How should an experienced user handle a newly purchased laptop?
New Laptop: How Does a Seasoned Pro Handle It?
For a newly purchased laptop—especially a business model—some obsessive-compulsive users (seasoned pros) may not want to use the highly customized Windows system pre-installed by the manufacturer, feeling it comes with unnecessary bloatware. Instead, they prefer to install a clean, native version of Windows themselves. So, what precautions should you take before and after installing native Windows on a new laptop?
Export Hardware Drivers (Important)
First and foremost, export the hardware drivers from the manufacturer’s original system. This is a critical step that can directly determine whether you can successfully boot the system after installation.
If you skip this step, you may face the following issues:
- You install the system via a USB drive, but upon booting, you get a blue screen with the error code UNACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE.
- Your system boots normally, but your laptop becomes “deaf, mute, and blind.” In other words, hardware devices like the touchpad, speakers, fingerprint reader, camera, microphone, etc. stop working, and the Device Manager shows yellow exclamation marks.
The second scenario is manageable—you can install drivers later using driver installation software. But the first scenario is a deal-breaker: without the manufacturer’s customized system image, it’s essentially impossible to install a clean native Windows system.
So, the importance of exporting hardware drivers cannot be overstated!
How do you export hardware drivers? Use Dism++, a powerful system maintenance tool.
You can easily find Dism++ online; its official website is on GitHub.
Dism++ Official Website:
https://github.com/Chuyu-Team/Dism-Multi-language/releases
Open Dism++, click on “Driver Management” on the left, then “Select All” → “Export Drivers”, and choose a folder to save the drivers.
When should you import the exported drivers into the new system?
After you have finished deploying the new system image (i.e., after installing the system in the PE environment), use Dism++’s Driver Management feature again, click Add Driver, and import the previously saved drivers.
This prevents the Windows boot blue screen caused by missing appropriate drivers.
Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables are essential components that many software applications running on Windows depend on. However, since you are installing a clean native Windows system, these runtimes are not included by default.
After installing the new system, search online for the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables Collection, then run the installer. This ensures you can install and run software normally.
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables Collection Download Link:
https://www.lanzouo.com/b573017Password: 6666
(Optional) Install the PC Manager
If you have a soft spot for the laptop manufacturer’s PC management software (e.g., Huawei PC Manager for Huawei laptops), you can go to the manufacturer’s official website, download, and run the PC Manager installer.
Repartition the Disk
For modern Windows systems with UEFI firmware, the required partitions include:
- Windows system partition (i.e., the C drive)
- EFI (ESP) partition, used for system booting, typically located as the first partition on the disk. Its key feature is a folder named EFI.
Only these two partitions are mandatory.
So, aside from these two partitions, all other partitions and unallocated space on the disk can be freely used to store your data.
In the PE environment, use DiskGenius—a powerful and hardcore tool—to freely adjust any partition on the disk, including deleting partitions, creating new ones, merging space, moving partitions, etc. This breaks the limitations of standard disk management software.
After deleting unnecessary partitions, you can merge them into a new partition or combine them with the D drive. This improves disk space utilization, reduces the number of partitions, and keeps your data more centralized.