Setting up your Surface laptop
Preparation
There are a few steps you can take to smooth your transition to a new computer:
- Make sure you have backed up all your documents to OneDrive. If you haven't already set up OneDrive, instructions are on this page.
- Take a note of the applications that you use, together with login details if different to your University log in.
- Basic Office applications are pre-installed but specific applications are not. provides many of the applications that we use, but you may need to raise a ticket with the for any specialist software you use.
- If you need to map network drives be sure to know the full path names. You will need to get this from your old device or a team-mate who has the same drives mapped.
Setting up
Initial set up takes around 30 minutes, and you will need a stable internet connection. Do not set up without an Internet connection!
Next steps
In order to get your new device ready for you to work with, you may also need to:
Page updated by lm920207 on 28/10/25
Request support with setting up your Surface
The Device Lifecycle team would be happy to give any member of staff who is experiencing problems with Surface set-up or configuration the opportunity for a 1-2-1 deskside support session. Contact Device-lifecycle-DTS@reading.ac.uk for more information.