New Build First Boot: Drivers, Updates and Cleanup Order

The first hour, in order

Every step has its place, because doing it earlier undoes something later. Firmware first: a brand-new board often ships with a BIOS that predates your CPU's microcode fixes, so update it from the vendor's site before you invest hours in installation. Windows goes on from official media created with the Media Creation Tool — the driver DVD that came with the motherboard was outdated the day it was pressed, and the drivers on it are older than what Windows Update will deliver anyway.

Once Windows is on, run Windows Update repeatedly — check, install, reboot, check again — until it offers nothing new. Only then install what is still missing from the vendor: chipset, LAN and Wi-Fi, audio, and the GPU driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel directly. The moment everything works, create a restore point: that is your rollback anchor before you start customizing.

• Update the BIOS/UEFI from the vendor's site first — new boards ship with old firmware
• Install Windows from official media; the motherboard driver DVD stays in the box
• Run Windows Update in a loop until it offers nothing: the chipset basics land here
• Install the remaining vendor drivers: chipset, LAN/Wi-Fi, audio, then the GPU driver from the card maker
• Create a restore point the moment the machine is stable — before customizing anything
• Only now the cleanup pass: update staging files, temp files, installer leftovers

Why drivers come after updates, not before

Windows Update has quietly become a competent driver source: it delivers signed, current chipset and storage drivers that match your platform. If you install the vendor packages first, Update then layers its own versions on top, and you end up with two driver stacks and ghost entries in Device Manager — the classic "who is actually driving this thing" situation. The exceptions are worth knowing: GPU drivers belong to the NVIDIA/AMD/Intel installers, because the vendor package carries the control panel that Update does not ship; and a brand-new chipset generation may not be in Update's catalog yet — that is when the vendor's download page earns its keep. A clean Device Manager, with no warning icons and no duplicated entries, is the proof you got the order right.

The cleanup pass — and what to skip

After the update marathon, the machine is carrying a few hundred MB to a couple of GB of staging files, logs and installer caches — harmless, but this is the right moment to take them off, before you clone the drive or build your backup image. Storage Sense or Settings → System → Storage → Temporary files handles the bulk; a single Kleaner PRO run sweeps the update staging, temp files and leftover installer caches in one pass and shows what it removed. What to skip: aggressive debloat scripts and "driver updater" utilities — the first breaks updates you will want later, the second invents problems to solve. Leave the startup list alone for now too: with nothing installed, there is nothing to trim yet.

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