When you first power up the computer, it will lead you through a series of questions which will set up a "user" (with a name and a password), networking, and other things. Choose a good password to protect your system from certain types of malware known as "worms". After you "log in" you may be presented with a few more questions and setup options (which are typically added by the manufacturer of the computer, not Microsoft).

Somewhere in this setup you should be prompted to do Windows Updates. Do them. All of them. Yes, this typically means several reboots and can take a long time (hours!), but do not skip getting all of the "Important" and "Recommended" updates. Do not get any optional updates until after you have created your system recovery DVDs! This is because "optional" updates often include software upgrades from hardware manufacturers that have not been as carefully tested as the Important and Recommended updates, and in rare cases might require you to recover your system…which you can't do unless you have recovery DVDs!

Now come the steps you should take but aren't prompted to do!
Note: I give detailed steps here for Windows 7, but the ideas are valid for all versions of windows since XP SP2. They are not valid for Apple operating systems.

1. Make "System Recovery DVDs". This is your emergency method of restoring a computer back to "factory fresh" - used if you have to replace a hard drive, or if your system gets infected with malware so badly that the only recourse is to wipe the disk and start fresh. (Note: if you have an older computer and have never done this - do it now! These are essentially locked to a given computer, so you need to create system recovery DVDs for all of your computers!)
   This is done as follows:
   1. Start menu -> Control Panel -> Backup & Restore
   2. "Create a system image"
   3. Although it takes longer, put it on DVDs, not a spare hard drive. It will take longer, but it can be hard to resist the urge to re-use a hard drive (thus destroying your system image); once DVDs are burnt, they are easy to put on a shelf and keep....
2. Make a "System repair disk". This is used if your system won't boot; in my experience it allows about 20% of the systems that won't boot without having to re-install from the System Recovery DVDs.
   To do this:
   1. Start menu -> Control Panel -> Backup & Restore
   2. "Create a system repair disk"
   3. This must be done to a CD or DVD, since the computer must boot from it. And it should only take one CD or DVD.
3. Most computers come with an "evaluation" version of Norton or McAfee antivirus (and other "protection" systems). They will try real hard to get you to turn these on... then, a few months down the road, you will need to give them a credit card in order to continue their protection. A lot of people refuse to do that... and end up having a system that is unprotected from newer viruses. If you enjoy paying for protection, by all means keep them. But I recommend replacing the protection with good, free protection.
   To do this, do the following when you have Internet access:
   1. Start menu -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features
   2. Find all of the Norton or McAfee entries, click on them, and choose to "uninstall" them
   3. After you have removed these, make sure that your "firewall" is working:
      1. Start menu -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall
      2. If you see "green", you are OK. If you see red, press the "Turn Windows Firewall on or off" link on the left, and click the "Turn on Windows Firewall" for all of the network settings that are displayed.
4. Now download and install Windows Security Essentials, which is a good & free antivirus system from Microsoft
5. If you are going to use Microsoft Office programs (Word, Power Point, Excel, etc) , you may wish to investigate the "trial" version that comes with many computers, which lets you use it a couple of times then wants you to buy an upgrade. And some versions let you use a "reduced functionality" version forever. But if you are a student or teacher, it may be better/cheaper to buy the "educational" version of Office - ask around at your school!
   If you want a free word processor, "power point" presentation system, spreadsheet system, (etc), I suggest the "mostly Microsoft Office compatible" "OpenOffice" by going to www.openoffice.org and downloading it. Note that I said it is "mostly" compatible - if you need to go between Office software and OpenOffice software, you will find yourself pretty frustrated. But if you just want to type a few things in and print them out, this is an excellent choice. And did I mention it was free?
6. Now set up your backup strategy and do your first backup.
7. Computer manufacturers are paid to put "bloatware" on your computer - trial or demo versions of programs that you probably don't want. If you are brand new to Windows, feel free to play with them. But be aware that they typically slow your system down in various ways! Otherwise go to the
   start menu -> control panel -> programs and features
   and start uninstalling these demo programs (they are usually cluttering up your "desktop", the screen that you see when you first log in). It can be tricky to know what you can or cannot uninstall, so if you aren't certain, leave it installed and ask around (or, if you try one of these programs and don't think you will use it, then you know you can remove it).

   I always recommend that you remove any toolbars, including the google toolbar, bing toolbar, Norton toolbar, etc. These can really slow down your Internet "surfing", and I have never met anybody who actually uses them or needs them. So feel free to remove any item in the "Programs and Features" window that is labeled as a toolbar!

8. There are some utility programs you may want to install in case they didn't come pre-loaded on your system. These include:

   Program	Website	What it does
   Adobe Reader	www.adobe.com	View many documents that are on line. If asked, enable "automatic updating". Be careful to read everything it displays during installation up and to decline any toolbars! I strongly suggest downloading & installing yourself, rather than waiting for a web site to prompt you to install it, to reduce the chance you are infected with a 'bad version'.
   Adobe Flash Player	www.adobe.com	View many videos, including those from Youtube.com. Again, be careful to read everything it displays during installation and to decline any toolbars! And, again, I strongly suggest you download this and install it before you are prompted to do so!
   Microsoft Silverlight	www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight	Netflix and several other "streaming video" providers use this. Again, install this before you are prompted to do so to avoid installing a virus by mistake!

9. Finally, if you choose, open Windows Update and do any optional updates that "look good" to you. In general, I don't choose any optional updates to hardware unless I'm having trouble....