So im about to get a new laptop, its no the best but it will be diffrent, currently i have a desktop so a laptop i will be able to move around with.
Its a windows laptop with 12gb of ram, 250 storage, so im hoping its good becasue i got this laptop on the cheaper end becasue its refurbished acording to amazon.
anyways what are some of the first things to do with a laptop besides setting it up and what are some cool uses, i have some ideas on how i might use the laptop but i want to hear what yall have to say.
- Wipe Windows
- Install Linux
- Profit
Do you use Arch?
They would’ve said so. ;)
Well, I do in any case
NixOS > Arch
Having just restored a Pop_OS machine I’m starting to give a real hard look at NixOS. Every time I had install a package or make changes (that I end up making on all of my workstations) I kept thinking, “this could all be defined in a single config and I could be done by now…”
It’s an interesting learning curve.
I would really recommend using flakes, basically lockfiles which abstract away some pains with dependencies.Nixos Optionsis utterly fantastic for figuring out stuff (also links to source config)The syntax takes a bit to get used to but if ye have used something like lisp or haskell before then it should be easy enough to pick up.
(I’ll add links to my repos here when I am back on computer)
What’s arch?
My last couple computers have never been sullied by Windows (or “secure” boot).
First thing to do: reinstall windows. You keep your license, it’s quick, but it removes all the bloatware on your computer
Do this, then visit https://ninite.com/ and choose what you want installed on it.
Also, do not delete the Ninite installer exe from your computer. It comes handy in updating all the apps at once. Just double click the installer again.
That’s an awesome tip! I wish I knew that seven years ago after my last build.
Or, just use winget!
I use Chris Titus Windows Utility Script
I’d rather use Chocolately for that since it’s an actual package manager. Ninite is pretty good for what it is though.
Except all the bloat included in windows.
To add on to what others are saying, install Firefox+uBlock Origin
Some will say Librewolf instead.
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Where’s the GNU IceCat?
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Firefox
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Buying Dwarf Fortress on Steam and getting addicted? 😂
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Download Blender and start learning 3D modeling. All Blender beginner’s usually start with a Donut tutorial on YouTube 😉
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Install Linux
I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Other than games,
Learn how to code. Look up some YouTube tutorials on python or Java to get started then go from there.
Write/ journal. Laptops are great for being in new and different locations that may inspire new thoughts and ideas. Write them down, make them into a book. This works best when you don’t have WiFi imo.
If your hardware supports it learn how to 3d model. Look into blender.
ive been wanting to make a game but im not sure hwere to start or what engine to use, there just so many.
Start small. Watch game developer videos. Make games that imitate games you like to get an idea of how they do it.
Get on some game dev boards and talk to the people who already make games
You can do a lot without knowing a lot going with unreal(game engine), mixamo(character animations), and whatever free models you can find. Unreal has some starter projects, a small 3D arena with a default character already controllable and animated, you can ease into it learning how to replace whats already there and then add on new things.
Unity, Unreal, and Godot are popular game engines with good communities and tutorials available. Or try something simpler like Game Maker.
Just jump in and experiment and there’s no wrong choices. Think of it like digital play crafting. Just explore and see what you can do.
Install Linux
or if you choose to install Windows, only reinstall with official media and uninstall the stuff you don’t need. Then go into privacy and disable telemetry.
don’t install these random debloater programs suggested in this thread, and most of what they do will get undone in a regular windows update anyways
Nothing wrong with a cheap, refurbished laptop. Hopefully it has a warranty of some sort.
First thing is wipe all the crap off. The amount can vary dramatically depending on where you got it.
Then go through and configure your windows settings. This is pretty personal, you can just play around with most of them, but probably stay out of advanced menus if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Then start downloading free software you’re going to need. The very basics is an unzipping program and your web browser of choice. Beware windows defender, the default security software with windows, is intended to work specifically with their browser, not other people’s.
Then start downloading optional software you want. Steam, discord, crap like that. Start installing and configuring the settings of the programs one at a time.
Here’s some other people’s opinions. I haven’t watched these, but the sources appear reputable:
https://youtu.be/L14fTu6dsCo https://youtu.be/XEEcxYzNOfI https://youtu.be/MfwjISmkEJM
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/L14fTu6dsCo
https://piped.video/XEEcxYzNOfI
https://piped.video/MfwjISmkEJM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Adding on to the Windows Defender bit: it’s also a very good antivirus, so you can pretty much just get away with that and an adblocker on your browser of choice. Been running Firefox with uBlock Origin and Windows Defender for years now at this point and have not had a single virus nor infection on my computer - and I used to use Norton and Avast before that.
That being said, if you’re the kind of person that goes onto hella sketchy sites a lot of the time, might be worth looking into a paid antivirus.
Before you do anything, run The Ultimate Windows Utility
“This is a tool that has evolved over several years and achieves much more than just debloating a Windows install. I have expanded it to install the programs you select, which is a bigger selection than ninite. The classic debloat is there, but also includes a tweaks section with quality of life features. To round out everything, I have included my recommended settings for Windows update that I use in a variety of businesses. Misuse of this utility can break your install so please be careful and I do not provide any help or assistance should this happen!”"
One Command - Download and Usage
From an Elevated (Run as Administrator) PowerShell prompt
iwr -useb https://christitus.com/win | iexAnd then Debloat more with O&O ShutUp10++
currently i have a desktop so a laptop i will be able to move around with
Utilize your newly aquired mobility to watch movies in bed, browse lemmy and play heroes 3.
For new equipment you may want to make sure it is Windows 11 compatible otherwise your Windows 10 laptop only has about 2 years worth of updates left https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro
Alternatively could be good time to look into installing Linux.
Do a fresh isn’t all of the OS. If you use windows, run Chris Titus’ debloater. Personally I would choose W10 instead of W11.
Get a bigger/better hard drive, 250gb isn’t going to be that useful unless you really only surf the web or work with basic office documents. The average game nowadays is going to take 15-20% of your drive, the worst offenders won’t even fit on it.
Consider undervolting (via Throttlestop or Intel XTU) to prolong your laptop’s longevity and possibly mildly increase its performance. For the same CPU workload, undervolting will reduce the amount of heat generation and therefore the temperature of the CPU, thereby decreasing the risk of hitting the CPU’s temperature throttling and risk of CPU damage.
There are ready guides on youtube and r/gaminglaptops sub, but I’ll leave reddit links out for now. Just search for your laptop model since the exact values will depend on the model and also on luck. If you’re lucky, you can undervolt a lot without causing instabilities.
Install software relevant software to your hobbies
I’d recommend finding out what kind of video card it has though as that’s a big deciding factor in what you can use it for.
my only hobbys are watching youtube and playing games, im totaly struggling to find a new hobby becasue im hard on myself and depressed.
Digital art is pretty fun if you’re at all artistic, even technical drawing using AutoCAD or a similar software can be fun to learn and will give you a new skill. Try to use something you already like as a jump off point (ie draw a scale model of a weapon from a game).
I recommend the Blender donut tutorial video. It’s free on YouTube and Blender is free. Free is awesome and it’s educational and pretty fun.
I’m sorry you’ve been feeling depressed. I know how that can make it difficult to start getting into other things. I have a couple suggestions. One is to just let yourself get bored enough to wander around the internet and find cool things. If you find something you want to try like an art tutorial, don’t pressure yourself or anything, just give it a go! I made a lot of art in high school using stuff like photoshop or free programs and it eventually got me into graphic design. I sometimes wish I still had the time to mess around with stuff like that! And another one, if you’re into tech and want to try new hobbies, you might be able to volunteer at the local makerspace which would give you a membership there. I used to not have a lot of hobbies, but I got into 3d printing. It’s so fun to make stuff without needing talent. If you can’t afford a hobby like that, a makerspace would let you try out stuff like that and meet other people with creative hobbies like coding, 3d printing, and making robots. :)
