A method for creating a local account during clean install I have not seen before

Last Updated August 22, 2024

NOTE: The procedures below will work with Windows 11 PRO edition including 24H2. All of the procedures for bypassing the Windows 11 system requirements should work for the home edition, but not all of the procedures for bypassing the need for a Microsoft account may work with the home edition. I have not done any testing with the home edition.

This document serves two purposes:

1) It describes how to install Windows 11 on systems that do not technically meet the Windows 11 hardware requirements. Both clean installation methods as well as upgrade installation methods are covered.

2) It describes how to create a local user account during installation rather than having to setup a Microsoft account. Note that this can be used whether or not the system meets Windows 11 requirements.

Before we begin, I would like to point out that there are other methods not covered here to accomplish both of these tasks. For example, the "Rufus" utility can create installation media to allow for installation on unsupported hardware. However, the goal with this document is to provide methods to install Windows 11 without the need for any third-party utilities.


********************************
* CLEAN INSTALLATION PROCEDURE *
********************************

IMPORTANT: Be sure to read both PART 1 and PART 2 below. Part 1 describes how to bypass the initial Windows hardware requirements. Part 2 describes how to create a local user account and bypass the need to login with a Microsoft account during a clean installation.


   ************************************************************************
   * PART 1 - This section describes how to bypass the initial Windows 11 *
   *          system requirements.                                        *
   ************************************************************************

Note: All methods below have the same goal, which is to set registry entries in Windows PE during setup to bypass the Windows 11 requirements. This will NOT affect the final installation of Windows. It only affects the registry entries of Windows PE during setup which is loaded in memory. As soon as the first reboot during installation occurs, these registry entries are lost, having already served their purpose.


      *****************************************************
      * Method 1 - Updating the Windows BOOT.WIM Registry *
      *****************************************************

Personally, this is my preferred method because it is 100% transparent to users but it requires the most effort. When booting from Windows installation media, Windows setup runs under Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment). This is contained within the BOOT.WIM file. By updating the registry for this environment, installation will look the same as always and no answer file is needed, nor is any other action required by the user.

This method requires a little bit of work to implement, but once the Windows image is updated, no action is needed by the user during Windows installation. If you are looking for "easier" methods, continue to the other available options.

To implement this method, use these steps:

1) Install the Windows ADK from here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install

NOTE: When installing the ADK, you will be shown a list of items that can be installed. You can choose to install only the Deployment Tools from this list.

2) Open a command prompt by running the "Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment" in elevated mode (as Administrator). You will find this item in Start > All Apps > Windows Kits. Again, make sure to run this elevated (as Administrator).

TIP: When you open the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment, you can issue a "CD \" to change paths to the root of the volume. This makes the prompt at the command line much shorter and less obtrusive while you are working. Leave this window open until the very end. We will run all the needed commands from the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment.

NOTE: This environment is basically like any other command prompt, except that various variables and paths are set so that the tools we need such as DISM.exe and OSCDIMG.exe are in the path, ensuring that the latest version of these utilities is run from the ADK location and that all utilities can be found.

3) We will now create the folders that we need for this project by running these commands. You can use other folders, but these are what I will use in my examples:

MD "C:\Project\ISO_Files"
MD "C:\Project\Mount"

4) Mount your Windows ISO image and copy ALL files to C:\Project\ISO_Files.

5) Run the following commands. Note that you can copy and paste all these commands to your command prompt at once if you wish.

NOTE: Consider creating an antivirus exception for the C:\Project folder and all contents of that folder. The dism /unmount-image may fail if antivirus software interferes.

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:c:\project\iso_files\sources\boot.wim /index:1 /mountdir:c:\project\mount
reg load HKLM\offline c:\project\mount\windows\system32\config\system
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg unload HKLM\offline
dism /unmount-image /mountdir:c:\project\mount /commit
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:c:\project\iso_files\sources\boot.wim /index:2 /mountdir:c:\project\mount
reg load HKLM\offline c:\project\mount\windows\system32\config\system
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg add HKLM\offline\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f
reg unload HKLM\offline
dism /unmount-image /mountdir:c:\project\mount /commit
oscdimg -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,b"c:\project\ISO_Files\boot\etfsboot.com"#pEF,e,b"c:\project\ISO_Files\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin" "c:\project\ISO_Files" "c:\project\Windows.ISO"
rd /S /Q "c:\project\iso_files"
rd /S /Q "c:\project\mount"

NOTE: When the above commands have finished running, the updated ISO image file can be found as C:\Project\Windows.ISO.


      ****************************************************
      * Method 2 - Using an Autounattend.xml Answer File *
      ****************************************************

You can add the following entries to an autounattend.xml answer file to bypass the Windows 11 system requirements during an unattended installation. Note that you could craft an answer file that DOES NOT perform an unattended installation but does nothing more than bypass the Windows 11 requirements. Adding these entries to your answer file will bypass Windows 11 system requirements.

Create a new answer file or modify an existing answer file with the following entries:

Add the component Microsoft Windows Setup\RunSynchronos\RunSynchronousCommand to Pass 1 windowsPE. Add a total of 3 of these entries and set the values like this:

Order: 1
Path: reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f

Repeat the above steps 4 more time (for a total of 5 "RunSynchronousCommand" entries) with the following entries:

Order: 2
Path: reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f

Order: 3
Path: reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f


      *************************************************************
      * Method 3 - Manually Modify the Registry for Windows Setup *
      *************************************************************

Begin installation of Windows from your installation media. At the first static screen where Windows setup requests information from you during setup, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.

Type regedit and hit ENTER. Add the following entries:

HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig BypassTPMCheck reg_dword 0x00000001
HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig BypassSecureBootCheck reg_dword 0x00000001
HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig BypassRAMCheck reg_dword 0x00000001

Close the Registry Editor and the command prompt. Continue installation normally.


      ********************************
      * Method 4 - Using a .reg file *
      ********************************

Create a file with the extension .reg. Place the following text between the bars (----) into that file. Don't include the "----" lines.

----
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig]
"BypassTPMCheck"=dword:00000001
"BypassSecureBootCheck"=dword:00000001
"BypassRAMCheck"=dword:00000001
----

Save the file, making sure to use a ".reg" file extension. Example: Bypass.reg

Drop this registry file onto your install media. After starting setup, when you reach the first static screen where information is requested by setup, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Navigate to the drive letter where the .reg file is located and then run it. You can run it by simply typing the name of the file and pressing <ENTER>. Close the command prompt and continue installation of Windows as usual.


      *********************************
      * Method 5 - Using a Batch File *
      *********************************

Create a text file with the extension .bat. Example: Bypass.bat. Place the following six lines in that file:

@echo off
reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f > NUL
reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f > NUL
reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f > NUL

NOTE: The "> NUL" simply suppresses the output from being displayed for "silent" operation.

Drop this file onto your install media. After starting setup, when you reach the first static screen where information is requested by setup, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Navigate to the drive letter where the .bat file is located and then run it. You can run it by simply typing the name of the file and pressing <ENTER>. Close the command prompt and continue installation of Windows as usual.


   ************************************************************************
   * Part 2 - This section describes how to create a local account during *
   *          a clean installation and bypass the requirement to logon    *
   *          with a Microsoft account in Windows 11 Pro.                 *
   ************************************************************************

In Part 1 above, we dealt with how to bypass the Windows 11 system requirements. One of the other annoyances is that Windows now tries to force you into using an existing Microsoft account or creating a new Microsoft account during installation. Regardless of which method you used above, you can use one of these procedures to allow you to create a local user account during setup. Please note that you can use these procedures even if you have a system that meets Windows 11 requirements and you did not need to use any of the procedures in Part 1.


      *******************************************************************************
      * Use these methods regardless of whether internet access is available or not *
      *******************************************************************************

******************************************
* Method 1 - Use unattended installation *
******************************************

This method can be used regardless of network status.

You can use an autounattend.xml answer file. Normally, such a file is used to automate the installation of Windows. However, you can create an answer file that simply allows you to create a local user account and does nothing else. Feel free to contact me directly (hsehestedt) if you need help creating such an answer file.


***********************************
* Method 2 - Add a Registry Entry *
***********************************

This method can be used regardless of network status.

During installation, Windows will reboot. After a period of time you will be presented a screen asking "Is this the right country or region?". At that screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. At the command prompt, type "Regedit" and then press ENTER. Navigate to the following registry key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) entry named "BypassNRO" and set the value to 1.

Close the registry editor.

At the command prompt, run this command:

ipconfig /release

Continue with installation.

On the screen entitled "Let's connect you to a network" select "I don't have internet". Continue with installation to completion.

When installation is done, open a command prompt and run "ipconfig /renew".


      *************************************************************
      * If you have a network connection allowing Internet access *
      *************************************************************

NOTE: If you do NOT have an Ethernet or WiFi adapter please skip to the section below called "If you do NOT have an Internet connection".

Perform ANY ONE of the five options below. You may want to read all options before choosing. Make sure to use an option that applies to your situation which is stipulated at the start of each section.


*********************************
* Method 1 - Run OOBE\BypassNRO *
*********************************

Use this option if you have an Ethernet cable that you can unplug or if your system has a WiFi adapter. You can also use this option if your system has no Ethernet adapter or WiFi adapter, or if your system has WiFi only with no Ethernet.

If you have an Ethernet cable, unplug the cable. Begin installation of Windows by booting from your Windows installation media. During installation, the system will reboot one or more times. Once the system has rebooted at least once, installation will eventually pause at a static screen where it asks you "Is this the right country or region?". At that screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. Click on the command window to make it active, type "OOBE\BypassNRO" and then press ENTER. The system will reboot. You will once again see the screen where it asks "Is this the right country or region?". Continue with setup until you get to a screen that says "Let's connect you to a network". Select "I don't have internet" on that screen. Choose that option. On some versions of Windows you will be shown a screen where you can select "Continue with limited setup". If you see this option, select it. Enter your local user account name, and then continue with setup as usual.


*******************************************************
* Method 2 - When Unable to Disconnect Ethernet Cable *
*******************************************************

Use this option if your system has an Ethernet adapter connected to a network that will allow access to the Internet and you cannot disconnect this adapter or you prefer not to disconnect it.

This procedure is very similar to option #1, but you can use this procedure to disable networking if you have an Ethernet adapter that is plugged in. During installation, the system will reboot one or more times. Once the system has rebooted at least once, installation will eventually pause at a static screen where it asks you "Is this the right country or region?". At that screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. Click on the command window to make it active, type "OOBE\BypassNRO" and then press ENTER. The system will reboot. You will once again see the screen where it asks "Is this the right country or region?". Once again, open a command prompt by pressing SHIFT + F10 and then click on the command window to make it active. Type the command "ipconfig /release" and then press ENTER. This has the same effect as disconnecting the Ethernet cable. Close the command prompt. Continue with setup until you get to a screen that says "Let's connect you to a network". Select "I don't have internet" on that screen. Choose that option. On some versions of Windows you will be shown a screen where you can select "Continue with limited setup". If you see this option, select it. Enter your local user account name, and then continue with setup as usual.


********************************
* Method 3 - Use "Domain Join" *
********************************

This option can be used if you have an Ethernet adapter that is connected and that Ethernet adapter has access to the Internet but you cannot disconnect the cable or prefer not to disconnect it. This method will NOT work if you have a WiFi adapter installed in the system.

Proceed with installation of Windows until you arrive at a screen that asks "How would you like to set up this device?". You will have an option to "Set up for personal use" or "Set up for work or school". Select "Set up for work or school" and click on "Next".

On the next screen, click on "Sign-in options", then click on "Domain join instead". Don't worry, we are not joining a domain!

On the next screen, supply the local username that you want to create and then continue through setup as normal.


      *********************************************
      * If you do NOT have an Internet connection *
      *********************************************


********************************
* Method 1 - Running a Command *
********************************

During installation, Windows will reboot. After a period of time you will be presented a screen asking "Is this the right country or region?". At that screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. At the command prompt, type "OOBE\BypassNRO" and then press ENTER. The system will reboot. When you get to the "Let's connect you to a network" screen, you will have an option to select "I don't have internet". Choose that option. On some versions of Windows you will be shown a screen where you can select "Continue with limited setup". If you see this option, select it. Enter your local user account name, and then continue with setup as usual.


***********************************
* Method 2 - Add a Registry Entry *
***********************************

During installation, Windows will reboot. After a period of time you will be presented a screen asking "Is this the right country or region?". At that screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. At the command prompt, type "Regedit" and then press ENTER. Navigate to the following registry key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) entry named "BypassNRO" and set the value to 1.

Close the registry editor.

At the command prompt, run this command:

ipconfig /release

Continue with installation.

On the screen entitled "Let's connect you to a network" select "I don't have internet". Continue with installation to completion.

When installation is done, open a command prompt and run "ipconfig /renew".


****************************************
* END OF CLEAN INSTALLATION PROCEDURES *
****************************************


***********************************
* UPGRADE INSTALLATION PROCEDURES *
***********************************


      ********************************************
      * Method 1 - Updating the Windows Registry *
      *            PREFERRED METHOD              *
      ********************************************


You can bypass the Windows 11 requirements for an upgrade installation by adding the entries below to your Windows registry.

You can make this into a .REG file if you wish. Then, simply double-click that file to merge the contents into the registry. If you want to do this, open notepad, paste in the following lines between the "----" lines (not including those lines), and save it to a file with a .REG extension, then double-click that file to make the registry change:

----
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PCHC]
"UpgradeEligibility"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup]
"AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig]
"BypassRAMCheck"=dword:00000001
"BypassSecureBootCheck"=dword:00000001
"BypassTPMCheck"=dword:00000001
----

NOTE: It is my understanding that the "BypassDiskCheck" and "BypassStorageCheck" no longer do anything, but it won't hurt anything to keep those entries. If you prefer, you can omit those two lines.


      ********************************************
      * Method 2 - Updating the Windows Registry *
      *            Alternate Method              *
      ********************************************

This method is similar to method 1 above, but it bypasses only the need for a TPM 2.0 and the CPU requirements. I present it here as an option but would suggest using method 1 instead since it is a more comprehensive solution but requires no more effort than this method.

You can bypass just the TPM 2.0 and supported CPU requirements for an upgrade installation by making the following change to the registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup]
"AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU"=dword:00000001

NOTE: This registry setting bypasses the need for a supported CPU and a TPM 2.0 but a TPM 1.2 would still be needed.

You can make this into a .REG file if you wish. Then, simply double-click that file to merge the contents into the registry. If you want to do this, open notepad, paste in the following lines between the "----" lines (not including those lines), and save it to a file with a .REG extension, then double-click that file to make the registry change:

----
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup]
"AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU"=dword:00000001
----

References
==========

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ways-to-install-windows-11-e0edbbfb-cfc5-4011-868b-2ce77ac7c70e

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
Notes about this answer file:

The purpose of this answer file is to bypass the Windows 11 system requirement checks, create a local user account, and
eliminate the need for an internet connection during setup. It does NOT perform an unattended installation of Windows.

It includes a Windows 10 / 11 Pro key.

It will create a local user account named "WinUser" with a full name of "Windows User" and a password of "Password1".

Note that you can change the user name at will by simply modifying this text file. Just make sure to change both "WinUser"
AND "Windows User".

This answer file can also be used to setup Windows 10 since the setting to bypass Windows 11 requirement checks will
have no effect upon Windows 10 setup.

END OF NOTES
-->
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserData>
<!--
The key below is for the Pro edition of Windows. For Home, use one of these keys instead:

Windows 11 Home Single Language: BT79Q-G7N6G-PGBYW-4YWX6-6F4BT
Windows 11 Home: YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7
-->
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Password>
                            <Value>UABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkADEAUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
                            <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        <DisplayName>Windows User</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>WinUser</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <OOBE>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
            </OOBE>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>