- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
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I will be switching to Linux once my laptop is obsolete!!! I will only be getting Linux stuff from there on in!!! :-)
If you have a drive where you can back up your stuff before installing a new OS, there’s no need to wait.
I installed windows 11 a dozen time at work (never at home) and I just click on “domain login”, it just creates a local account and then after the install I have to manually join the domain. No Microsoft account enforcement at all.
It’s regular Windows 11, not Enterprise, we are a small company.
But I’m wondering, this bypass is too easy, is it because it sees that the DNS server is also an active directory server, so it allows that, or the trick is that you tell him you want to join a domain?
Or maybe it’s a domain enrollment bug because we’re using samba 4 under Debian as active directory server and not Windows server/entra id/whatever they call it this month?
Is this about Windows Home edition? I don’t need to do anything hacky to get a local account but I also don’t use Home edition.
Use Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC, problem solved.
Or, you know, that other thing.
I despise that I have to use this OS at work. I would never run windows on my own computer again. Its just insanity. Next they’ll require a credit card to make a Microsoft account.
I could see them requiring government-issued ID. The age verification laws coming into effect in various states and countries make this a logical step for Microsoft. They might even start their own age verification service where you give them your ID and they vouch for your age with the sites you visit in Edge. Of course it would have the totally accidental side effect that everything you do on your computer could be monitored and legally tied to your identity.
Switched to Linux full time at the start of 2025 and haven’t looked back. I fully intend to go the rest of my life without using windows again.
I’ve been using Linux exclusively for more than ten years. You’ve made the right choice. As if you needed anyone to tell you 😆
Same, I made the switch about 9 years ago when I was self-employed. Then I took a job with a small company running windows and it sucked. Now I’m 6 years in with my current, a mega corp, and they are all in on Microsoft. I’ve been so aggravated with the limitations of Microsoft products when I could get things done with a FOSS product in no time. Of course IT blocks FOSS installs because of corporate policy…🤬
“It would bypass critical steps…”
Which step is that, data collection? Shoving OneDrive down my throat by putting my Desktop in it with no way to easily remove it?
From the other time this was posted:
95 is the stick, and ME is the stick up someone’s butt.
NT?
Solid, for its time but lacking USB support. But that made sense (at the time); a server OS didn’t need ISB support yet.
Win2k?
Windows 2000 was the hammer. Windows XP was the hammer dressed as a Teletubby, with a 6-inch chain attaching it to an activation anvil.
In my humble opinion that was probably the best windows of its era. Windows XP sp2 was the most important change with its own firewall.
Here’s your bypass:
In OOBE, go through MS account creation. Tell it you were born today. It’ll let you set a password for the MS account before rejecting you due to COPA requirements. At this point, you can make an offline account without having even created an MS account, let alone having to use one.
This will not go away - it’s a legal thing. MS doesn’t want to deal with COPA stuff for very young kids, so this flow exists. Enjoy.
This is the rule for any account or mobile game, too - if it asks your age before asking for consent to farm, put any age below 13. It’ll either not farm you because it’s illegal or it’ll kick you out. If the latter, good riddance really
I’ve always done 1/1/1984 for obvious reasons but this is a good tip
I’ve used 1/1/70 since it’s the unix epoc, what’s 1/1/84?
Rufus can be used to disable account creation along with other settings.
rufus doesn’t help with preloads that you don’t want to or can’t, for whatever reason, overwrite with a ‘clean’ install.
If os can’t be installed off a usb then that means linux can’t either, which makes it a pretty sad machine to spend money on.
So it must be a work or school device then? Which users wouldn’t be installing OS on anyways with it being handled through IT.
There are plenty that will boot/install Linux just fine but won’t do a nice clean install of Windows 11.
Modern Thinkpad E16 (AMD) is one of them, a clean USB won’t work, it will always stick at not finding required drivers.
You need to inevitably create a USB install from the MS USB Media Creation tool, running on the machine itself from the included crapware Windows - to get an installer USB that will work.
Different if you’re just pushing a wim over the network from endpoint/scm, but it’s basically broken for local users.
That’s unfortunate. Looks like thinkpads aren’t worth getting. I generally do not trust manfucturer preinstalled OS.
Only if you want to run Windows on that model I guess. My kid has an E16 AMD and installed Fedora Linux from a USB no problem.
Do you have more info regarding that ThinkPad E16?
I’m mostly working with T series laptops and haven’t had the problem, but always good to know if or when an E16 shows up.
What if they just ask your age as step 1 of the setup?
Same thing, that doesn’t change anything.
“While these mechanisms were often used to bypass Microsoft account setup, they also inadvertently skip critical setup screens, potentially causing users to exit OOBE with a device that is not fully configured for use.”
Lol sure. If that was the real reason they’d simply let you create a local account. The audacious lying is just insulting.
Don’t plug to many, otherwise people might start jumping ship!
just making it easier to act like they don’t even exist. I’ll never, EVER get an account for MY computer.
There’s no online accounts needed for Linux.
exactly
Same, I refuse to have my OS linked to anything other then a local account.
Especially since most email accounts now need cell phone numbers, and home addresses.
If I was still a solo sysadmin, today I would be reevaluating the feasibility of dumping Windows altogether.
Technically it possible with using windows server edition ,clean no bloatware ,minimum processes Legally cost a lot not available for usual users only in crack way
Honestly I’m using Windows Enterprise. Local accounts, GPOs to get rid of all the telemetry and other bullshit. Never seen an ad in the start menu or any other place. Just nice clean windows. Basically it’s what companies use so that Microsoft doesn’t piss them off.
I wish the IT company we work with used enterprise edition, instead I have to deal with a ton of fuckery that is professional edition in an org with 50 employees, and I do not have the schooling necessary to take over fully.
Really wish we could just ditch windows altogether every time I find another computer that is using a local login instead of an AD login because they couldn’t be bothered to set shit up properly
While yes, licensing them is a bitch, but a terminal server is a viable option
At this point I just
net user /addit, which just creates the user manually and then you can reboot and just log into it.It’s not like you need anything from the OOBE at all, so might as well just skip it entirely.
I decided to make a customs iso. Not too difficult to do. Just add a unattended.xml file and boot and be done.
Germans got us covered:
https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
Some crap I still have a Windows VM. Combine this with ShutUp10 for blocking telemetry.
Dump windows. These megacorps need to fail.
