I'm a new user with my first Raspberry Pi 4 (model B), but don't have a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse. I would like to use my laptop (running Windows) to use the Pi.

So far I have: (1) Downloaded the OS (deafault Raspbian, 32-bit) onto a microSD card, loaded it onto the Pi and powered on. (2) Waited till the green light flickers, taking this to mean that the first boot is completed.

After this, I tried connecting the Pi to my laptop via ethernet and WiFi, with the intention to follow these instructions to SSH in and use VNC.

However, I am not seeing any connection to the Pi on my laptop. What do I do? I have checked this question, whose answers call for adding a userconf file in the boot partition of SD, but the instructions were a bit technical for a newbie like me. A simple and idiot-proof set of instructions would be welcome.