So, this isn't for me, it's for my brother, but you may as well not sabotage him anyway, he'll break it on his own soon enough.

Basically, he's getting a new laptop tomorrow - apparently he already has one in mind. He wants to know what kind of things he should be doing after getting it. Examples: get a good anti-virus programme, get a good anti-adware programme, "uninstall the crap programmes Dell puts on it", etc. (not that he's getting a Dell, we know better than that now)

Anything that would help? I might get a new computer when I've saved up enough so it'd be helpful to hear anyway.

Having just had to repair my Dad's Dell, I would suggest the following.

1) Download all Microsoft Updates, and select any optional updates as well that apply.

2) Go to the Dell Support Site and download any new drivers (probably won't have to do this). Laptops are more problematic than desktops, so I don't recommend getting new video drivers outside of Dell.

3) Install a good Anti-Virus program, assuming one doesn't come with the computer already. Norton 360 is a good all-around package, and it has an on-line backup of 10 GB. If you need additional anti-spyware or other utilities, look around.

4) Get the following utilities downloaded and installed.

Firefox (as well as Opera, Safari, or whatever you choose as an alternate browser).
Adobe Acrobat (pretty much need this anywhere)
Adobe Flash (ditto)
7-Zip (best freeware zip package).
Either PSPad or NotePad++ (best text editors).

5) Run a full system scan on your computer for Viruses.

6) Depending on what Windows you are running, follow their instructions for creating a rescue disk, system restore, etc. The Anti-Virus software may also have a rescue disk, etc.

7) Run a disk drive test (chkdsk or whatever) to make sure there are no errors.

8) If you plan to have a lot of stuff--Itunes, torrents, etc--get one of those USB Hard Drives, preferably one with backup or synchronization software. Then backup on a regular basis.

Thanks!