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I have bought a Gateway netbook for my husband's birthday, and would like to give it to him ready to use. Best Buy wants $100 to set it up for me, but I would rather do it myself, if possible. Any tips or instructions would be greatly appreciated!

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New computers have very little setup needed. The first time you power it on, it will guide you through a few steps, like setting a password and connecting to a WiFi network, then it's ready to go.

New computers often come with a lot of "garbage" pre-installed, such as trials to various programs you probably don't want. Sometimes the set-up services from places like Best Buy include removing all that stuff, but if you've ever uninstalled a program before, it's easy to do.

Lastly, you'll need an Anti Virus. Most new computers come with one that's good for 60 days or so. After that you'll need to purchase an Anti Virus or use a free one such as Avast or AVG. Sometimes the price of the set-up services will include a 1 or 2 year Anti Virus subscription.

All in all, it's not worth what they charge unless you're very unfamiliar with computers and the price includes a good deal on Anti Virus or other security software.

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It may be worth saying that, if the netbook comes with Windows 7 (as most do at the moment), you can use "Microsoft Security Essentials" for Anti-Virus. –  RedGrittyBrick Jun 8 '12 at 14:47

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