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mercurial idiot 🌒

@jon I got a new computer recently and I was absolutely shocked that there is no way of getting out of signing into a Microsoft account. The only way to use the computer otherwise is to use a different OS!

28 comments
Marta Threadbare

@jon @writeblankspace last time I tried (win11 22h2) before I went back to win10, just removing the ethernet cable and not telling it which wifi to use worked? did they remove that way?

Jon S. von Tetzchner

@cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace

They make it harder for each release. Last time that did not work. Why should one have to use hacks like that?

Jahin Z.

@jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace I have a suspicion that they might also use A/B testing of random user account policies/blocks too, so one person might find it easy to skip online accounts while another might find it impossible (both on the same version on clean installs)

Baron Von J

@jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
Currently if the computer has wifi and it finds nearby networks, you have to open a command prompt and reconfigure the out-of-box-experience to not require network

windowscentral.com/how-set-win

DELETED

@baronvonj This is insanity to be forced into these kinds of measures.

Baron Von J

@weilawei I concur. Unfortunately I'm only interested in the detachable form factor at a screen size that is comfortably usable as a tablet and run full desktop Lightroom. Which pretty much leaves me with the Surface line.

Asta [AMP]

@baronvonj@mas.to @jon@social.vivaldi.net @cygnathreadbare@masto.ai @writeblankspace@infosec.space ... I'm sorry, if there's a nearby network the computer has found, Windows... requires you to use it right now? What the fuck?

Baron Von J

@aud @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
yeah, you can't continue with the out-of-box setup without either connecting wifi and logging in an MS account or reconfiguring OOBE via command-line. It's a garbage take from a company that realizes the future of their revenue is with the subscription cloud services. so they're trying to bundle it all into the OS.

Asta [AMP]

@baronvonj@mas.to @jon@social.vivaldi.net @cygnathreadbare@masto.ai @writeblankspace@infosec.space Is it like: if it finds open wifi or just any wifi?

because like, either way, that is a
problem. "I see some open wifi, just sign in there!" wuuuuuuuut

Baron Von J

@aud @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
Actually I think it's if OOBE finds wifi hardware in the computer at all and can load a driver for it.

tallship

@baronvonj @aud @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
k. I've got less than 1337 chars to do this...

First let me say that Vivaldi rocks on Linux.

Okay the horror story you wished you didn't have to live through:

A friend comes over after not following my advice with a brand new hundred dollar Dell laptop to replace her tech challenged (spelled, luddite) husband's old one. It's got no Ethernet port.

Some idiot (me) says I'll migrate everything over. Bad choice. It was "Windows 11 Home edition S Mode".

I started teaching the MCSE program for Microsoft in 1995. I don't allow Microsoft accounts for logins - only Local accounts.

Aside from the OOBE issues, the problem requires one to rip out the "S Mode" part AND go through the other items without ever using a temp microsoft account to do so - much more non--trivial than you think). It's very bad if you create that shell-game temp MS account and will bite your customer later if you do that.

He has a google account as an anchor for Chrome, and 99% of everything he does is either Google Earth or YouTube music VoDs.

I should have shelled out the $17 for an OEM Pro ed., but I'm stubborn. Mission accomplished - eventually.

He uses zero Microsoft apps, yet his wife bought a box that would only run them.

See happy ending in alt-txt for image

#tallship

⛵

.

@baronvonj @aud @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
k. I've got less than 1337 chars to do this...

First let me say that Vivaldi rocks on Linux.

Okay the horror story you wished you didn't have to live through:

A friend comes over after not following my advice with a brand new hundred dollar Dell laptop to replace her tech challenged (spelled, luddite) husband's old one. It's got no Ethernet port.

1.) photo of Ace paperback book entitled, "The Luddites".

2.) Epilogue:

How does one disable Windows Home Edition "S Mode" during an install and get around the requirement of a Microsoft account for login without creating a temporary Microsoft account as a temp administrator? And dealing with all of the other OOBE stuff too?

It's very involved, and it's a moving target that keeps changing with each new release - don't do what I did. It isn't worth the effort, you'll have more fun compiling your own custom Linux v0.96.xx kernel on an i486DX2-66 w/8Mbytes RAM and a 20 Meg HDD.


It's an abomination, yet I ran that gauntlet because I won't allow Microsoft to mislead people like that - even if she completely disregarded what I spec'd out for her husband.

But there's always a silver lining...

His old laptop was a faster, better machine, w/more RAM, superior CPU, Storage capacity, had an Ethernet port for his miserable WiFi connectivity down in his basement, and also had other ports that he needed and yet weren't included on the new laptop with the itty bitty tiny 13" screen (he hated that) - his old laptop had a 17" display.

I made everything run exactly as his old one had before - it was slower, and did I mention he hated that monitor?

Well, guess what, I repurposed his old laptop. It now runs Linux Mint, I migrated all of his bookmarks over from Chrome to Vivaldi, and Google Earth runs just fine too - w00t!

It's faster and better than before!

He's a happy camper now!
Corb_The_Lesser

@baronvonj @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace

I used that the other day and it worked on 11 Pro. Also labored through following a batch of advice about getting rid of telemetry, disabling unwelcome services, etc. Not sure anything done outside Settings would survive the next update. Hardly seemed worth it, actually.

Baron Von J

@Corb_The_Lesser @jon @cygnathreadbare @writeblankspace
That is for sure true that some of these settings can get reverted in the big OS updates (like 1909 to 20h2 to 22h2).

Fabián Robledo

@cygnathreadbare

Last week I started a brand new laptop for work and I used that trick. I do not know the exact W11 versión, but not connecting to the Internet allowed to me to create a local account.

Ironically, i only used it to download Ubuntu and make a live usb, as we mainly use GNU/Linux at work.

@jon @writeblankspace

MycotropicForHarris

@FabianRY @cygnathreadbare @jon @writeblankspace

In a similar vein I open Edge once; to download #Firefox. I still have to deal with ~10 Edge processes in the background all the time though.....

Marta Threadbare

@mycotropic @FabianRY @jon @writeblankspace in my previous win10 setup I had periodic slowdowns in even the simplest games, somehow Edge was starting a few processes and closing them 20 seconds later constantly every few minutes, no idea what for.

YurkshireLad

@writeblankspace @jon there are ways if you google them. The section titled "How to Bypass Windows 11 Microsoft Account Requirement Using Command Prompt" worked for me on the page howtogeek.com/836157/how-to-us

Jon S. von Tetzchner

@YurkshireLad @writeblankspace

You should not need to use hacks to avoid logging into Microsoft or accidentally using Microsoft services.

BashStKid

@YurkshireLad @writeblankspace @jon
These do work, and aren’t very involved, but really really should not be necessary.

Not David Beckham

@writeblankspace @jon
I get around this by using a Microsoft account that is only used for logging in to the computer. It’s the only reason I have a Microsoft account. I use it for nothing. It’s pouting in the corner of a locked room.

DELETED

@writeblankspace @jon there are custom Win11 builds that strip all the garbage out of Win11, but then you have to decide to trust the random fan-made build.

mercurial idiot 🌒

@brentendo @jon heck Microsoft is so bad I would sometimes rather trust random fanmade builds on GitHub...

but why do that? I'd rather just install Linux LOLL

AGTMADCAT :verified:

@writeblankspace @jon There totally is, but you have to know the boot flags to make it happen. It's a massive pain in the ass, but buried under all of the new bollocks is the same old local login system. One method is to set it up without a network connection, and open a command prompt (Shift-F10) and type OOBE\BYPASSNRO to make it proceed without a network connection. There are some other methods but this is the easiest one that works on a default install.

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