Download and install up-to-date antivirus software
Scan for viruses, unwanted software, and malicious software
Set the Administrator password
Maintain user privacy
Delete files in My Documents folder and any other personal files on the disk
Clear the Internet History folder and any other history caches you might have
Clear temporary folders and delete temporary files
Optimize performance
Uninstall software that will not be used by any user
Download and install the latest critical updates from the Windows Update website
Update all software programs installed on the computer
Configure display settings, such as display resolution, to work as intended with your monitor
Defragment system drives to help ensure the computer is as fast as possible
Note: Defragmentation is a critical step before using Windows Disk Protection.
Install programs
Install all the features, services, and programs that you want to make available to computer users
Make sure your programs are configured to start with all options set the way you want them
Should you reinstall Windows?
If your computer has already been heavily reconfigured and shows stability problems, you might want to reinstall Windows XP or Windows Vista before installing Windows SteadyState. Items to consider when deciding whether to reinstall your operating system:
If it's complicated to get everything reconfigured back the way you want, it may be easier to reinstall Windows and all your programs from scratch.
Reformatting and reinstalling is a sure way to achieve computer safety, user privacy, and optimum performance.
Reinstalling gives you an opportunity to create a new disk partition in the process. A separate disk partition can be useful when using Windows Disk Protection, because you can store persistent files and user profiles there. See the section on "Creating Permanent User Profiles on a Separate Partition" in the handbook.
