Newly bought HP Pavilion laptop - security risks

I’ve recently bought a new HP Pavilion laptop, it came with pre-installed software (bloatware) such as various games and other useless stuff.

When setting up the laptop, i was connected to AIS, which is Thailand foreigner mobile network.

I have immediatelly took an action and deleted all bloatware except preinstalled HP software.

I’ve already downloaded some Windows auto updates, but i believe this should not be problem, as it is not possible to do MITM attacks on Windows updates.

However, i am concerned about the bloatware.

I know i might be paranoid, but the fact that bloatware comes with security vulnerabilities is well known and i am scared as i do not know whether Thailand AIS mobile network could be compromised and exploiting these security holes in the pre-installed bloatware.

Should i be concerned?

I am hardening my Windows, i’ve already disabled auto-run and auto-play, i’ve also implement full disk encryption and i am working on Firewall, i am planning to disable all outbound connections and manually allow only reputable apps i know.

Once again, should i be concerned? Is it possible that i’ve already been infected? Or am i paranoid?

Should i reinstall Windows and start with clean shield without bloatware? What about rootkit/bootkit viruses, i believe that even newly installed Windows would not help in that case.

I would love if you could share other tips for hardening Windows too.