In the latest Windows 11 preview build, Microsoft removed the “bypassnro” command, which let users skip signing into a Microsoft Account when installing Windows.

L I N U X

Seems an alternative, easier method was found: https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/an-even-better-microsoft-account-bypass-for-windows-11-has-already-been-discovered

Relevant part:

But fret not, as a new, perhaps better bypass has already been discovered that still uses the command prompt (which you can open with Shift + F10) and makes skipping the Microsoft Account sign-in step a total breeze.

Discovered by user @witherornot1337 on X, typing "start ms-cxh:localonly" into the command prompt during the Windows 11 setup experience will allow you to create a local account directly without needing to skip connecting to the internet first.

Fix:

open this site: https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/

check your options that you like

download your xml

download win 11 iso

put on stick (with rufus) with the downloaded xml file

install win 11

profit

I put this in another thread: It's not a big deal. They're removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:

@echo off

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

shutdown /r /t 0

You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.

I just bypass the requirement by installing Linux Mint instead

Are people shocked that windows keeps removing things that allow the os to be usable and debloated?

Copilot recording your screen will be a non optional feature before win11 is over.

More and more people just need to switch to Linux and grow the userbase so more and more proprietary software create Linux builds just like how Maya and Davinci Resolve are available for Linux. If your computer is a web browser, you should be on Linux. Firefox, Chrome, Edge are all on Linux

If you're a casual photo editor, Darktable. A casual photo editor can probably be well served with GIMP or Krita. If you're a web browser and digital painter Krita. If you edit videos, Davinci Resolve and Kdenlive. Office - OnlyOffice, Libre office, WPS Office

This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity

And what if someone doesn’t have internet connectivity?

Just one more reason to skip Windows 11…

We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.

Any windows fanboy cares to explain how this supposedly enhances a user's security?

The spin on requiring an internet connection being phrased as 'ensures all users exit setup with internet connectivity' is amazing too.

The command (C:\Windows\System32\) OOBE\bypassnro (.cmd) one types into the command prompt (after opening it with Shift+F10) for the bypass is the location of a batch file they will be removing (the parenthesized parts are optional, implied by the command interpreter, and so is any capitalization). You can still do whatever it's doing (adding a registry key and restarting) by typing the command manually or providing a copy of the file on a USB drive. After a restart, the OS will check for the registry key AND lack of internet connection to provide the local account option.

For the record, the contents of the file are

@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0

The first line is optional, and so is the third if you're OK with restarting manually. If creating the file on Unix-based systems, make sure the newline sequence is CRLF (DOS/Windows standard).

Obligatory shoutout to literally any Linux distro, which does not need this workaround, and is usually easier to install and set up than debloating a fresh Windows 11 install.

I've got my first son or daughter on the way, I'm thinking they might be learning Linux as their first OS

So happy that I switched to linux. Microsoft has been one of the main forces of enshitification of the world. Fuck em. I cant play a bunch of games with my friends anymore, and I have to learn a few new CAD programs, which is like 10 thousand hours of work that I am flushing down the toilet. Worth it.

This will be the year of the Linux desktop.

A few weeks ago I helped one of my client's employees set up their brand new laptop, which came with Win11 installed, of course. They just need it for basic work stuff and there's no chance in hell anything other than Windows is a viable option here.

We work remotely so I would help them get set up to a point where they could at least share their screen to me, or I could take over via remote access myself, to finish the installation process. I just needed to guide them through the steps "blind" for a short while. Easy peasy, right?

So we go through the Windows 11 first time setup together. All seems to go ok until Windows asks them to log into their MS account or create one. No problem, we should be able to do that, right? Only that we can't. We're connected to the WiFi, etc., yet they get some generic ass error message like "Sorry, something went wrong" and that's that.

Ok, so we can't log in with an online account. Let's try offline as a fallback! We set the username, password... "Sorry, something went wrong" again. We try to guess maybe it's the password, it doesn't match! Or it's not strong enough! So we try all these different things for ages. Again, we're getting no feedback whatsoever from Windows. Just "Something went wrong fuck you lol".

I don't use Windows myself, I've been a Linux user for years now, I don't have any freaking clue how to remotely diagnose a vague issue that literally prevents them from getting the laptop to a functional state. So I Google the problem and the recommended answer is to run this magic "bypassnro" command. It will cut all the mandatory online account bullshit, move straight to a reliable offline account setup screen, and allow us to, you know, actually do work? And it worked!

If I hadn't had that command at my disposal, that I was forced to use by Microsoft's broken ass setup UX, I would've probably spent twice or three times longer coaching my non-tech-savvy client through booting into fail safe mode and doing all kinds of arcane sysadmin shit that I don't even have to ever think about in Linux. All this just to get them into the desktop, on a brand new laptop.

And Microsoft have now decided to take it away. Nice one.

bypassw11.exe

Microsoft it the best ad for linux.

ive been on windows all my life but as of last week it's the first time that ive had zero windows machines in my life since i installed linux mint on them. ive never been happier.

I'M OKAY WITH MAKING A WINDOWS ACCOUNT. I'M JUST NOT OKAY WITH MY ~/ PATH BEING C:/Users/Jacobuedhbcuycbdhh55674c4bhdncy6448774/

THIS CAN ONLY BE FIXED BY CREATING A LOCAL USER AND THEN SIGNING IN

How the hell are we supposed to install it without a Internet connection? I worked in a company that was so hard on security that only certified machines were allowed access to the net, so virtual machines were not allowed to access the LAN and therefore the Internet. Generally not a problem as we just used them to test software on different OS versions, so no Internet required.

This change disallows all offline installs. What is their gain? Are they that keen on our data or are they planning to use the connection to a Microsoft account for something even worse than just selling personal information? I could think of a few reasons and none are nice...

Apple does this.

Microsoft is now doing this.

I wonder how long until Google start doing it with Android 🤔

This future is so fucking dystopian

windows is not user friendly

Just had to set up two pcs for work. Trying to get around the account setup and thinking about all the bullshit that comes with windows I just installed Linux mint.

I feel like this won't stop anyone who was already refusing to use a Microsoft account for windows. Anyone who was already bypassing the account requirement will still do so, it just will be more difficult. They've accomplished nothing except further pissing off some of their most competent user base.

Just another reason to switch to Linux

It is insecure to create one account with username and password during the setup process. The password should always come from your password manager. But you would not have access to your password manager during the installation process.

Please remove this step.

Noooooo!!!! You can't just force us to use a Microsoft account!!! You have to allow us to use the bypasserino!!! Noooooooo!!!

W10 LTSC has support until 2032 😎

IMO, Windows without a Microsoft account misses out on the least features, when compared to macOS without an Apple ID, iOS without an Apple ID, or Android without a Google accout. Sad that Microsoft keeps making it more and more difficult to bypass logging into a Microsoft accout during installation. But I use Linux anyways (btw)

I use that command partially because Microsoft accounts don't allow passwords as long as the password I like to use for my PC

Didn't Microsoft do the same thing with Windows 10 and EU prevented that?

Fuck Microsoft! Use Linux Mint

A couple of years ago it took three tries to install windows without a bunch of junk added. Linux is the way my dudes and dudettes.

Off course, coz they wanna sell user behavior to marketers. This bullshit talks about the improved security are funny. I will never use anything from Microsoft or Google for personal stuff. I have to yet eliminate Apple - in progress.

NRO

Doesn't that remind anyone of this other NRO? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reconnaissance_Office

(Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Reconnaissance_Office#/media/File:NROL_39_vector_logo.svg)

Windows 11 has had enough red flags for me to switch to tablet, since modern PC's are way over performing to my needs anyway. Windows 11 experience was like a pilot for the HAL A.I. from a Space Odyssey.

I will just have to sign it up to a domain then add a local user using the command prompt. Still a lot more trouble than installing it should be but I will not give in to this garbage push to make everyone have a microsoft account. I disable the store and all of it on every PC I install.

Is this a US thing? I had to install windows 11 in a VM like a month ago and I didn't have to create MS account or use any bypass scripts.

Hey all what do you suggest for a school and game dev laptop with Linux for a ~$2k budget? I've been eyeballing framework but keep hearing mixed things

So here we go. Kiosk machines with random Microsoft account and MFA to private phone numbers. Glad I don’t have to manage that pile of s**t.

My 1st desktop had Windows 95 on it. It worked OK. A few years later, I bought a laptop pc with WindowsME (Millennium Edition), and it became the last Windows product I've owned. A work colleague installed Windows 2000 on that laptop, and it worked for a couple months, until I got my "blue screen of death."

At that time, they started selling the ePC notebooks, available with WindowsXP or Linux (the XanderOS) I stepped out of my comfort zone, and got the XanderOS variant, and have had Linux computers since. I'm currently using Mint on an old Panasonic CF-30, and Ubuntu on 2 laptops built by System 76.

My wife likes Mac, but I'm not a fan. My kids get a pretty rounded experience, between using their moms Mac, their dads 2 variants of Linux, and their Chromebooks at school.

Well, if I've got no way to bypass it (when setting up for customers), I'll create an account specifically for this purpose.

And proceed to poison the hell out of any data it sends.

Does it still let you sign in locally if you disable network interfaces in BIOS?

It’s asinine to require me to be connected to the internet to use my computer. My work laptop was absolutely useless without the internet. There’s supposed to be a pin/password thing that lets you bypass this, but it would work maybe 30% of the time.

I also don’t get why I have to give Microsoft my name and an email address for my video game machine. (I get steam and proton yada yada, but I’m often playing anything that you can barely get to work on its native system - has anyone actually got EYE : Divine Cybermancy to run for more than ten minutes?)

Windows XP and 7 hit the mark I think. XP let you take it apart in beautiful ways, and had all kinds of wonderful eccentricities - which is also the problem, because XP was insecure af. Windows 7 got right what they figured out by Vista Service Pack 2 as far as security. Less aesthetics, less access to the internals, but also probably “better” for a normie.

The rule is supposedly that every other one is good or something. Maybe 12 will be good?

To be fair, this is home and not pro.

I still have an old copy of the installer with that command intact. Might be good to keep around.

Never understood why that batch script even became popular.. its so much easier to just choose install for an organization, then just never domain join it. Makes a local account, and is much easier

Meanwhile everyone here saying they switching to Linux (which is perfectly fine) have chik-fil-a and McDonald's accounts probably 🤣😆🤣

This with Windows 11 LTSC IoT edition?