Windows 10 Post-Install Tasks

Due to problems installing a cumulative update, I decided to delete my Windows partition and install Windows 10 Pro x64 1607 from scratch.

Windows 10 does an amazing job of finding and installing hardware drivers—usually the first thing you have to do after an OS install. I was able to skip that, but there are still a few things that need to be tweaked to get a stable, recoverable system. Here are my notes on what to do after the install.

  1. Turn on System Restore and create a restore point (Control Panel > System and Security > System > System Protection). This useful feature is now off by default.
  2. Check for storahci errors in the System event log. If needed, fix storahci 129 errors by changing HIPM to DIPM.
  3. Open diskmgmt.msc and re-assign drive letters as desired.
  4. Plug in docking station, external drives, headset (drivers automatically installed). Maybe should wait on this until after installing updates; unplugging docking station for now.
  5. Check for and install Windows updates.
  6. Create an “after updates” restore point.
  7. Just for grins, run dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and sfc /scannow. These should finish successfully.
  8. Rename the computer to the desired name. Reboot.
  9. Plug in docking station, external drives, etc. Configure multiple monitors.
  10. If on a domain, join it, or if it’s a Windows Server Essentials domain, install the connector (which also joins the domain).
  11. Install remaining programs. Customize taskbar, desktop, etc.

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