Appears no way to startup a new out of box laptop without logging into MSFT

Looks like the Rufus may be working, thanks @circuitsmith. The windows 11 OEM pro cd did not override the issue, even after deleting old ss hard drive partitions.

In this process I have list the touchpad, and window screen touch. Not sure if the system is seeing the internal network card.
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In the future, at the Win11pro setup you have to click on Join Domain instead of the regular "sign in" part. The Join Domain button will let you create a local account.


However
When you buy a Windows disk/usb install hardware, it has all the versions on them so Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education. This is not like WinXP where if you bought a WinXP Pro CD, it only came with Pro and not the other versions. The Windows key is the only differentiator so when you install Windows with the store-bought Windows, the re-install was reading the existing Home key that is hardcoded into your laptop. So in your case you will always have the same initial setup sign-in with MSFT issue until you sign into Windows and use the key to change from Home to Pro.

In this case with Rufus, I'm assuming you only created a local account when you used Rufus to image the iso onto the USB. So you're still on Win11Home if you still have not used the Pro key in Activation settings.
 
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Pew said:
In the future, at the Win11pro setup you have to click on Join Domain instead of the regular "sign in" part. The Join Domain button will let you create a local account.


However
When you buy a Windows disk/usb install hardware, it has all the versions on them so Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education. This is not like WinXP where if you bought a WinXP Pro CD, it only came with Pro and not the other versions. The Windows key is the only differentiator so when you install Windows with the store-bought Windows, the re-install was reading the existing Home key that is hardcoded into your laptop. So in your case you will always have the same initial setup sign-in with MSFT issue until you sign into Windows and use the key to change from Home to Pro.

In this case with Rufus, I'm assuming you only created a local account when you used Rufus to image the iso onto the USB. So you're still on Win11Home if you still have not used the Pro key in Activation settings.
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@Pew , thanks. I guess I am still in Windows 11 home. I did not need to connect to a network, or have a password to use the system.

What I found awesome about rufus was the option to NOT bitlocker encrypt the hard drive. This was what brought me to not want to have a laptop controlled by MSFT. Two laptops ago, I had a system board fail under warranty. When the laptop was repaired and returned, I found out MSFT encrypted the hard drive without my knowledge, and MSFT owned the code to use the hard drive. Something I had zero knowledge of, and I was unable to get the encryption code from MSFT.

Now to find a copy of MSFT Office on CD..... will be searching ebay shortly.
 
Yea completely understandable. There's a power shell CMD that can be input to turn of the Win11Home BitLocker since it's not in the Control Panel. Pro just gives you actual control over it in Control Panel and individual drives (and the ability to save the key anywhere else you want if you decided to go that route.) Either way, I keep them disabled for all our company computers anyways via a Rufus ISO too. More headaches than it's worth and the keys can be brute forced within a day anyways (assuming the attacker is using Win11Pro with TPM.)

For Office, if you currently have an Office 365 account, you can login and download it from www.office.com. I haven't used a non-O365 account/install so I have no idea how it authenticates a non-O365 install.

EDIT: I just read that the installs and authenticating are the same for O365 versions. They get licensed via an email account.
 
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GON said:
Purchased a new Lenovo laptop today from COSTCO with Windows 11 home. Goal is to not ever log into MSFT. There were workarounds on the out of box setup, primarily to press SHIFT and F10 to get a command prompt, and enter a line that lets a user bypass MSFT login.

Doing some reading, it appears a SEP 2024 Windows 11 update prevents the SHIFT/ F10 workaround.

Blows my mind how much effort MSFT puts in to making sure they have access to our systems and information. How sad...

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Wipe it and/or make it a dual-boot Linux machine. Heck, there are even “portable” versions of Linux you can carry around on a thumb drive.

With computer powered off, plug it in and boot. It will override and run whatever flavor of portable Linux you prefer and never start the evil empire’s software, and when you remove the thumb drive all traces of your presence go with it. Be sure to have your VPN in the Linux build as well 😉
 
SubieRubyRoo said:
Wipe it and/or make it a dual-boot Linux machine. Heck, there are even “portable” versions of Linux you can carry around on a thumb drive.

With computer powered off, plug it in and boot. It will override and run whatever flavor of portable Linux you prefer and never start the evil empire’s software, and when you remove the thumb drive all traces of your presence go with it. Be sure to have your VPN in the Linux build as well 😉
Click to expand...
Thanks, I am going to start to learn about Linux. Not in a position in the near term to switch/ hot seat.

This issue with MSFT is a real big issue for me. Very CCP like approach. And I suspect both CCP and MSFT have certain parts of their agendas that align, albeit for different reasons. Years ago, I paid $600 for an Adobe edit application. I can't find the application and can no longer download the application from Adobe. I ended up having to buy and Adobe subscription last month. Another application that wanted my documents to be under Adobe control. I cancelled that subscription as soon as I was done with the project I was on.

My fix to this is to write federal elected officials. Not to legislate change, but to have the federal government purchase software solutions from companies that don't hold users' information without their knowledge, will, or express request (not consent). I am quite sure MSFT, Google, META, and the rest of these large organizations are masters of political donations and lobbying. It will take a grass root effort to change this behavior, not legislation.
 
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Hasty update.

I have the Windows 11 notebook running without a MSFT account. Despite prior version on Windows 10 and 11, the latest update of Windows 11 makes doing this quite difficult.

On a supplemental note, I successfully installed MSFT Office 2021 standalone this morning. I purchased a new sealed version of MSFT Office 2021 on DVD. I could not get the DVD to read on this standalone WIN 11 system. The workaround was to go to another WIN 11 system, copy the DVD drive, and then install the Office 2021 to the standalone WIN 11 system.

I did the install of Office 2021 without being connected to the internet. I activated the product key by telephone. One note, during the end of the installation there was a privacy notice. In that privacy notice was a statement that MSFT could access this office application and related files. In a tiny corner of the notice was a link that brought up another screen to disable MSFT access to the office application on this system. Another continual nonstop drive for MSFT top have access to private individual systems.

On a plus note, this install did not auto generate MSFT tool bars, or place office application icons on the home screen.

I purchased a new copy of standalone Adobe for $85 on Ebay. Something Adobe is no longer selling to individuals (subscription only). Hopefully the standalone Adobe works, and I can be somewhat free of MSFT and Adobe having 24x7 access to my personal computer.

Now to find a browser which provides minimal invasive access of my system. Firefox maybe?

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GON said:
Hasty update.

I have the Windows 11 notebook running without a MSFT account. Despite prior version on Windows 10 and 11, the latest update of Windows 11 makes doing this quite difficult.

On a supplemental note, I successfully installed MSFT Office 2021 standalone this morning. I purchased a new sealed version of MSFT Office 2021 on DVD. I could not get the DVD to read on this standalone WIN 11 system. The workaround was to go to another WIN 11 system, copy the DVD drive, and then install the Office 2021 to the standalone WIN 11 system.

I did the install of Office 2021 without being connected to the internet. I activated the product key by telephone. One note, during the end of the installation there was a privacy notice. In that privacy notice was a statement that MSFT could access this office application and related files. In a tiny corner of the notice was a link that brought up another screen to disable MSFT access to the office application on this system. Another continual nonstop drive for MSFT top have access to private individual systems.

On a plus note, this install did not auto generate MSFT tool bars, or place office application icons on the home screen.

I purchased a new copy of standalone Adobe for $85 on Ebay. Something Adobe is no longer selling to individuals (subscription only). Hopefully the standalone Adobe works, and I can be somewhat free of MSFT and Adobe having 24x7 access to my personal computer.

Now to find a browser which provides minimal invasive access of my system. Firefox maybe?

View attachment 245518
Click to expand...

you can activate MS Office with these github scripts: https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts


the short of it is open a powershell prompt with "run as administrator" and run this command:

Code: 
irm https://get.activated.win | iex
 
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Heads up, double check to make sure OneDrive isn't syncing your desktop/documents/downloads to the cloud either. M$ snuck that auto-enabled BS in a couple years ago.

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The problem is really the "preinstall" part of the system. I bought an HP prebuild years ago and it came with an Office already installed pending a payment or a subscription to activate. I try to install my older Office (2007) on it and it would not work because the files are not compatible, had to do a lot of manual regedit to get it working eventually.

My other machine with manually installed Windows 10 have no such problem. I think these machines with preinstalled OS just strike a deal with MS to get the cheapest license possible when they force you to sign up for everything to sell ad later. This is like all the new cheap TV being subsidized by FireTV pre-installed.
 
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