Congratulations. After opening the box and making sure the machine is not damaged, you have the correct next step, checking the inside. After that and hooking up the machine to a monitor, keyboard and mouse only, you should go ahead and start the machine.

My personal practice is then to clone the system disc onto another of equal or greater size. That way, if for some reason, I really muck it up, I can always go back to the original. I used to use Ghost, but it has not kept up with new developments. It works fine with XP and IDE drives, but SATA drives and Vista are not properly supported. I now use Acronis True Image 10. It can be used to back up, but for me the most valuable feather is the clonning feature. Others can back up, but clonning seems to either be an ignored feature or one to difficult to put in run-of-the-mill backup programs.

Acronis True Image 10 is available as a CD from Newegg for $35 including 3 day shipping or $20 for the downloaded version. Either version will require you to print the manual, and the downloaded version will require you to burn the recovery CD.

I know it's tempting to just jump in, but pace yourself, and you will be rewarded in the end. I also bought a book called "Windows Vista - The Missing Manual" The primary author is David Pogue and it is published by O'Reilly Press. I found their book on W2K, XP, and XP SP2 books most helpful, so I bought the Vista book before I started.

Vista is SIGNIFICANTLY different from XP. All the XP features are there along with some new ones, but they are in different places. Many items are easier, mapping a network drive is done in about half the steps.

After you have Vista up and running and backed up/clonned, then you can start installing the printers and other periphials.If you have an older printer or scanner, you may be in for a disappointment Check the manufacturer website for updated drivers. Some drivers may already be on the Vista installation.

Some seem to have a problem with Vista, but I have found it to be an enjoyable, smooth and stable operating system. The graphics are fantastic. You did not indicate whether you are also getting a new monitor with your new machine. A higher resolution monitor will really show off Vista to its best effect.

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Check out Spirit Wind's post on the thread "Problem installing software on XP SP2" It gives a link to a software package called Decrapifier. It may save you some time.

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Maybe the vendors are starting to get the message on excessive "Pre Loads". When I got my HP Media Center it also had the recovery partition. I also burned the recovery DVD's, the recovery set did not come with the machine - it was an option I declined as the machine came with XP Media Center and I knew I was going to Vista. When I got my Vista Upgrade from HP, I did a clean install on a second HD, Just In Case.

The recovery partion should not take up much room (mine was 8GB on a 160GB HD), and you should keep it until you know you don't want it anymore.

One other item - as you read the posts on this forum, one thing keeps coming across. Backup, Backup, Backup. There are two kinds of people in this world - those who have lost data due to hard disk failure (I'm in this group) and those who will. Try to stay with the latter group as long as you can.

Computers are very reliable these days, but the data is stored as electrical bits and Murphys Law is alive and well in the electronic world. One night when I was working on my computer I totally scrambled my FAT table. When I did a directory listing it was garbage. Everything was gone. I still have to remind myself to back up. When you get your machine to a point where you like the setup - Back it up. Do that on a regular basis.

You will never regret backing up too much. Someday on the other hand, you might regret not backing up enough.

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Great posts by everyone! One thing that is overlooked by most people is where you place that shiny new machine. I recommend that you place your computer away from all heating and cooling vents, the dust will come through and will end up clogging your system.

Also make sure that your system has room to breathe, keeping the tower in a closed cabinent with no ventilation will only keep heat inside the case, shortening the life of your machine. If leaving it on your desk make sure that the sun isn't shining on it (the computer generates enough of its own heat) and that is in a stable spot so it won't be knock off the desk.

Take a few minutes to take a look at all the wires and power cords that come with a computer and come up with a plan to make sure they don't get tangled. Electronic stores sell ties that help keep them in order, but ordinary garbage or bread loaf ties work just fine (and cost alot less). Group wires such as ethernet cables together or group your power cables together, whatever works best for you. Believe me if you decide to move the computer to a new area having the cables neat and organized will save you a bundle of time! I have also color coated my power cords to make identifying what goes where alot easier; stores sell products that do this but markers or nail polish work just fine.

Thats about all i can think of off the top of my head, hope you find this all helpful. Good luck and enjoy your new Gateway, they make great machines.

Get XP???:D