Having all this at your fingertips during the initial install is one reason why it pays to prep beforehand. We recommend bundling them all up with Ninite (opens in new tab), which makes installing the basics on a new system incredibly convenient.Īs usual with Windows, there’ll soon be more space devoted to drivers, utilities and updates than to the operating system itself. Tools for the roadĬheck out our guide to the first programs you should install on your new PC (opens in new tab) for more suggestions, which you can download to your drive now or simply download when your OS is installed. Keep your system lean and mean by avoiding software kruft and fluff. Many manufacturers include optional, bloated versions of their drivers, third-party utilities and other extras that aren’t required for operation and occasionally cause trouble. While you should install all the necessary drivers for your system, you don’t need to install all the software available for every component. Folders with names like APRP_Win7-8-8-1_V10028 aren’t very helpful. Since these are probably compressed, do your future-self a favor and decompress them now into logically named folders you’ll be able to read at a glance. Go to the manufacturer’s website and find the product support page for your hardware and operating system, then download all relevant files for your system. You might need to wait a few weeks for your hardware’s drivers to catch up with Microsoft’s release.

Keep in mind the OS is only half the battle.

Windows 10 install for free