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🧑‍💼 New Joiner Setup

New Employee PC Setup Checklist Using Ninite Winget and ManageEngine

A new employee's first morning sets the tone for their whole job. This checklist gets their PC from sealed box to fully ready with the three tools working as a team.

✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows⏱️ 8 minute read
🎥 Watch all three methods side by side in the full video

No single tool in the comparison is the whole answer for a joining employee - the fastest offices combine all three in stages. Ninite lays down the standard apps in minutes, a winget script adds the role-specific extras, and the ManageEngine agent takes over for updates, inventory and support from day two onwards. Follow the stages in order; each one has a natural moment, and skipping the last is why 'new PCs' quietly become unmanaged PCs.

The Three Stage Handover
Stage 1 - Ninite - standard apps for every desk5 minutes
Stage 2 - Winget script - this role's extra apps10 minutes
Stage 3 - ManageEngine agent - updates, inventory, supportPermanent
Skipping Stage 3A PC nobody can see or patch
Day one is an installation problem; day two onwards is a management problem - plan for both
1

Stage 1 - Base Windows and the Standard App Set

  1. Finish Windows setup with a local or work account as your office policy requires, connect to the office network, and run Windows Update fully - including a restart - before installing anything else
  2. Run your saved Ninite installer with the office standard set: browser, PDF reader, office suite or viewer, media player, archiver, communication apps
  3. Install your antivirus or confirm Windows Security is active and updated before the PC meets real work
2

Stage 2 - Role Apps With the Winget Script

  1. Run your prepared import: winget import -i C:\Setup\apps.json --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --ignore-unavailable
  2. Keep one small JSON per role - accounts, design, field staff - instead of one giant file for everyone
  3. Add the person's specialist software now: the accounts package, the DSC signing tools, the VPN client - whatever their desk actually uses, installed and opened once to prove it works
  4. Create the user account with standard (non-admin) rights, set the correct name, and sign the user in once yourself to catch profile problems early
3

Stage 3 - Enrol the PC for Its Whole Life ⭐

  1. Install the Endpoint Central agent (or confirm it arrived by policy) and check the PC appears in the console under the right group
  2. From this moment the office standard maintains itself: patches, future software pushes and inventory all flow through the console
  3. Record the asset in your register - user, PC name, serial, date issued - while you are looking at it, not from memory next month
  4. Run winget upgrade --all one final time, restart once, and open the three apps the employee will use first
4

Handover - the Five Minute Finish

  1. Set the browser home page and bookmarks to the office tools, and pin the daily apps to the taskbar
  2. Connect the printer and take one real print - not a test page promise
  3. Show the employee where the shared drives and help contact live, and hand over the credentials the approved way
  4. Note anything non-standard you installed and why - the next technician (possibly you, in a year) will thank you
⚠️ Honest note: this routine takes under an hour once the Ninite file, role JSONs and agent are prepared - and most of that hour is Windows Update waiting, not your work. The preparation is the real task; do it once, properly, and every joining becomes the same calm routine.

🎥 Watch the Full Comparison

Watch the video's three methods again with this checklist open - you will see exactly which stage each tool owns.

▶️ Watch Full Video
❓ Frequently Asked Questions

We do not have ManageEngine. Can we still use this checklist?

Yes - Stages 1 and 2 work standalone, and Stage 3 can be a scheduled winget update task plus a simple asset register for a very small office. Just be honest that visibility and central reporting are what you give up.

Should the new employee get admin rights for setup day?

No. Install everything from your admin context, then hand over a standard account. If their work genuinely needs elevation later, that is a policy decision to record - not a setup shortcut.

How do we handle a remote or work-from-home joiner?

Prepare the PC the same way before courier dispatch, with the agent installed and the VPN client tested. The console then keeps managing the machine wherever it connects from.

This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video on automatic software installation • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments and you will get a reply 🙏