in hp assistant or
just Hp ,you might need to click,ok, or press the enter key to search

theteal

Generally, for a shop bought Windows machine I would be uninstalling the bloatware before installing what you want. In fact, I'd probably find the licence key and do a clean install of the OS

riclad

I bought a new pc,the only bloatware i could find on it was a demo version of
Norton antivirus ,which was easy to remove and replace with avast antivirus.
i regard internet explorer as bloatware , but i won,t remove it as there maybe some window,s programs that might require it.
i just ignore it.

shugy

ZENER wrote: »

OP, By plans do you mean drawings of buildings ? That's not really what Office is for ? Can you be more specific of your needs ? Is the laptop for work or for home ?

Ken

I must be getting office mixed up with Adobe reader

vandriver

FSL wrote: »

You could dual boot it with a linux distro there are many out there. I like Fedora but it really is down to personal preference.
There are lots of things you can do and experiment with, a whole host of free software.

I have a Raspberry Pi on which I managed to put a web server, a database server and a PABX. Not the speediest of machines but a great learning/experimenting tool.

If you do decide to experiment I would recommend you take an image of the system after you have installed all the basic software you want. Then experiment away and if you screw it up, which is inevitable when experimenting, you can just reload the image.

He's asking for basic information on how to use his new laptop.Does any word of the above help?

riclad

https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/
free pdf reader .

I see no point in asking a non expert to uninstall and reinstall windows
10 just to get rid of some bloatware, eg demo programs that ask you
to buy the full version after a few months .
it,s like removing all the wheels on a new car in order to clean the tyres . a waste of time.
go to start menu programs, there ,ll be a list of programs there you have installled , eg under HP there might be , hp backup,
hp assistant etc
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17161/windows-10-find-all-your-apps-and-programs

file will be called say building1.pdf or map2.pdf
eg map2 is the filename , pdf is the file format .
You don,t need ms office to read a pdf file.
I prefer foxit reader ,it has a simpler interface than acrobat reader

mordeith

shugy wrote: »

I must be getting office mixed up with Adobe reader

If the plans are in PDF format then all you need is Acrobat Reader as you mention. If they're some sort of CAD files you can get free viewers.

shugy

mordeith wrote: »

If the plans are in PDF format then all you need is Acrobat Reader as you mention. If they're some sort of CAD files you can get free viewers.

I downloaded Adobe but now I have wordshare PDF element icon on my screen. Is this it?

shugy

Have few issues. Google chrome isn't opening, just getting a blue circle as if it's taking its time but nothing happens.

Avast popped up saying we strongly recommend you turn on Avast active protection. avast is currently in passive mode. Yes or no!

Cyberpunk issue reporter- youcam6 webcam camera video.exe has stopped working. Please send us this error report to help us fix the problem and improve the software.

Deleted McAfee icon but now in recycle bin.


Edit, got chrome working but small avast window popped up in corner saying avast safe price added. Another programme on your computer added an extension that may chage the way chrome works. It can: read and change all your data on the websites that you visit. What does this mean?

RossieMan

Op I suggest you YouTube what you're looking to do, one step at a time. For example YouTube how to.unistall a program, they'll show you.

You'd need basic computer skills to get help from here, which by the looks of things I don't think you have.

It's much easier for you to follow a guide where you can see what is being done.

DopeTech

shugy wrote: »

Have few issues. Google chrome isn't opening, just getting a blue circle as if it's taking its time but nothing happens.

Avast popped up saying we strongly recommend you turn on Avast active protection. avast is currently in passive mode. Yes or no!

Cyberpunk issue reporter- youcam6 webcam camera video.exe has stopped working. Please send us this error report to help us fix the problem and improve the software.

Deleted McAfee icon but now in recycle bin.


Edit, got chrome working but small avast window popped up in corner saying avast safe price added. Another programme on your computer added an extension that may chage the way chrome works. It can: read and change all your data on the websites that you visit. What does this mean?

I'd suggest you get a tech savvy friend to give your PC a once over. Sounds like you have some unwanted bloatware on there. I could even help you if you install teamviewer for free to give me temporary remote access.

https://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/windows/

riclad

Uninstall mc afee antivirus, you cant have 2 antivirus programs running.
deleting the icon does not stop mcafee from loading or running ,

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/uninstall-a-program-in-windows/




quote from forum cyberlink .

YesCyberpunk issue reporter- youcam6 webcam camera video.exe has stopped working. Please send us this error report to help us fix the problem and improve the software.

quote Thank you for contacting CyberLink Technical Support.

I undestand that you are using CyberLink YouCam 5 on Windows 8.1 OS, and the program crashes.

Regarding to your concern, I would like to inform you that currently YouCam 5 is not compatible with Windows 8.1 OS.

A new patch will be released very soon in order to make compatible with Windows 8.1.

Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink Products. Use the below mentioned link to get back to us for your further queries:

https://membership.cyberlink.com/support/service/technical-support.do


Yes , turn on avast active protection.

maybe get firefox browser see if it works better
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

if you dont use the web cam camera it doesnt really matter .

degsie

Wish posters would attempt to help OP, not confuse him.

My advice, sit down with someone with a bit of computer savvy and get them to show you what you want to know.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

riclad

i would advise you to fix basic issues before installing ms office.
Adobe pdf reader OR Foxit pdf reader can read any pdf file .
all i ever need is notepad or foxit reader ,in terms of reading documents .
once in 10 years i got sent an office document.

RossieMan

Why? Office is very simple.

No reason to hold back installing it.

I wouldn't worry about bloatware, it's perfectly useable with it, just a tad annoying.