I have questions about my new computer

[JackieLikesVariety]

the only security is Windows Security so I am downloading Avast as Jim suggested. It was free but had suggestions about how some threats require me to buy stuff.

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

Once you get everything up and running, you can go into the control panel and uninstall stuff. Don't uninstall anything that says "Windows" but anything that says "HP" is fair game, generally speaking. When you get to that point, you can use the native snipping tool to cut a screenshot of your programs list and we can help you figure out what's safe to dump.

I went to control panel > programs and there are only 4

Bang & Olufsen Audio
Microsoft OneDrive*
Microsoft Update Health Tools
Synaptics Pointing Device Driver

*on start up it wanted me to choose "back up your files with OneDrive" but I chose not to and "only save files to this PC". I searched on OneDrive at the link Radical Edward posted but only learned most people don't delete it

The browser is Bing but I have an icon on the desktop for Microsoft Edge and the computer really wants me to get that.
But since I am used to Chrome, I installed that. I am Google's Bitch.

it's hard to search on the machine - it keeps giving me answers on the web. like right now? I can't get back to the control panel.

there was NO paperwork in the box with the laptop - so any user manual is on the HP website?????

[mjmlabs]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I went to control panel > programs and there are only 4

Bang & Olufsen Audio
Microsoft OneDrive*
Microsoft Update Health Tools
Synaptics Pointing Device Driver

*on start up it wanted me to choose "back up your files with OneDrive" but I chose not to and "only save files to this PC". I searched on OneDrive at the link Radical Edward posted but only learned most people don't delete it

The browser is Bing but I have an icon on the desktop for Microsoft Edge and the computer really wants me to get that.
But since I am used to Chrome, I installed that. I am Google's Bitch.

it's hard to search on the machine - it keeps giving me answers on the web. like right now? I can't get back to the control panel.

there was NO paperwork in the box with the laptop - so any user manual is on the HP website?????

All four of those preinstalled apps are things you want to keep.

Bang & Olufsen Audio -- Drivers and settings for making sounds happen. Keep it; it's tiny, low-impact, and somewhere between "useful" and "necessary" depending upon how strongly you feel about sound.

Microsoft OneDrive* -- Online backup for your personal files. Free. If you have lots of files and need more online storage, you can buy more storage, which is why they give it away free to everyone. I've not needed more than my freebie allotment ever, and I've used OneDrive for ... shit, lots of years.

Microsoft Update Health Tools -- Part of the nuts-and-bolts of keeping things updated. If Microsoft Update stops working correctly, these are here to (help) fix it.

Synaptics Pointing Device Driver -- This is what makes your laptop's touchpad work. Don't delete it!

There's surely tons of info about your particular laptop model online, at hp.com and elsewhere. There should be a sticker on the bottom with model number (google that!) and serial number (ignore that!). Or post the model number here and somebody who's up all night and bored might track down a link or three for ya.

[JackieLikesVariety]

mjmlabs!

All four of those preinstalled apps are things you want to keep.

I was wrong to expect bloatwear, I guess because it was refurbished.

I think I also have a bunch of apps - are they different from the 4 programs I listed? I haven't been able to get back to the place where I saw them. for some reason I have trouble finding things on the computer. finding things on the web is what the device wants to do.


I see the model number Model 840 G3 and can sure look it up on the HP webstite, which wants me to create an account and sign in - not sure if that's justified.

I think I will buy the laptop cooling pad Oxi recommended, too.

this morning I figured out how to get back to the tutorial I'd dismissed: create a new user name and it is offered.

WHEEEEEE! soon I can have beluga whales and buy them stuff!

[mjmlabs]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I think I also have a bunch of apps - are they different from the 4 programs I listed? I haven't been able to get back to the place where I saw them. for some reason I have trouble finding things on the computer. finding things on the web is what the device wants to do.


I see the model number Model 840 G3 and can sure look it up on the HP webstite, which wants me to create an account and sign in - not sure if that's justified.

In the bottom left corner of your screen, there's a Windows icon; that's the Start Menu. Apps live there. Also the gear icon which brings you to Settings. (But me, I leave shortcuts to the 30 or 40 apps I use most often scattered all over my Desktop because I'm a filthy slob double-clicking a shortcut is ever-so-slightly faster than clicking a Start Menu and then a shortcut.)

In my experience with HP, getting involved with their User Experience stuff (creating an account, signing in, yaddayadda) has usually been a frustrating and unhelpful waste of time. But YMMV. There's a lot of redundancy and hand-holding in their User Experience, but sometimes it's helpful to have a little hand-holding. The HP Help stuff is basically what Rad Ed suggested you nuke, except turns out it wasn't there to begin with.

Also, I'll +1 Bumbershoot's recommendations of AdBlock Plus and Malwarebytes. Good helpful freeware. Malwarebytes also has a paid Premium version that I personally find worth springing for. My usual advice is to use free antivirus but paid Malwarebytes, if the budget only has $ for one of those. I have a desktop tower that's pretty much solely dedicated to seeding (legal) music torrents 24/7, which exposes that computer to The Whole Dang Internet, and premium Malwarebytes has kept it Evildoer-Free for years. Every day, it reports dozens of intrusions blocked.