Advice re a new laptop

[chriswright03]

First of all I will say I have bought and will pick up this today.

 

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-320s-14ikb-14-laptop-grey-10169401-pdt.html

 

I did plenty of research and for me I consider it the best option I could find for what I intend to use it for.  Having said that I am not interested in any opinions about Apple products or Linux so would ask from the outset that any discussion could leave them out please.

 

So having made my decision I realise that the storage on it isn't as big as my current laptop 126GB SSD as opposed to 250GB HDD at the moment.  With that in mind and being over 126GB on here I know I need to store some stuff on external hard drives.  I have two which are in use and the photos and music that is taking up the most room 26GB and 12GB respectively are backed up on both of them anyway.

 

I neither look at all of my photos or listen to all of my music on a daily or even weekly basis so can live with serious pruning on the laptop keeping the originals stored externally or invest in a flash card if need be.

 

So that would release a huge amount of storage space to start with.  What I am also concerned about is the bloatware that comes with a new machine.  So what can I safely delete and what should I keep is the question really?  I have googled the subject and countless opinions tell me different things.  There is even a suggestion of doing a clean Windows 10 install from  the start to get rid of a lot of crap.

 

I would be interested to hear opinions and advice about the best way to make sure that the space taken up is with stuff that is needed as opposed to stuff that companies have paid Lenovo to include in their package.

 

In respect of software I have now which I would most likely use again unless someone can offer a better alternative I use Avast Anti Virus free version and Malwarebytes.  Is Windows defender good enough to do without those two? 

 

I have two email addresses that I use one being AOL which I have had from day one on a computer and the other a BT one which I use less.  Both of these are accessed via their own pages rather than the Windows mail programme.  Is there a better way?

 

So a few questions really and I am just trying to get second (and third) opinions on what I am reading currently.

[spikey]

I am no expert whatsoever, but I do own the same laptop.  As regards all the Lenovo crap on it, I wish you better luck than I've had getting rid of it all.  Every time I think I've cleared it, something reappears ...

 

As to your query about email, AFAIC the word is Thunderbird

[jjb1970]

My surface pro has 128GB, I use a 128GB micro SD card to hold a library of CD's and a combination of one drive cloud storage and an external hard drive for images, large files etc.

[mjkerr]

I tend to delete the unwanted pre-installed software once the one year warranty has expired, and I will definitely not be using it

 

I had an argument with ASUS after I uninstalled all of their software and then had to raise a warranty claim when the laptop was less than 6 months old

They initially rejected my claim as the pre-installed software had been deleted, and even quoted the warranty documentation that their software must be loaded

 

However, for some software you need to uninstall the pre-installed software in order to renew or upgrade the software

 

I use Windows Essentials / Windows Live Mail set as default for eMail

Windows (10) Mail can then be uninstalled, but it will reinstall at any update

 

Be aware that Windows 10 updates will also reinstall other software and new software

[chriswright03]

Good point about the warranty.  I take it they backed down in the end and sorted the claim for you?  Not too sure how they can enforce that if something goes wrong with the machine though.

 

I used to use Live Mail ages ago but seem to recall I could not get it to work properly.  Certainly the current email programme on Windows 10 causes the laptop to go haywire and lock up.

[D9020 Nimbus]

ISTR Lenovo used to bundle McAfee AV software—which doesn't have that good a reputation. As you may be aware, removing AV software is complex; the manufacturer's website will normally tell you how this must be done. When I got my current (HP) laptop a couple of years ago I had to download and run a special "removal tool". I was then able to install my preferred choice (Norton).

 

In my case there wasn't a lot of software I needed to remove apart from the AV. Most laptops seem to have the "Get Office" app installed; it isn't difficult to remove.

[D9020 Nimbus]

I used to use Live Mail ages ago but seem to recall I could not get it to work properly.  Certainly the current email programme on Windows 10 causes the laptop to go haywire and lock up.

Live Mail is no longer supported. Personally I've never had any problems with the standard Win 10 email program. It used to be rather limited in terms of features (e.g. you couldn't create an email folder) but most of these omissions have now been rectified.

[chriswright03]

Just recall seeing something in the Windows 10 thread about a security issue with the i5 processors so going to pop and have a look at that now. 

 

Isn't the Antivirus bundled usually a trial version? 

 

I also read about some software you can download to as if you really need the programmes installed.  Loading something else to get rid of seems a bit pointless but some of you may have tried it and found it to work which is why I am asking these questions.

[chriswright03]

Well I have it with me now and was considering doing a youtube video of me taking it out of the box.

 

So time to boot it up and see what is on it and then set it all up.  As advised by my good friend Beast I always run it with two id's one being Admin for when I need to download anything and then another as me with no Admin access so that if I do stumble across anything sinister it cannot gain access to the back room.  Once and only once I have done that I will go on line and download Firefox to start with and take it from there.

 

No doubt I will be back with questions at some point but thanks for the replies thus far.

[mjkerr]

Good point about the warranty.  I take it they backed down in the end and sorted the claim for you?  Not too sure how they can enforce that if something goes wrong with the machine though

That was my argument, as the issue was a hardware fault and had nothing to do with the software

"We need to reinstall the software, it should be on the device"

As soon as I received the laptop back I then uninstalled their software

Ironically, that same laptop went back a second time and there was no such response from them

 

I used to use Live Mail ages ago but seem to recall I could not get it to work properly.  Certainly the current email programme on Windows 10 causes the laptop to go haywire and lock up.

I had the same issue with Windows 10 Mail, loading as default

Windows Essentials loads without any problem, and even better it no longer updates

[Ian J.]

If you're worried about not having the original software on the machine in case of a return, get a suitable disk cloning program (I use Acronis True Image) and take a copy of the install disk before you wipe it and put something else on. That way, if you have to return, you can do a disk clone of your new install, then wipe the disk and put the original back from the cloned copy.

 

I know mention was made not to mention Linux, but with my current laptop (Acer) I took out the HDD, cloned it, and put an SSD in the laptop and put Linux Mint on it. I intend to reuse the HDD at some point, knowing that I can put back the Win 10 clone image I took if needs be.

[mjkerr]

Isn't the Antivirus bundled usually a trial version?

Almost everything in the retail (non business) version is a trial version

I try some of them, then uninstall when they expire

 

The only software I pay for is anti-virus / security suite

 

A major issue I had was trying to reinstall MS Office

The latest version is a subscription service, rather than a software licence

I have since uninstalled Office365

If you're worried about not having the original software on the machine in case of a return, get a suitable disk cloning program (I use Acronis True Image) and take a copy of the install disk before you wipe it and put something else on. That way, if you have to return, you can do a disk clone of your new install, then wipe the disk and put the original back from the cloned copy.

Sadly the Hard Drive failed, so that was not an option

[vitalspark]

You say you're not interested in Apple..you wouldn't be having all this crap if you were!

 

No doubt this will fire up the pro PC lobby although thats usually made up of disgruntled users that convince themselves that the Macs are not worth the extra.

 

Most people who run Macs don't even have an anti virus installed and 'crashing' or screens freezing is largely unknown.

 

I'm not intending to get embroiled in a pointless Mac vs PC debate so will not be replying..but something worth mentioning is that I have heard of loads of pc users going over to Macs but never a Mac user downgrading to a pc.. unless its for financial reasons.

 

...off to take cover..!

 

Happy NewYear to you all and good luck with the laptop.

 

Dave.

[chriswright03]

There is always one!

[mjkerr]

I have heard of loads of pc users going over to Macs but never a Mac user downgrading to a pc.. unless its for financial reasons.

I would have agreed, until I started in the entertainment industry a few years ago

 

The admin teams have swapped from PC to Apple

The developers also swapped from PC to Apple

 

However, two of the post-production companies have swapped back from Apple to PC, not connected to internet, as the files can be processed quicker

Ironically, for security purposes the files are then transferred back to Apple for transmission from UK to USA

I noticed this on my last visit to one of their offices where one side has Apple and the other has PC, feels like "them and us"

Thankfully the other company are a few streets away, so one office is solely Apple and the other is solely PC (formerly Apple)

Edited December 28, 2017 by mjkerr

[Ian J.]

...Sadly the Hard Drive failed, so that was not an option

 

I don't know about other disk cloning software, but with Acronis TrueImage you can restore to a different HDD, as long as it's big enough or bigger than the data of the original (not necessarily the same size as the original drive though - it could be a smaller drive but have space for the data that was on the original).

[chriswright03]

Well last night all I did was turn it on and let it set itself up which of course included an update.  That took for ever and t rebooted several times.  I did notice that it had put Skype on there now which will be coming off.  So today I shall have a play about and set up the browser then sort out the security issue with the i5 Processor,

[jonny777]

i5 processor?

 

Are they still putting those into laptops? 

 

I assumed everything would have an i7 installed by now; or even an i9 if you are into gaming. 

[mjkerr]

i5 processor?

Are they still putting those into laptops?

These models are still available

Either old stock at reduced price

or

retailers selling them to those that are not tech-savvy

It should not be an issue provided the new laptop performs an update on setup

[jjb1970]

For most people I suspect the i5 is more than adequate. PCs are a mature technology, the days when a PC would be obsolete almost as soon as you bought it and when you needed to refresh them reasonably regularly to be able to keep abreast of things are long gone.

[Kris]

i5's have been about since 2009, but the i5 of 2009 is a very different beast to that of today's i5's.

[chriswright03]

Yes a very updated version of i5 which still receives good reviews from many sites.  If I wanted to pay more I could have gone for an i7 but some of them are dual core and this is quad core so it wins apparently.

 

Security update done on it anyway which was easy enough.

[chriswright03]

Well I can confirm that the new laptop is rapid in comparison to the old one.  I have used the old one this morning to put some music on a memory car for the new one and it akes several minutes before you can do anything at all and once Firefox loads it takes more time to laod on there.  The new one is booted and Firefox running in seconds!

 

Another thing I have noticed is that Trainsi works on it. On the old one it ws painfully slow and in fact so bad that I never bothered with it.  I could get it to run if I turned all the settings down but even then the laptop would fry my leg.  Running this was right down the bottom of my list so if the new one was the same I wouldn't care.  I did check on line as to what spec Trainsim needed to run decently and the general answer was that a laptop was a waste of time unless it was a gaming one or one with a dedicated graphics card.  Well I tried it yesterday and it was running at 40 plus ffs and loaded virtually instantly as opposed to the 10 minutes for the old one.

 

In trying  to keep memory free I am planning on using a flash card for music and pictures and tried that today.  OK the music lays on Groove but some didn't.  I told groove to look for the music on the card and it found some but not others.  Is there a better app that others could suggest?  Also does Groove once it has found the stuff onyour memory card load it onto the hard drive?  If it does there is no point in using a memory card.

 

I have googled it and to be honest even on the Groove help I cannot find a simple answer.

[jjb1970]

I use Foobar2000, it's free and it's very good.