The complete guide to setting up a new Windows PC

I've set up a lot of new Windows machines, and for years I did it the slow way: a browser, a list in my head, and a whole evening lost to installers and settings. This is the guide I wish I'd had. It covers the parts that actually take time, the tools that help, and the ones that overpromise. Each section links to a deeper write-up if you want the detail.

The two halves of a setup

A new-PC setup is really two jobs, and most guides only talk about the first:

1. The apps — getting your programs back.
2. The settings — getting your version of those programs back.

The apps are the visible half. The settings are the half that decides whether the new machine feels like yours or like a stranger's. Handle both from a file and setup stops being a weekend.

Getting your apps back

The built-in tool for this is winget, Windows' package manager. It can export a list of your installed apps and reinstall them on a new machine in minutes. It's genuinely good, and it's what I build on. But it has two gaps worth knowing before you rely on it:

• It reinstalls the app but brings none of your configuration.
• It quietly skips your Microsoft Store apps.

I wrote both of these up in detail: how to reinstall all your apps with winget (and what it misses), and why winget export skips your Microsoft Store apps.

Getting your settings back

This is the part nobody automates, and it's the part that costs the most time. Your editor config, your terminal, your keybindings, your creative-tool presets — rebuilding those by hand from memory is the real tax of a new machine.

It's also the hardest thing to copy safely, which is why the settings coverage matters more than the app count. If a tool backs up settings for a handful of apps, it's a demo. Endstate has settings modules for 300+ apps, from editors and IDEs to creative suites, media players, and emulators. And because each setup is a portable file, you can even hand your exact configuration to someone else.

Doing it fast, and repeatably

The trick isn't doing the setup faster by hand. It's not doing it from memory at all: capture your machine once, save it to a file you control, and restore it on any fresh install. I walk through that workflow here: how to set up a new Windows PC in minutes.

What about the paid migration tools?

EaseUS Todo PCTrans, Zinstall, and Laplink PCmover all promise a one-click move to a new PC. They work by copying your installed programs byte-for-byte across machines. That's a real capability for legacy software with no installer left, but it's also the risky path: you're transplanting a program's files onto a different Windows install and hoping it runs. They're closed source and cost $50–130.

For most setups, a clean reinstall plus a settings restore is safer, produces a cleaner machine, and costs nothing. I compared them honestly here: a free, open-source alternative to EaseUS, Zinstall, and Laplink.

The short version

If you want to do this by hand: use winget for the apps, reinstall your Store apps manually, and rebuild your settings. It works, and it's free.

If you'd rather not: I built Endstate to do all three as one step. It scans your current machine, saves your apps and settings to a single portable file, and restores everything on a fresh Windows install. It runs locally, keeps no account, sends no telemetry, and the engine is open source. Download it free, or read the full feature list.

Setting up a new machine will never be zero work. But it should be minutes of watching a file restore, not a weekend of remembering what you had.