What should I do after installing Windows 11

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What should I do after installing Windows 11




Windows 11 has brought several new features to all compatible PCs and more, and more people have installed it as
their primary system by upgrading from Windows 10 or by buying computers that already had this
operating system.
After the first start, however, it is worthwhile there is always something we can do to optimize the system,
make it truly user-friendly and be able to work, study or have fun with it ,without encountering problems.
After installing Windows 11 on our computer, it is advisable to immediately follow the following steps to obtain
a fast, responsive and customized operating system according to the needs of each user. We can still use
Windows 11 even without following the steps described, but the risk of running into some error or malfunction is
very high.



In the following guide we will show you what are the things to do after installing Windows 11,
so as to become familiar with the new menus and new options, make Windows faster and put order among the icons
and programs pre-installed with the PC (especially if we bought a new laptop).

Update the drivers

If we've upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 or bought a new PC, the drivers are probably already up to date
and don't need any further updates. But if we have installed Windows 11 after a clean format the first thing
to do is to proceed with updating the missing or obsolete drivers present in the system.
Fortunately, Windows 11 is able to automatically retrieve missing drivers and update older ones using Windows Update directly.
To proceed then right-click on the Start menu, press on Settings, go to the Windows Update menu and press
the Check for updates button.
Windows will start searching for missing drivers and updating older or generic ones completely automatically:
all we have to do is wait for the drivers to install and restart when necessary.
To verify the effective installation of all drivers, right-click on the Start menu, click on Device Manager and make sure
there are no entries with yellow triangles or entries with missing drivers; if we encounter some problems
we re-launch Windows Update to start the search for drivers and, if that is not enough, we can rely on
a third-party program such as Driver Booster to download the missing drivers.




Activate the operating system

If we have performed a clean installation of Windows 11 and did not immediately enter the product key during
the installation (i.e. we pressed on I do not have a product key) the system will not be active at boot and
some functions of Windows 11 ( for example those relating to personalization) will not be available.
To immediately activate our copy of Windows 11 we can try to add a Microsoft account to the system, especially if
this account had already been used on the same PC (before formatting); to proceed with this path, press the
right button on the Start menu, open the Settings menu, press the Account menu and finally go to the Your info menu.
In the new menu, click on Log in with a Microsoft account and enter the login credentials of the
Microsoft account already used on that PC and on which an activated copy of Windows was already present.
This procedure is valid only if we have activated a digital license saved online on the Microsoft account,
if we had Windows 10 as a digital license, it is better to first install Windows 10 on the computer,
activate it with the digital license of the Microsoft account and then upgrade to Windows 11,
so as to keep the license also on the new system.
If, on the other hand, we do not have any Windows 11 license we will first have to buy one online and then proceed
with adding the Product Key within Windows 11 by opening the Settings menu, taking us to the System -> Activation path
and pressing on Enter Product Code Key.
To learn more, we can also read our guide on how to activate Windows 10 and 11 and solve product key errors.

Uninstall unnecessary apps

Those who buy a new laptop with Windows 11 will often also find advertising programs, PC control apps or
assistance systems installed that they will never use. To delete all these useless and pre-installed programs, just use
the uninstall menu integrated in Windows 11.
To proceed then we open the Settings menu, press on the App menu, open the Apps and features menu and choose which apps
to uninstall from the system by scrolling the list. Once you have identified a useless app, press on the three dots next
to the name of the app and use the Uninstall item to remove it from the PC.
Alternatively, we can quickly uninstall unnecessary apps by opening the Start menu, pressing the All
apps item, identifying the app to remove and using the right mouse button on it, so you can press the Uninstall item.

Customize the bottom bar

The bottom bar of Windows 11 or taskbar can be customized as desired, perhaps removing the icons and Windows functions
that we do not use and that only take up space. To customize the bar, all we have to do is open the Settings menu, press
on the Personalization menu, select the Taskbar menu and disable the switches next to the items and functions that we do
not want to use.
In this regard, I invite you to also read our guide on how to customize the appearance and theme of Windows 11.

Check your privacy settings

Privacy is a very important aspect on all modern operating systems and Windows 11 is no exception, with a menu dedicated
to privacy settings and access to the most dangerous hardware resources (such as microphone and webcam).
To manage privacy on Windows 11, open the Settings menu, select the Privacy and security menu and explore all the sections
one by one, in particular the General, Voice Commands, Activity History, Search Permissions and Search in Windows menus.
By scrolling down the page you can also access the permissions assigned to the apps: to obtain a good level of privacy
we recommend that you check the apps activated in the Path, Camera, Microphone and Voice Activation menus, choosing which
apps must use certain permissions on Windows and which permissions completely block (for example the Path service
is useless if we are using Windows 11 on a desktop PC).

Check the battery and power settings

On Windows 11 we find a new menu for energy saving management, especially useful if we run the system on laptops.
To configure it, open the Settings menu and go to the System -> Power and battery path. From the new menu we choose the
desired energy saving mode and also configure the activation of the energy saving by opening the Battery saving menu
(we advise you to activate the automatic saving as soon as we drop below 50% charge).



On fixed PCs this menu is frankly useless: we can therefore only use it to bring the system power to the maximum, by
expanding the drop-down menu next to the Power saving mode item and selecting Maximum performance.

Enable backup of important files

Windows 11 has introduced a new system for backing up personal files: OneDrive is used by default as a cloud space to
save the files of the most important folders on your computer (Documents, Pictures and Desktop).
To activate the backup of important files, go to Settings -> Accounts -> Windows Backup, press the Configure
synchronization button,confirm the folders to be backed up and finally press Start Backup. From the Windows Backup screen
we can also activate the backup of the installed settings and apps, so that we can always restore Windows 11 and get back
all the settings and apps we had previously installed.
This type of backup only works if we have added a Microsoft account to Windows, alternatively we can always use the
traditional backup tools present on Windows (even if a little hidden in Windows 11).

Check the activation of the integrated antivirus

Windows 11 integrates Windows Defender as an antivirus to fight against the most dangerous malware and viruses.
This antivirus has grown a lot over the years and offers an adequate level of protection in all circumstances and
sufficient to avoid installing a third-party antivirus.
To always obtain maximum protection, make sure that all the antivirus components are active by taking us to
the Settings -> Privacy and security -> Windows Security path, pressing the Open Windows Security button and finally
pressing on Virus and threat protection.



In the new screen, click on Manage settings and make sure that all the switches of the various modules that make up the
integrated antivirus are active. At the end of the check, press the arrow at the top left to return to the previous screen
and press on Quick analysis to perform a quick check of the computer.