If you're a lucky, lucky person, someone `ust bought you that shiny new desktop or laptop you've been longing for. Well, try to curb your excitement a little bit longer. On his blog, Forward Thinking, Michael Miller posted a truly useful list of tasks you should do before you start using your new PC that'll save you some trouble and heartache later on.

His first tip? "Make sure you have restore disks. These are disks that will restore your computer to its original state, just in case something bad happens to the configuration. Many computers come with restore disks, others with a "restore partition" on the hard disk, and still others with software that lets you make a restore disk. Don't forget about this--take or make the disks now, and put them in a safe place where you'll know where to find them. Then when and if you need them, you'll know where to find them. I like to do this almost immediately on a new computer, right after plugging everything together, turning it on, and connecting to my home network."

And that's just the beginning. Take a look at all Michael's advice for new computer owners at his post, So You Got A New Computer - Your First Tasks.