Setting up a new Windows 10 Computer

(For a Windows 11 computer, try tips from Beebom here and here.)

If your Windows 10 (or 11) computer says "Activate Windows" meaning you don't have an authorized (i.e., paid for) copy of Windows, you can buy a legitimate product key for less than retail price.

There are a few suppliers:

• VIP SCDKey (use promo code "CyberCPU" to get a 25% discount)
• KeyinGo.com
• Newegg

To use, go to Setting > Update & Security > Activation, click Change product key and enter the key.

If you need to re-install Windows on your computer it is important to know the Product Key. This must be down before the installation is done and can be retrieved by doing the following:

1. Press the Windows key and R keys, simultaneously.
2. Type cmd in the run dialogue box and hit the Enter key.
3. In the resulting cmd.exe window type this code:
4. wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
5. After entering the above command, press Enter

The product key will be displayed. Write it down and keep it in a safe place.

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1. Disable special effects

Windows 10 is rather heavy on the special effects side. By default Windows and other features are programmed to fade in and fade out of view. Other resource-intensive but unnecessary features include translucency and animations.

To speed up your computer, click on the Windows icon and go to Settings > System > About (at the bottom of the page). Scroll down and select “Advanced system settings”. The "System Properties" page should pop up. Click on the “Advanced”  tab. In the Performance section, click on “Settings”.

Under the “Visual Effects” tab, click the radio button for “Custom”. From here, you can uncheck the tick boxes next to any visual affects you want to disable.
I would leaved checked only:

• Show thumbnails instead of icons
• Smooth edges of screen fonts
• Smooth-scroll list boxes

Click “Apply” to confirm your changes.

Settings page - click to enlarge

Advanced Properties - click to enlarge

2. Disable transparency effects

Besides making heavy use of your system resources to display features like animation, Windows 10 also employs transparency effects for certain features such as the task menu. This seemingly light and simple effect is actually quite complicated to draw, as the system needs to calculate the same plane twice.

To disable transparency effects, go the the Settings page as above then click on “Personalization” and select the “Colors” tab. From here you can switch off “Transparency effects.”

You can also change the default app mode here between “Light” and “Dark”. This won't affect your system speed, but may make your Desktop easier on the eye.

3. Disable unneeded start-up apps

PCs can become bogged down by the sheer number of processes running, and some of these run in the background and do not need to be. These programs run when you start your computer, slowing down the whole system.

To check your startup programs, press "Ctrl + Alt + Del" together. Click on Task Manager and select the “Startup” tab. Pay close attention to the “Startup Impact” values for each program e.g. “High” as this is a good way to spot apps that are likely to slow your system down.

To prevent a program from launching on start up, just right-click on one that is Enabled and choose “Disable”.

Note: some programs should stay enabled. These are the audio and video devices and especially security programs (i.e., anti-virus and firewalls). Do not disable Windows Defender unless you have an alternate full anti-virus system on your computer.

Startup - click to enlarge

The above and other Windows 10 speedup tips can be found at Techrader.com.

If  you have iTunes on your computer, a process is automatically and continually running in the background trying to connect to the internet. To change this so it is turned on manually, type "services" in the Windows search box and select Services. Select Apple Mobile Device Service. Double click or right-click and select "Properties". For Startup type select Manual, then at Service status press Stop then OK.

Go here to remove excessive bloatware.

Go here to install handy extra programs.