Circumventing MS account requirement

[Pearlple]

Good news!

Let me preface this; if you have the option, you should just move away from Windows altogether.

Despite Microsoft removing the "bypassnro.cmd" script from Windows 11 with a recent update, you can still set up the system and create a local user without having a MS account.

Do not connect an ethernet cable until you finish the setup. During the setup process on the step for connecting to a network (in EN locale: "Let's connect you to a network"), before connecting to a network you can use Shift + F10 to open a command prompt. Here you can enter

Code: Select all

start ms-cxh:localonly

to get the dialogue for creating a new local user account.

Be aware though that this is not enough to disable all the telemetry, ads and various other bloat and call-home features. Some quick fixes for that on the user level can be done with "Wintoys". For anything further at system level or DNS blocking I am sure you can find some resources with the search engine of your choice or even some options in other threads around the forum.

[MikeGs]

Always use Rufus when creating bootable Windows 11 Install USB's.

In my case, I always install Windows 11 Pro, and It allows you to:
- Disable some data collection services
- Remove the requirement for a Microsoft account
- Remove TPM requirement
- Disable BitLocker device encryption
- Remove the requirement of having more than 4GB of RAM.

It also allows you to input a username so that it creates a Windows Local account automatically.

Once Windows 11 has been installed:
- Activate it
- Download and set Brave as your default browser
- Install Brave's uBlock Origin addon
- Run Win11Debloat by following the instructions.

Once that's done, remove any unnecessary apps that you might still have in your system by checking Settings->Apps (Or Control panel->Uninstall a program).

You should be left with a pretty barebones/debloated Windows 11 install.

[Crazyroostereye]

I would be in general Careful with circumventing Windows Bullshit systems. If you know what you are doing and known what it will be affecting it's fine, but Windows tends to bind Crucial Security Features to the existence of the Bullshit features. Which means you could make your System more Insecure by disabling TPM, not because TPM is so secure, but Windows Updates and Security Patches won't work the same as they should or may not even be pushed to your System at all.
At hat point I would argue It would be safer to just stay on Windows 10.
If you don't like Windows requirements and are going so far of circumnavigating them, then just stop using Windows.

[Thoughtless]

I just section off my Windows machine on its own V-Lan. I use it primarily for games that require a TPM like Valorant. That said If one wants to use bitlocker an account is required. One could simply create a single use Microsoft account and delete the account afterwards with the understanding once the account is deleted there is no recovery of the encrypted drive should it fail or password lost. I do suggest a pro account for the reasons listed above (the iam + data collection part) and the fact that you can get access to a Windows VM that is quite fancy.... at least from a security perspective. Its basically a docker VM that gets updated as the primary OS gets updated and is a snapshot of base windows as the machine boots up. I prefer firefox with both uBlockOrigin + Privacy Badger + Temporary Firefox Container. For an additional layer of security I get sandboxie-plus and force Firefox to boot into the sandbox every time it launches and deletes all content of the sandbox when it closes. I also have a script that feeds firefox random fingerprint data by altering the values. While idk how effective it is. It scratches my paranoia itch and when I go to coveryourtracks.eff.org the results compels paranoid inner imp to do a jig.

***This got longer the expected.
EDIT: OH I forgot. O&OShutUp10++
EDIT+: Oh and Windows is no require to be my super secure machine anyway + I prefer using ventoy.... though I plan to paly with netboot.xyz

[Pearlple]

Well I would say we are now well beyond the original "Tech News" I wanted to share, but this is an interesting topic in general.
I am not sure if I got right what you were trying to say, but I have been using Bitlocker on various machines for a long time and I never even made a MS account. I am using a "Pro" account in the sense that I have a local user account on a "Pro" Version of Windows, but I never had any further requirements for using Bitlocker. Recovery is a different matter, with domain added devices it's easy, I can just get the keys out of AD. For other cases I find a solution depending on requirements know-how of the user (personal, customer, family/friends).

[Thoughtless]

You are correct in understanding what I said. It was me that got my words twisted up. I was trying to compose this message while fiddling with my 3D printer that was binding up. I will have to amend my recommendation to use windows native VM though. I recently learned that it can be a target for malware to hide an attack on a windows system.

source : https://windowsforum.com/threads/how-mi ... es.362666/