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Worked example
Document a new-starter laptop setup
Record the order you really set up a laptop in, so any technician can repeat it and nothing lives in one person’s head.
- Plan
- FreePro
- Reading time
- 2 min read
- Checked against Thoth for Windows on
- October 23, 2026
On this page
The situation
Every new starter at Pinecrest gets the same laptop, and only Dana knows the order: updates, Outlook, VPN, the shared printer. Dana is on leave next week and a new starter arrives on Monday.
What you end up with: A 20-step guide with a screenshot of every screen, as a PDF on the shared drive (and in NinjaOne with Pro), that anyone on the team can follow.
- For
- IT teams
- Takes about
- 45 minutes
Before you start#
Get ready
- A spare laptop, or a clean virtual machine, in the state a new laptop arrives in.
- A test account, not a real person’s, for every sign-in.
- The order written down in four stages: Windows, accounts, apps, printers and finish.
- Pop-ups and chat closed on the machine you’ll record.
Record it#
- 1
Open a guide for each laptop model
Create New guide called
Set up a new laptop. If the setup differs a lot between models, make one guide per model and share the common part as a reusable set. - 2
Record stage by stage
Choose Capture steps with Full screen. Do the first stage, then press Ctrl+Alt+P to pause while you read the next screen or think. Press it again to carry on. If you’re working inside a virtual machine, turn on Compatibility mode first.
- 3
Head each stage
After recording, use the + between steps to add a Content block (text only) at the start of each stage:
Stage 2: Accounts and email. Content blocks aren’t numbered, so they read as headings. - 4
Say why where it isn’t obvious
Add a one-line description to steps that people get wrong, and a Warning note before anything that can’t be undone, such as
Skipping the BitLocker key backup means the laptop can’t be recovered. - 5
Keep passwords out
Thoth never reads a password field. Its step says “Enter your password in …”. With Pro, Blur password fields also covers the box. For a temporary password stored in your vault, write
Copy it from the vault entry “New starter”in the description rather than showing it.
Check it works#
Before it goes to the team
- Run Check this guide and fix titles like “Click here”.
- With Pro, start Guide Me on a second laptop and follow it as if you’d never seen it. Wherever you hesitate, add a sentence.
- Look at each screenshot for real names and serial numbers; blur them by hand if so.
Share it#
Export a PDF in the Training handout design with Completion checkboxes on, and a technician can tick off a printed copy. Save it where the team looks. With Pro, publish it to NinjaOne so it sits beside the other procedures, and publish again after any change to update the same document.