Solved Forced online account and question about Win 11 Pro

Alex__ASSR · Aug 9, 2022

hsehestedt said:
Unfortunately, that build does not count

That is the original release of Windows 11, which is not in question. The issue is that the behavior during installation has changed for Windows 11 22H2. 22H2 requires both that you have an Internet connection, and disallows the creation of a local account if you select "Set up for personal use".

oh right, sorry ,

when I installed this 22H2 for testing I did the process of installing it with an MS account, after the installation I created a new administrator user and deleted the account that needed to login to enter. so i got a local account.

idgat · Aug 9, 2022

At the point where you're asked for an account ...
- Shift+F10 (opens cmd Window)
- taskmgr [Enter]
- in the Task Manager window, click More details
- scroll down to Network Connection Flow > click End task

Installation can proceed without an MS account (as it should be able to !!!!)

hsehestedt · Aug 9, 2022

Berton said:
Just did a factory restore of my Notebook to Win10 Pro followed by all the updates then Upgraded to Win11. Used only a Local Account as Administrator with no password, only issue I see now is can't get Widgets until signing in, doesn't specifically mention Microsoft Account. Appears to be something new since last Oct. as my Desktop from April hasn't changed. It's not critical as most of what Widgets has is on Edge when opened.

Yep, totally legit when upgrading.

Alex__ASSR said:
oh right, sorry ,

when I installed this 22H2 for testing I did the process of installing it with an MS account, after the installation I created a new administrator user and deleted the account that needed to login to enter. so i got a local account.

No worries. It's hard to keep up with everything. I wonder if this will get any easier now that Microsoft is switching to major releases only every three years

Spunk · Aug 9, 2022

If you are already logged in to a Local Account in Windows 10 and Upgrade to Windows 11, it will keep your Local Account.
As Stated, If you are doing a Clean Install of Windows 11, you can create a local account, but you have to do a little trickery https://www.askvg.com/tip-how-to-install-windows-11-with-local-user-account/

jimbo45 · Aug 9, 2022

Hi there

Easy get around -- doesn't need any complicated stuff.

1) Just start the create account
2) enter a rubbish email address e.g nobody@nobody.com
3) for password enter something stupid like : UpYours!
4) enter

you'll get a message "OOPS -- Something went wrong) and hey presto you'll see "Enter user whose going to use this computer - and it'll finish setup as a local account.

Q.E.D !!

cheers
jimbo

hsehestedt · Aug 9, 2022

jimbo45 said:
Hi there

Easy get around -- doesn't need any complicated stuff.

1) Just start the create account
2) enter a rubbish email address e.g nobody@nobody.com
3) for password enter something stupid like : UpYours!
4) enter

you'll get a message "OOPS -- Something went wrong) and hey presto you'll see "Enter user whose going to use this computer - and it'll finish setup as a local account.

Q.E.D !!

cheers
jimbo

Yep, thankfully there are several ways around the issue.

In my case, I have several machines that don't meet various hardware requirements for Win 11, so I have a simple unattended answer file that I drop onto the media. All it does is bypass the requirements and create a local account for me. The rest of the installation is still the same as any other manual installation. I actually use that one more for other people's machines where I want some manual control. For my own machines I prefer a fully unattended installation

.

jimbo45 · Aug 9, 2022

hsehestedt said:
Yep, thankfully there are several ways around the issue.

In my case, I have several machines that don't meet various hardware requirements for Win 11, so I have a simple unattended answer file that I drop onto the media. All it does is bypass the requirements and create a local account for me. The rest of the installation is still the same as any other manual installation. I actually use that one more for other people's machines where I want some manual control. For my own machines I prefer a fully unattended installation .

Hi there

The real bugbear with this is you need an Internet connection to even install this stuff -- no way to "Offline" install.

Best solution -- keep a Win 10 ISO, clean install a W10 system with no added extra stuff, and then upgrade to W11.

Cheers
jimbo

hsehestedt · Aug 9, 2022

jimbo45 said:
Hi there

The real bugbear with this is you need an Internet connection to even install this stuff -- no way to "Offline" install.

Best solution -- keep a Win 10 ISO, clean install a W10 system with no added extra stuff, and then upgrade to W11.

Cheers
jimbo

Not true. I do it on a daily basis. I create a simple unattended install file. The nice thing is that if you want to still have the full manual installation experience, you can create an unattended answer file that ONLY does the things that you want. For example, I have one that bypasses Win 11 system requirements, and creates a local user account without the need to have any internet access during install. Other than that, the user sees all the same screens allowing them to manually select the disk to install to, pick the language settings, etc.

Winuser · Aug 9, 2022

All these work arounds are ok for those of us that know even just a little bit about computer. None of this is going to help the John/Jane Does setup their new device. MS needs to stop trying to force us having to use a MS account when we first setup our devices.

jimbo45 · Aug 10, 2022

Winuser said:
All these work arounds are ok for those of us that know even just a little bit about computer. None of this is going to help the John/Jane Does setup their new device. MS needs to stop trying to force us having to use a MS account when we first setup our devices.

I think the email trick is simple enough to understand for the average user
enter silly email address e.g nobody@nobody.com, with a silly pw like upyours! and then the installation will simply prompt for a user name (offline account).

Since they would normally have to enter an email name anyway then I can't see what's so hard for a "typical non tech user" to use that method.

On Windows HOME though might be another matter since I only ever use Windows pro / enterprise etc. editions.

The average joe though isn't going to have a clue about "unattended installs" , answer files sysprep and the like. W10 can be also easily installed offline and then upgraded automatically to W11 if the user wants and has the appropriate hardware - again simple for the average John Doe.

Cheers
jimbo

cereberus · Aug 10, 2022

jimbo45 said:
I think the email trick is simple enough to understand for the average user
enter silly email address e.g nobody@nobody.com, with a silly pw like upyours! and then the installation will simply prompt for a user name (offline account).

Since they would normally have to enter an email name anyway then I can't see what's so hard for a "typical non tech user" to use that method.

On Windows HOME though might be another matter since I only ever use Windows pro / enterprise etc. editions.

The average joe though isn't going to have a clue about "unattended installs" , answer files sysprep and the like. W10 can be also easily installed offline and then upgraded automatically to W11 if the user wants and has the appropriate hardware - again simple for the average John Doe.

Cheers
jimbo

This method no longer works on Dev version (and may not on next RTM release - not sure).

There is actually an official MS way of doing it they introduced for people who do not connect pcs to internet for various reasons (often in labs).

The link below shows method (option 1).

www.ghacks.net/2022/05/13/how-to-bypass-the-microsoft-account-requirement-during-windows-setup

Winuser · Aug 10, 2022

jimbo45 said:
I think the email trick is simple enough to understand for the average user

How are they even supposed to know about the fake email workaround? I'm talking about the average user who basically only knows how to check their email, use Facebook and play the games that came with the computer. A friend of mine has a saying, you only know what you know.

idgat · Aug 10, 2022

As of yesterday, the Shift+F10 method (#22 above) still works

Winuser said:
How are they even supposed to know about the fake email workaround? I'm talking about the average user who basically only knows how to check their email, use Facebook and play the games that came with the computer. A friend of mine has a saying, you only know what you know.

But I agree with this sentiment. The various workaround methods are straightforward (so many, I wonder why MS bother?) ... as long as the user knows about them (or even knows how to find workarounds through search engines and forums such as this).

But, having said that, would such users even be trying such actions as a clean install ... that's why us (albeit now long retired) IT consultants had/have jobs

Winuser · Aug 10, 2022

idgat said:
But, having said that, would such users even be trying such actions as a clean install

I only see it happening when they are setting up a new device. They are not going to know about work arounds. They are going to follow the onscreen instructions.

idgat · Aug 10, 2022

Winuser said:
I only see it happening when they are setting up a new device. They are not going to know about work arounds. They are going to follow the onscreen instructions.

If Microsoft says do it, thou shalt obey ... blindly. Similar signing up with a Gmail account, if Google asks for all the pesonal details under the sun (and the promise of naming your first born child "Google" ...) most users again blindly follow without a thought, and then complain about privacy invasion/infringement.

Winuser · Aug 10, 2022

idgat said:
If Microsoft says do it, thou shalt obey ... blindly. Similar signing up with a Gmail account, if Google asks for all the pesonal details under the sun (and the promise of naming your first born child "Google" ...) most users again blindly follow without a thought, and then complain about privacy invasion/infringement.

The sad part is that is so True. On another thought, The EULA. I don't have a problem with the EULA per say. It's where the user has to agree with it. Using a new computer as an example. One should be warned before they open the box and unpack the computer that they will have to agree with the EULA if they want to use the OS that is preinstalled. How many people are going to say No and repack the computer and take it back to the store. I know that by now most people know but what about the few that don't.