Setting up a New Computer in 2022

Setting up a new computer has changed drastically since Windows XP days. As things are moving toward cloud storage and also as vendors fight for your attention, it’s no longer a straight path to success. ESPECIALLY so if you have or service more than one Microsoft account, have an Apple ID and/or get email from more than one source.
So far this has affected business level customers the most as Microsoft accounts get tangled with personal accounts causing mass messes on computers. You just got a new work computer and thought you’d add your personal email account? Whelp, all your personal pictures just showed up on the work machine! Yikes!
Where computers were once independent with home storage and installed hard drives, we are moving to the cloud more and companies like Microsoft are working hard to get you to embrace that. The new S-mode laptops are intended for cloud based solutions just like the Chrome Books are. Therefore, you must have a Microsoft account with these devices which is no longer what we call in the Biz a “Local account”. This is another example of loss of control.
And if you think your Mac is any better, think again. Imagine your messages popping up on your child’s laptop because you repurposed it to them but it still thinks it’s yours and tries to serve up all your data, including text messages, in case you need it, on a minor’s computer. Opps. And by the way, do you remember your Apple ID & password form 10 years ago? No? And you used an email you can’t access anymore? Setup issues now abound.
It’s more important than ever to stay on top of your “cloud” accounts with Microsoft, Google and Apple. Whenever possible you want to avoid high end fixes to your accounts. So if you haven’t updated your account information in a while, you need to before it does become an issue out of your and my control.
Obviously you can’t access your Microsoft account if you have no internet, like during a hurricane, so we always setup local accounts only on new computers. If you follow the Microsoft setup instructions at startup, you can’t do that.
Here are some other things we know:
. If you update your older computer to Windows 11 it may not work.. If you upgrade to Windows 10 or 11 you better have a solid state drive in that machine.. If you update your computer to Windows 11 you may lose software you had before.. If you update your computer to Windows 11 without a backup, you are asking for trouble.. If you update your computer to Windows 11 and you follow Microsoft’s on screen prompts, – you will have trouble.. If you use iCloud or iContacts with Outlook you are in deep trouble.. If you add more than one Microsoft account to your computer and it goes badly, it takes 2 minutes for that bad to happen and 2 hours to fix it. (without losing data)
iCloud and iContacts do not play well with Outlook. there. I said it. There are ways to help that situation but they involve your base accounts set up correctly and managing apps and permissions. See, it’s just getting more complicated every year!
Whenever possible we clone your old computer to your new so everything comes over like it was. Some software may have to be reinstalled or verified, each case is different. We make the process of getting a new computer as simple as possible and in this regard, I will say migration to new machines is much more seamless than in XP days.