Bypassing Microsoft Autopilot

petrel · Jul 16, 2023

I'm a new member but have read a number of past threads concerning problems re-installing Win11. Recently I bought a Gen 6 Lenovo Carbon X1 laptop with Win 11 Pro installed but it also had a lot of stuff I didn't need. I want to use it for astrophotography only so rather than spend hours clearing unwanted stuff off the system the quickest, simplest solution seemed to be to reinstall a clean OS from a USB created from my Win 11 desktop. All went fine until I reached internet connection when the only option is to log into the corporate site registered with MS Autopilot. The shift/f10 link to the command line recommended elsewhere has no effect. I've tried this from the USB, from Windows Boot Manager and the NVMe SSD. Same lack of response. From what I've read the latest versions of Win 11 seem to have blocked this route. Does anyone know of another way, please? At the moment I'm creating a Win 10 recovery USB. If that works then I can presumably upgrade to Win 11 afterwards.
The company that registered with Autopilot has its UK head office about 10 miles away so I'm hopeful that if all else fails if I take it along perhaps they can remove the laptop from the register, which should also overcome the problem. Any thoughts on that would be welcome.

Flashorn · Jul 16, 2023

petrel said:
The company that registered with Autopilot has its UK head office about 10 miles away so I'm hopeful that if all else fails if I take it along perhaps they can remove the laptop from the register, which should also overcome the problem. Any thoughts on that would be welcome.

From what I've read , Autopilot is assigned to a Group from a Company and until that group is deleted from that company's data base then
the notebook will most likely still be connected to that group in the cloud.

Found this from MS:

Troubleshoot when you cannot delete a Windows Autopilot deployment profile - Intune

Describes an issue in which you can't delete a Windows Autopilot deployment profile in Microsoft Intune, and receive an error.

learn.microsoft.com

May or may not help. I think your solution to contact the company might be your answer.

garlin · Jul 16, 2023

Can you explain, "I reached internet connection when the only option is to log into the corporate site registered with MS Autopilot."

A cleanly installed Windows doesn't join a managed domain, unless you connect to its network or use a cloud-based user account. Don't you have normal Internet access from a provider?

Bree · Jul 16, 2023

garlin said:
Can you explain, "I reached internet connection when the only option is to log into the corporate site registered with MS Autopilot."

If a device is enrolled in Autopilot by a company, then as soon as it connects to the internet it will start the process of installing the company's custom Windows. The only way to stop this is for the company to remove the device from their list of enrolled devices.

Microsoft said:
Windows Autopilot enables you to:

Automatically join devices to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) or Active Directory (via Hybrid Azure AD Join). For more information about the differences between these two join options, see Introduction to device management in Azure Active Directory.

Auto-enroll devices into MDM services, such as Microsoft Intune (Requires an Azure AD Premium subscription for configuration).

Create and auto-assign devices to configuration groups based on a device's profile.

Customize OOBE content specific to the organization.

Overview of Windows Autopilot

Windows Autopilot is a collection of technologies used to set up and pre-configure new devices, getting them ready for productive use.

learn.microsoft.com

Dru2 · Jul 16, 2023

Is Autopilot a company thing? I.E., for PCs belonging to a company, rather than an individual?

Sorry, I've not looked into Autopilot.

Bree · Jul 16, 2023

Dru2 said:
Is Autopilot a company thing? I.E., for PCs belonging to a company, rather than an individual?

Sorry, I've not looked into Autopilot.

Autopilot is a way for companies to deliver their corporate custom Windows to a new device when it is first set up.

This can be a new PC that has just been ordered and delivered to an employee. Autopilot enrolment is an option when ordering a new Dell PC - a laptop for a remote worker, for example.

Help Me Choose: Windows Autopilot | Dell UK

-

www.dell.com

garlin · Jul 16, 2023

If I follow your explanation, how does a wiped PC rejoin the AAD domain? It's not a global thing where OOBE searches your device ID, otherwise I can hijack someone's PC by unwillingly registering their device in my domain. The PC has to be prepped to join AAD, so a clean install would prevent that action.

Dru2 · Jul 16, 2023

Bree said:
Autopilot is a way for companies to deliver their corporate custom Windows to a new device when it is first set up.

This can be a new PC that has just been ordered and delivered to an employee. Autopilot enrolment is an option when ordering a new Dell PC - a laptop for a remote worker, for example.

Help Me Choose: Windows Autopilot | Dell UK

-

www.dell.com

So, if I'm reading this right, these are for PCs that belong to a company / agency on loan to an employee?

Still not clear on this, and I've read the links.

petrel · Jul 16, 2023

As I understand it once a company's PCs are registered with Microsoft Autopilot all installations and updates are managed automatically by Microsoft for the life of the machines. Big saving in time to corporate network managers. So, any attempt at a clean instal of Windows 11 on a registered PC takes the machine you are working on directly to the Autopilot register where it's necessary to log into the address you have with your employer. There is no obvious way around this, hence my post for advice. In order to complete the installation of Windows 11 on any PC it seems necessary to have internet connection. There used to be a much publicised workaround but that doesn't work for me. However, I have now managed to instal Windows 10 Pro from a flashdrive without internet connection. Once the installation was complete I connected to the internet without any problem. I'll give it a while and wait for MS to invite me to upgrade to Win 11 and that should bypass Autopilot but in the meantime I have a usable laptop. I bought the laptop from a dealer and since it should have been de-registered before being sold on by the company into the s/h market one wonders...

NavyLCDR · Jul 16, 2023

Where did you purchase this computer from?

Bree · Jul 16, 2023

petrel said:
The company that registered with Autopilot has its UK head office about 10 miles away.....

petrel said:
I bought the laptop from a dealer and since it should have been de-registered before being sold on by the company into the s/h market one wonders...

It should be the dealer's responsibility to ensure this was de-registered before it was sold it on to you. But your dealer may not have bought the laptop direct from the company, it probably passed through one or more intermediaries before it ended up with them. Things like this can get overlooked when there are many steps between the original owner and you.

I had a similar experience with a Dell latitude laptop I bought from Cash Converters. After I had finished clean-installing Windows and configured it to my needs I turned my attention to its bios settings - and discovered that it had a bios password. I contacted Cash Converters, only to find that they had bought the laptop from another trader, had no idea that it had a bios password, and had no way to contact the original owner. Fortunately the laptop was new enough to still be covered by Dell support, and that the cover passed to me with the laptop. A call to Dell support got me a reset code.

Flashorn · Jul 17, 2023

Bree said:
It should be the dealer's responsibility to ensure this was de-registered before it was sold it on to you. But your dealer may not have bought the laptop direct from the company, it probably passed through one or more intermediaries before it ended up with them. Things like this can get overlooked when there are many steps between the original owner and you.

I had a similar experience with a Dell latitude laptop I bought from Cash Converters. After I had finished clean-installing Windows and configured it to my needs I turned my attention to its bios settings - and discovered that it had a bios password. I contacted Cash Converters, only to find that they had bought the laptop from another trader, had no idea that it had a bios password, and had no way to contact the original owner. Fortunately the laptop was new enough to still be covered by Dell support, and that the cover passed to me with the laptop. A call to Dell support got me a reset code.

When Covid hit, my daughter had to relocate to her home office. The Canadian Gov. gave her a Lenovo 14" notebook to do all
of her work (talk about cheap ....). She is working for Appropriations and has to have lots of conferences through her daily dealings.
I offered to get her a decent work PC but, they told her because of the security permissions, that is what she would have to work with.
I guess this is just another way Autopilot would also work.

petrel · Jul 17, 2023

Successfully converted win 10 Pro to Win 11 Pro today. This manoeuvre bypassed Autopilot but, of course, it's still there. I'll call the original owners tomorrow to see if they can delete the registration remotely without access to the laptop itself.

idgat · Jul 17, 2023

petrel said:
I bought the laptop from a dealer and since it should have been de-registered before being sold on by the company into the s/h market one wonders...

Hmmm??? There are dealers, and then there are "dealers".

What sort of dealer? Source/type of purchase ... online or shopfront? Who installed the version of Windows that was on the device when you purchased it ... was it a clean install ("but it also had a lot of stuff I didn't need" would suggest not a clean install)?

petrel said:
I'll call the original owners tomorrow to see if they can delete the registration remotely without access to the laptop itself.

Good luck with this. Any corporation worth its salt would (should) have done this automatically if they disposed of the device legitimately.

The cynic in me is suspicious .... but I hope I'm wrong.

hdmi · Jul 18, 2023

How to Get 'Around' AutoPilot

Hello All! Ive been inspired to write this after seeing a thread on Reddit where, or so the story goes, a son had estranged himself from hi...

www.amobileattempt.com

petrel · Jul 18, 2023

Laptop was registered by a major international company. Gave them a call this morning and pressed a button to get through to land-based support. Chap there hardly spoke a word of English and clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Apologised for bothering him and hung up. I've got a top quality laptop to which I am now devoted and we shall never be parted. Case closed.

idgat · Jul 18, 2023

petrel said:
Laptop was registered by a major international company.

... who would in no way have legitimately disposed of a laptop without a clean install and "de-registering" AutoPilot.

I just hope you didn't provide too much info to identify yourself .....

petrel · Jul 18, 2023

Oddly enough, an hour later, I got a call back from someone who must have been head of IT. I gave him the serial number of the laptop but he could find no trace. Said he'd call me back if he had any more info but it looks like a mystery to them as well as me. They have my name and number but looks as if they have no claim on the goods.

Flashorn · Jul 18, 2023

petrel said:
Laptop was registered by a major international company

Does this company have a name by any chance?

petrel · Jul 18, 2023

Yes it does but that's between me and them.

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