How I re-build my laptop in minutes vs hours using PowerShell and Chocolatey

I re-build my laptop about every 3 to 4 months.  The old way was to Install Windows 10, then eventually install software I had missing as I needed it. I wasted lots of time searching for, downloading and installing the many different apps I use daily.

The New Way with PowerShell and Chocolatey

1. Install Windows 10
2. Open up PowerShell as an administrator
3. Set my PowerShell Execution Policy to Remote Signed

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

1. Install Chocolatey from an elevated command prompt

@powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin

1. Run my PowerShell Script to install the software I want

iex ((new-object net.webclient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

choco install googlechrome -y

choco install notepadplusplus.install -y

choco install 7zip.install -y

choco install rdcman -y

choco install greenshot -y

choco install adobereader -y

choco install vlc -y

choco install filezilla -y

choco install sysinternals -y

choco install putty -y

choco install winscp -y

choco install windirstat -y

choco install visualstudiocode -y

For more packages see the Chocolatey Gallery https://chocolatey.org/packages

I also install the SCOM console from my file server using PowerShell

$dwnld = "\\FileServer\Software\SCOM 2012 R2 RTM\Prerequisits"
if (!(Test-Path -path $dwnld))
 {
 New-Item $dwnld -type directory
 }

Write-Host "Downloading and installing SQLSysClrTypes prerequisite...." -ForegroundColor Magenta
Start-Sleep -s 5

msiexec /qb /i "$dwnld\SQLSysClrTypes.msi" | Out-Null

Write-Host "Checking download folder location exists...." -ForegroundColor Yellow
Start-Sleep -s 5


Write-Host "Downloading and installing ReportViewer prerequisite...." -ForegroundColor Magenta
Start-Sleep -s 5

msiexec /qb /i "$dwnld\ReportViewer.msi" | Out-Null


Write-Host "Downloading and installing ReportViewer prerequisite...." -ForegroundColor Magenta
Start-Sleep -s 5

#Install OM Console
msiexec /qb /i "$dwnld\OMConsole.msi" | Out-Null

Download my script: Link