Setting up a new Windows PC

Recently I've had the joyous experience of hastily migrating to an old and largely unused laptop after my desktop became unreliable. This is a letter to my future self, to make it smoother next time.

To my future self

You were still wrangling Node and Python, and updating this, a month and a half after you started. If you're back here in 2023 and it's as much of a pain as it was in 2022, go try Linux you daftie.

To my future self

Future self, be aware, your past self was a Windows person. If you've finally made the move to Linux (and looking at Windows 11, that could well happen), then please (a) use this document as a checklist and (b) write a Linux version.

To my future self

You think you'll change PCs in an afternoon. You won't. It's going to annoy you for weeks. Drink a lot of tea and update this article with the things past you forgot to include.

Install . . .

• Git for Windows. Then set up a new token for GitHub.
• VS Code
• Node.js This guide is your friend: Microsoft - Install NodeJS on Windows. Due to node-gyp (check details) you may also need to install the following (but try with just the guide first):
  • An older version of Python and configure npm to use it.
  • Visual Studio, and configure npm to use 2017. This guide is your friend: Microsoft - Install NodeJS on Windows
• Windows Terminal
• Snagit (you can retrieve your license from your account on their website, but be aware you are running out of installations, so if you haven't uninstalled it from one of your old machines, you may need to re-purchase)
• WSL2
  1. Enable WSL
  2. Reboot
  3. In an administrator PowerShell

     wsl --install
     

  4. Reboot if prompted
  5. In VS Code, install the Remote - WSL extension.
  6. In a WSL terminal:

     sudo apt-get update
     sudo apt-get upgrade
     sudo apt-get install make gcc g++
     

  7. Install nvm and Node
• Docker for Desktop. Requires WSL2.
• Slack (sign in with your personal-professional Google account and you'll retrieve most of your key communities)
• Discord
• Signal
• A few browsers: you want (at minimum) Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge.
• Spotify
• Kindle

Set up . . .

• SSH into your Raspberry Pi: refer to Notes on my Raspberry Pi Zero setup for more help.
• Make sure to disable unwanted aliases: Settings > Manage app execution aliases. Make sure it is not allowed to alias Python (this tripped you up last time - Jan 2022) Also if Windows is still this daft next time round, you really need to consider Linux.