This is odd because just yesterday I used it to reluctantly install Win11 as a quarantined VM for my lovely but stubbornly insistent wife. It was a tiny11 iso, though, so maybe it gets added back during image creation?
BypassNRO was removed from system files in 25H2 last year, unless you happened to be served an old ISO this won’t work anymore.
This is what I’ve been using since:
- Complete the initial Windows 11 install and restart your PC.
- When you reach the Secondary Keyboard Layout screen (before the Microsoft Account sign-up stage), press Ctrl + Shift + J to open the developer console.
- In the console, type the command: WinJS.Application.restart(“ms-cxh://LOCALONLY”)
- Hit Enter, then press Escape to close the console.
You can also use Rufus to make a setup drive which preconfigures the local account. This method and the one I use are described in this article.
PS: It still works if you copy the BypassNRO.cmd file from an old system to a new one when you’re in OOBE mode (Shift+F10) during setup. It’s just a powershell command that sets a registery key and reboots.
some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 1 day ago
phanto@lemmy.ca 2 days ago
Huh, that’s weird that I’ve been able to use the bypass NRO trick pretty consistently at work and at home… I should have mentioned the Rufus thing too, but he was doing this as a reset, not as a new install, so I didn’t.
kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Yeah check which version of windows it installs, it’ll be 22H2 or 24H2.
phanto@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
I just got top work and asked a senior tech: 24H2 + a 25H2 enablement package to make bypassnro still work for us. Geez.
kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Honestly I have no idea how they keep getting away with adding more and more hurdles for local account creation. Literally no other OS for mobile or PC has this.
I’ve seen anything from devices with a local account automatically enabling bitlocker with no way of recovering if bitlocker trips to devices with an MS account tripping bitlocker only to find out the recovery keys are not saved to the MS account, absolutely bonkers.