Your first hour on a new Windows VPS: updates, users, firewall and backups

The short answer: a new Windows VPS is ready to use but not ready to expose. In the first hour there are six things to do, in this order: change the password, update the system, set the time, create your own user, close what you do not need and have a backup. Whoever postpones them tends to find out when something goes wrong.

The six things, in order

1 Connect and change the administrator password. The one you received went through a mailbox; swap it for a long one that is only yours. See Connecting to a Windows VPS.
2 Install the Windows updates (Settings > Windows Update) and restart. It may take more than once: repeat until there are none left. Do it in the morning, not before a meeting.
3 Set the time zone (Settings > Time & language). Logs and scheduled tasks use it.
4 Create your own user for daily use, with its own password, and use the administrator only when needed. Give it the right to sign in through Remote Desktop.
5 Limit remote access. The Remote Desktop port (3389) is the most attacked target. Restrict it to your IP address, or change how you get in: Making Remote Desktop safer and Your public IP.
6 Make a clean backup before installing anything: Backing up a VPS: snapshots or files. It is the point to return to if something goes wrong.

After the first hour

When What to do
Before installing a program Confirm it comes from the official source. “Cracked” programs are the most common way in for viruses.
Every week See whether there are updates and whether the disk has space. A full disk stops everything.
When you publish a site Publishing a site on Windows Server with IIS.
When the server gets slow Task Manager shows what is using the processor, memory and disk.
If you are moving a site from Linux Moving a site between Linux and Windows.
Keep the antivirus on. Windows Server comes with Microsoft Defender; do not turn it off to “save resources”. And do not install several antiviruses: they fight each other.

Want help deciding what to install on your Windows VPS? Open a ticket saying what will run on it.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Connecting to a Windows VPS with Remote Desktop

Making Remote Desktop on a Windows VPS safer

Backing up a VPS: snapshots or files

How to publish a website on Windows Server with IIS

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