Change of Name

Since naming convention in India is not standard, you may end up with different names in different documents. You may have your father's name as your middle name in some cases or town of birth in some other cases. This causes a confusion in instances where you have to produce 2 valid documents. One solution is to apply for change of name in front of a gazetted officer.

Changing name in India is very easy. It is a 2 step process.

In the first step:

1. Locate a notary public in your locality. Approach her with 2 copies of photos and id/address proof
2. Prepare an affidavit. Affidavit can be easily prepared. Ask the notary for help. Regular legal typing agencies have this format ready with them. Type of Affidavit depends on the reason for the name change. Ask for Annexure E. (Annexure E can be used for all purposes including name change in passport)
3. Sign in front of the notary

That is it. This entire process should take less than an hour and cost less than Rs. 300/-

The next step is to publish this change in a well circulated newspaper in English and one local language. You can locate the contact number of the newspaper ad department on the advertisement page. Call them up and check. Generally they ask you to send the matter to them along with a copy of the affidavit. Most newspapers give you an option of paying online. So you can get this done without stepping out out of your home.

I had checked with Times of India. They provide for payment via online transfer. The cost was Rs. 660 for 5 lines and Rs. 120 for each additional line. For this amount, they publish your ad in both English (Times of India) and local language (Kanada newspaper,Vijayavani) editions. And they give you 3 copies of the newspaper if you go to their office with the receipt.

Now you have a valid document which you can use to change your name in all legal documents.

Tips for new laptop owners

You must have spent quite some time before deciding the model and budget for your laptop. Now that you are a proud owner of a new laptop, take some time in safe-guarding it. I have given some basic steps below followed by the details. You can skip the details, if you already are familiar with the steps. And if you have anything to else to add, please feel free to let me know.

1. Every original laptop comes with a valid Windows license. This is called OEM license. Note down the Windows Product Key. In case, if for some reason, you need it at a later point, you don't want to go running around for it. Good news is that the Windows Product Key is embedded in the BIOS these days.

2. Check the laptop serial number. The laptop serial number on the invoice, on the laptop box and on your laptop should match.

3. Check on the company web site for the warranty details. The warranty should be valid from the date of invoice to 1 - 3 years based on your warranty terms.

4. You would also need to know the serial number of the laptop components. These include
   1. Planner board
   2. Battery
   3. Memory
   4. Hard Disk
   5. Adapter

5. Partition your hard disk. Save all data on the non-windows (OS) drive. If for some reason, you need to format the OS drive, your data would be safe.

6. Most new laptops come with trial version of a anti-virus. If you want, you can purchase and continue to use it. If you don't, Windows comes with its own version of anti-virus called Windows Defender. Make sure you update it and schedule the scan.

7. Verify the Windows update and set what suits you the best. I have come across quite a few instances where after repair or maintenance, the laptop owner was advised to switch off Windows Update. This should tell you that the Windows OS on your laptop is not authentic any longer. Make sure you read the Windows Activation section below.
   
   1. Windows License
   2. Laptop Serial Number
   3/4. Warranty Details & Components Serial Number
   5. Partition Hard Disk
   6. Anti Virus
   7. Windows Update
   
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Setting up of Windows Updates

Like all software, Windows also gets regular updates. They can range from routine bug fixes to security fixes. Click on Action Center (in control panel) and click on “Windows Update”.

Click on “Change Settings”.

Make changes as per your wish. I have opted to “Download the updates but let me choose when to install them”

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Setting up Windows Defender

New laptops are generally loaded with a trial version of a commercial anti-virus. If you do not plan to purchase it, you can use Windows built-in anti-virus software, “Windows Defender”. Unlike earlier version, Windows Defender doesn't come with a easy scheduler. You need to use Task Scheduler.

Open up Task Scheduler (Control Panel/Administrative Tools)

Open Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows. Scroll down to find “Windows Defender”. Right Click on “Windows Defender Scheduled Scan” and export it to a temporary folder. (I prefer to work on copies, just in case something goes wrong and I need to refer to the original configuration”.)

Make 3 copies and call them “Daily Scan”, “Weekly Scan” and “Daily Update”. Click on Import Task and import all three files.

These tasks will now be listed as shown below (Trigger will be blank, since we have not set it up.

Double click on “Daily Scan”. This will open properties dialog box. Click on the trigger tab.

Click New and set up a time, when the laptop would be least used. I have set mine to 1:30 AM.

Select on “Action” tab and than click on “Edit” button.

In Add Arguments, add “scan -scantype 1”. This sets up a daily quick scan of the system.

Now modify “Weekly Scan”. In trigger, select once in a week and in the “Action” tab/Add Arguments, add “scan -scantype 2”. This sets up a full scan once in a week.

Finally modify “Daily Update”. In trigger, select daily and in Action/Add Arguments, add “SignatureUpdate”. This would ensure the signatures are updated on a daily basis. Make sure your updates precede scans by at least 30 minutes.

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Partition Hard Disk Drive

It's advisable to put all your data on a different drive than on your OS drive. In future if you need to recreate the OS, you will have your data safe on a separate logical drive.

To partition your hard drive, right click on the “Computer” on and click manage.

This should open computer management window, which looks like:

Scroll to Disk management. On the right, locate your disk (generally called C:). Right Click and select shrink volume.

In the Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB:, enter the size of the data drive that you want to create. I would suggest you retain at least 60 – 250 GB on your C drive, based on the total disk size. Changing this later would be troublesome.

After shrinking you'll find unallocated volume. Right click on the volume and click on “New Simple Volume”. 

This should open the wizard. Follow the steps given and you should have your data drive ready.

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Laptop - Warranty Details and serial numbers of other laptop components

Warranty Details: All companies maintain the warranty details on their website. You can check it online.

Some links are given below, but it may change. If the link doesn't work, search for it on your favorite search engine.

HP: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/weInput?cc=in&lc=en

Dell: http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/in/en/indhs1/TroubleShooting/ProductSelector

Lenovo: http://support.lenovo.com/en_IN/product-service/warranty-status/default.page

Toshiba: http://www.toshiba-india.com/laptop/service-support/onsite-warranty-lookup

Sony: http://www.sony.co.in/section/warrantyinfo

Make sure that your laptop warranty details on the site matches what is mentioned on your invoice.

Serial Number of other components: You may also want to note down the serial number of other components of your laptop. In case you give your laptop for maintenance or repairs, you want to be sure that you get back your laptop without any replacements. Since you cannot open your laptop without voiding the warranty, the best alternate is to use a key finder software. I have tried Belarc in the past and it has worked for me. Download the software from the below mentioned URL, install and run it. It'll give it's output in HTML format. You can save this file for future reference.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

This gives the serial number of main circuit board (planner), memory and hard disk. You can note down the adapter and battery serial number from the body.

Sample of the Belarc Report.

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Locating the serial number of a laptop

All laptop comes with a unique serial number. The nomenclature may differ from vendor to vendor. The covering case of the laptop will carry the serial number. The same number should be available on the body and in the BIOS as well. (if you cannot locate it on the laptop body, it may be under the battery). If you are not sure where to look for, ask the customer executive.

For locating the serial number in the BIOS, login to the Windows, open command prompt and type

wmic bios get serialnumber

You can open command prompt by typing “Windows Key + R”, and then type cmd.

Windows Key:

Run Dialog Box:

Make sure, you note down this as your laptop warranty is tied to this number.

This number will come handy when you face any planner related problems or replacement. Replaced planner board should be updated with this serial number.

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