Solved Install Windows 11 Home using Local Account

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

The information we have at the moment is, that Windows 11 Home edition cannot be installed using local account. A Microsoft Account, as far as we know it, will be obligatory.

I can confirm it at least when using build 21996. I spent last night with testing all to me known tricks, nothing worked.

An hour or so ago, I just got an idea, a workaround that is as far as I know about impossible for Microsoft to block. Tested it now, and it works without any whatsoever issues.

W11 Home with a local account:

(Click to enlarge.)

Zooming in to the important part:

The workaround requires a bit work, but is easy. Create W11 Home install media for an unattended install, as told in tutorial on our sister site Ten Forums: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...utomated-unattended-install-windows-10-a.html

Part Four in tutorial shows detailed, how to create a local admin account in unattended answer file.

A bit simpler approach for those, who do not want to spend an hour plus in creating install media is to simply apply an unattended answer file to W11 ISO or USB install media. Tutorial on Ten Forums: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...ded-answer-file-windows-10-install-media.html

Any questions about the process, don't hesitate to ask.

Kari

jimbo45 · Jun 17, 2021

Hi there
did you try removing Internet -- I don't have W10 HOME but W10 Pro installed OK (at least on a VM where I removed NIC's ) and then it allowed Local Account.

This might not work for W10 HOME but try not only disconnecting the Internet but disabling the NIC's.

Should be easy enough to test it in a VM.

Cheers
jimbo

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

I have prepared three answer files you can use in both methods told in my previous post, one for UK users (UK input language, location & time zone), and one both US west coast and east coast users:

UK:

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" 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">
            <InputLocale>0809:00000809/InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>EN-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>EN-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>EN-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>EN-GB</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <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">
            <OOBE>
                <VMModeOptimizations>
                    <SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>false</SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>
                </VMModeOptimizations>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Description>Local admin</Description>
                        <DisplayName>Admin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>Admin</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <RegisteredOwner>Admin</RegisteredOwner>
            <TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <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">
            <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
            <TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

US Pacific Time:

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" 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">
            <InputLocale>0409:00000409/InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>EN-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>EN-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>EN-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>EN-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <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">
            <OOBE>
                <VMModeOptimizations>
                    <SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>false</SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>
                </VMModeOptimizations>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Description>Local admin</Description>
                        <DisplayName>Admin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>Admin</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <RegisteredOwner>Admin</RegisteredOwner>
            <TimeZone>Pacific Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <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">
            <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
            <TimeZone>Pacific Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

US Eastern Time:

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" 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">
            <InputLocale>0409:00000409/InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>EN-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>EN-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>EN-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>EN-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <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">
            <OOBE>
                <VMModeOptimizations>
                    <SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>false</SkipAdministratorProfileRemoval>
                </VMModeOptimizations>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Description>Local admin</Description>
                        <DisplayName>Admin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>Admin</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <RegisteredOwner>Admin</RegisteredOwner>
            <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <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">
            <ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
            <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

All these answer files create a local administrator account Admin. To change that to whatever username you'd prefer, change it in three places highlighted in screenshot:

Kari

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

jimbo45 said:
Hi there
This might not work for W10 HOME but try not only disconnecting the Internet but disabling the NIC's.

That was of course the first test I made:

(Click to enlarge.)

Kari

Bree · Jun 17, 2021

I'm in the process of upgrading a Legacy MBR install of a W10 Home in a Hyper-V VM to W11.

It seems that the requirements for TPM 2.0 and UEFI only apply to a clean install, the upgrade did not say anything about that. One new requirement for installing W11 popped up though, apparently it requires a minimum of 4GB RAM (which I duly added).

This install of W10 Home only has local accounts, so installing W10 Home with a local account then upgrading to W11 may be another possible route.

EDIT: confirmed, upgraded successfully to W11 Home with just local accounts.

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

Bree said:
This install of W10 Home only has local accounts, so installing W10 Home with a local account then upgrading to W11 may be another possible route.

Nice, let's hope it really works.

An easy workaround, in case you have a Microsoft Account, but don't want to use it, is to just use it to get W11 Home installed. Then, first boot to desktop, simply switch to a local account:

(Click to enlarge.)

Kari

Bree · Jun 17, 2021

Kari said:
Nice, let's hope it really works.

It did :)

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

Bree said:
It did :)

Excellent!

We are busting myths one by one

Here's next: I had absolutely no issues in clean installing W11 on an MBR disk in Hyper-V:

(Click to enlarge.)

Kari

Kari · Jun 17, 2021

Next test: in-place upgrade from an activated Win 7 PRO.

Kari

EDIT:

That was a no-go, failed almost immediately. Will test upgrade from Win 8.1 later tonight.

swarfega · Jun 17, 2021

That's interesting. The difference between Home and Pro is that Pro let's you actually create an offline account during installation.

jimbo45 · Jun 18, 2021

@Kari

Funny -- mine worked but it was an old Technet VL edition of W7 Ultimate

I did it with Internet off line - did the "I Don't have a product key" at install time and then after install completed re-enabled internet and "Change Product key" - to the W7 Ultimate one and it activated.

Cheers
jimbo

starchase · Jun 18, 2021

Availability of Win11 at the momment is probably only to developers and insiders, eh, and not the general public?

swarfega · Jun 18, 2021

starchase said:
Availability of Win11 at the momment is probably only to developers and insiders, eh, and not the general public?

Yep

badrobot · Jun 18, 2021

Kari said:
Excellent!

We are busting myths one by one

Here's next: I had absolutely no issues in clean installing W11 on an MBR disk in Hyper-V:

View attachment 143
(Click to enlarge.)

Kari

I was also able to clean install Win 11 Pro on an MBR physical SSD in my 10 year old HP machine.
Copying all files except "Install.wim" from Sources folder of Windows 10 USB installer to the Sources folder of Win 11 USB installer folder makes it possible to install Windows 11 on any old machine.

endeavor · Jun 18, 2021

badrobot said:
I was also able to clean install Win 11 Pro on an MBR physical SSD in my 10 year old HP machine.
Copying all files except "Install.wim" from Sources folder of Windows 10 USB installer to the Sources folder of Win 11 USB installer folder makes it possible to install Windows 11 on any old machine.

As well I did the same on mine, although not an HP but a self built Intel Tower from scratch; actually I built 3 identical Towers.
Here's my msinfo32 Screenshot of those same pertinent values

..I see I left more unallocated space on my SSD than you did for TRIM though..

hsehestedt · Jun 22, 2021

I was able to create a local account during Win 11 Home install by following the steps below. Only downside is that you still need an internet connect before it will let you proceed.

When asked for a Microsoft account, enter a fake account name and click on "Next".
Enter a fake password.
You will get a message that says "Ooops, something went wrong".
Click on Next.
Now it will prompt you for a local user account name to create.

NOTE: The name I tried may have been a name that someone else already tried because I got a message saying something like too many attempts were make to logon to that account. If you use a unique name I suspect that it may ask for the password several times before you get the option to enter a local account name.

hsehestedt · Jun 22, 2021

Tried a few more iterations of this and I have some more info. It does have to be an existing Microsoft account. When I tried a new install with an account name of something like "RandomAccount@xcz.com" it told me that this account does not exist. But when I tried "x@x.com" it asked for a password. I supplied a random password and that's when I got the "Oops, something went wrong" along with a message that the wrong password was entered too often and was then allowed to supply a local account name.

Ghot · Jun 23, 2021

I'm wondering if I could do an actual "upgrade" from Win 10 Home (MBR) with the "keep everything" option selected, and then if I didn't like it... restore Win 10 from a Macrium full OS backup.

What concerns me is that the upgrade to Win 11 would activate... then if I restored to Win 10...it would say... hey we have used this key for Win 11?

Bree · Jun 23, 2021

Ghot said:
I'm wondering if I could do an actual "upgrade" from Win 10 Home (MBR) with the "keep everything" option selected .... What concerns me is that the upgrade to Win 11 would activate... then if I restored to Win 10...it would say... hey we have used this key for Win 11?

Not a problem. I upgraded an activated W10 Home VM that had the generic Home key to W11 for posts #5 & #7.

I have just restored its original W10 Home (by applying a checkpoint). It is still activated by the same digital licence.

Megahertz · Jun 23, 2021

Does it work?

Solved Install Windows 11 Home using Local Account

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