Setting Up Your New Neptun Laptop

Deliveries of the laptops from the last Neptun Wave are largely completed and many of you are now holding a brand-new machine in your hands. Management and setup of new laptops has become quite a bit easier over the last few years, but there still are a few useful things you can do before you start working with your new device.

Turn on update services

Windows 10 will automatically start updating itself through Windows Update as soon as you connect your new laptop to the internet. Therefore, there is no need to manually activate or download any updates for the operating system. For driver updates, on the other hand, you will need to use the dedicated update software from the manufacturer of your laptop. HP Support Assistant and Lenovo Vantage are preinstalled on laptops from the respective brand and it is advisable to start these apps to look for driver updates before you start using your laptop for work for the first time. After having used these apps at least once, they will keep your laptop updated automatically.

For Apple MacBooks and Microsoft Surface this process is even easier as all updates are downloaded through the App Store or Windows Update, respectively. Apart from accepting the occasional install prompt or rebooting your laptop from time to time, there is nothing you need to do on these devices about operating system or driver updates.

Neptun Software Service

With every purchase of a Neptun laptop we offer you our antivirus solution Sophos Endpoint Security for free. Malware protection is mandated by most universities for your laptop to be allowed into the university network, but with the recent improvements to Windows Defender and the generally robust security in macOS, a third-party tool may not be required by your IT services. ETH Zürich, for example, only requires some form of malware protection that is updated regularly (Rule 5 in the ETH IT security guidelines). However, if you do not want to put all your trust in Apple or Microsoft for your IT security, installing Sophos can be a good way for some added security from another source.

Additionally, for Windows laptops only, we offer Langmeier Backup, which is much better suited for the average user and quite a bit more powerful than the built-in backup solution in Windows. It allows you to backup individual files and folders or even your entire system to all kinds of external storage solutions or to storage in your network. You can schedule different jobs so that backups are created automatically. We highly recommend that you backup your data regularly, even if it is saved in the cloud, since no single storage solution can offer perfect data protection. For macOS users the recommendation is the same, but in this operating system, you can use the built-in Time Machine software, since it already offers very easy and powerful backup functionality.

Whatever you use: Make sure that you always have a recent backup of your important data!

Microsoft Office, VPN, and Ninite

Students and employees at most universities get Microsoft Office 365 for free through their IT services. Check here to see if your university is eligible.

You can use the same approach to find out if there is a VPN solution for your university network. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, allows you to tunnel into your university network from home, so you can access services that are usually only accessible from within the internal network like library or software services. Since each university uses their own solution for VPN, you will have to contact your IT services to find out how to set it up.

Installing all of your favorite free applications like browsers, imaging software, or developer tools on your new laptop can be a hassle. To install multiple applications at once without constant user input, you can create a Ninite installer. With Ninite you can select software from a list which is then bundled into a single installer that can automatically install your programs without you having to find it all on the net and install it by hand. Additionally, if you run your installer again, at a later date, Ninite will automatically update all the programs in your list. This takes a lot of work out of the initial setup of your laptop.

Neptun Help Point Services

If you would rather have our support experts do the initial setup for your new laptop, you can bring your device to any of our four help points. For a flat fee, we will take care of all the work necessary to get a smoothly running machine. Additionally, we also offer migration services from your old laptop to your new one, as well as laptop disposal with secure data removal for your old device. For old and new laptops, we also offer hardware upgrade services, if you want to add more memory or storage to your laptop. Please contact us at kontakt@projektneptun.ch to set up an appointment for these services.