[SUGGESTION] Update Microsoft Online Account Bypass Methods ?

[Tjp1980]

Please confirm these before moving forward

• I have searched for similar suggestions and have not found a duplicate.
• This is an improvement to an existing feature (not a new feature request).

Describe your suggestion

Check/Update Winhance ability to bypass Microsoft Online Account Bypass Methods. Thank you.

Current behavior

Using Winhance unintended xml file I downloaded from your github doesn't let me install Win 11 Home 24H2 or 25H2. I can only install Win 11 Home 23H2 on my Old Desktop. It's possible my system is just too old but it's just stuck on a constant boot loop during reading the usb boot drive. I tried different usb drives. I checked the bios already for proper settings for boot options. I also tried many ways to create a usb boot disk following your video instructions. Microsoft has recently removed many of the older Microsoft online account bypass methods.

Please check out these newer methods to see if they need to be added to your Winhance Utility so it can bypass the Microsoft online account requirement and allow a local account only:

This YouTube video mentions many new Microsoft online account bypass options (even in the description box) and mentioned your You tube channel in the description box:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uElWqzjC1eI

Chris Titus also has a recent video showing new methods to bypass a Microsoft online account: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEWb1otLVPo

Proposed behavior

After updates to the Microsoft online account bypass methods this would allow me to possibly install 24H2 or 25H2 on my Desktop computer. Also, would allow the Microsoft online account bypass methods to continue to work if the ones currently used in Winhance have now been blocked recently by Microsoft.

Benefit

After updates to the Microsoft online account bypass methods this would allow me to possibly install 24H2 or 25H2 on my Desktop computer. Also, would allow the Microsoft online account bypass methods to continue to work if the ones currently used in Winhance have now been blocked recently by Microsoft.

Additional context

No response

[Tjp1980]

"Chris Titus Tech's Bypass NRO on STEROIDS!?!?!?"

"From the OOBE Screen press Shift + F10"

curl -L christitus.com/bypass -o skip.cmd
skip.cmd

"This will skip the entire OOBE process including microsoft account and ANY questions during the setup process. It still allows you to select your language, region, and keyboard layout."

https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/bypassnro

[Tjp1980]

From David Bombal:

"Stop Microsoft Forcing Online Accounts on Windows 11"

He got some of these methods from these people as follows:

The Grumpy Sysadmin: / @thegrumpysysadmin
TheHowToGuy123: / @thehowtoguy123
CyberCPU: / @cybercpu
Memory: / @memstechtips

"// HOW TO DO IT //
NOTE: These are my notes. Please let me know if I made a mistake and I will fix them."

Method 1: localonly
Shift F10 to open cmd
start ms-cxh:localonly (Stopped working in latest versions)

Method 2: bypassnro
Shift F10 to open cmd
Turn off internet and then run this: oobe\bypassnro (Stopped working in latest versions)

Method 3: Developer console
Press Control+Shift+J to open Developer Console
and then type this: WinJS.Application.restart(“ms-cxh:localonly”)

Method 4: Registry add BypassNPO
Shift F10 to open cmd
Run regedit
Registry value add:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE
DWord 32-bit value
BypassNRO
Set value to 1
Shutdown /r /t 0

Method 5: Registry HideOnlineAccountScreens
Shift F10 to open cmd
Run regedit
Registry value add:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE
New 32-bit value
HideOnlineAccountScreens
Set value to 1

Method 6: local user:
Shift F10 to open cmd
net user "username" * /add
net localgroup administrators "username" /add
cd oobe
msoobe && shutdown -r

Method 7: local user more complex:
Shift F10 to open cmd
net user "username" * /add
net localgroup administrators "username" /add
net user "username" /active:yes
net user "username" /expires:never
net user "Administrator" /active:no
net user "defaultuser0" /delete
net user
Then go into regEdit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE
Delete DefaultAccountSAMName, Delete DefaultAccountSID, Delete DefaultAccountAction
Edit LaunchUserOOBE and rename SkipMachineOOBE
Make sure value is 1
Shutdown /r /t 0

Method 8: Copy BypassNRO script into cmd:
Shift F10 to open cmd
Paste in the following commands:
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0

Method 9: Create a bat script:
Shift F10 to open cmd
Run a batch script that contains these links:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0

Method 10:
Covered in next video
Join a domain. This only applies to Professional Edition

Method 11:
Covered in next video
Use Rufus to create a your own ISO

Method 12:
Covered in next video
Use an unattended xml file

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uElWqzjC1eI

[memstechtips]

@Tjp1980 I will be looking into this during this week and provide my thoughts.

[memstechtips]

Hey there,

I looked at all of the information provided in this thread, here is my feedback:

Using Winhance unintended xml file I downloaded from your github doesn't let me install Win 11 Home 24H2 or 25H2. I can only install Win 11 Home 23H2 on my Old Desktop. It's possible my system is just too old but it's just stuck on a constant boot loop during reading the usb boot drive.

This is almost certainly due to the fact that this specific computer's CPU does not support POPCNT and SSE 4.2 instructions that were introduced in 24H2. This means the computer physically can't run 24H2 or newer builds of Windows 11, it is too old. This is not an issue with the autounattend.xml file.

After updates to the Microsoft online account bypass methods this would allow me to possibly install 24H2 or 25H2 on my Desktop computer. Also, would allow the Microsoft online account bypass methods to continue to work if the ones currently used in Winhance have now been blocked recently by Microsoft.

You are right that Microsoft removed some of the methods used in the past to create a local account DURING THE OOBE (onboarding process), however, this doesn't effect the ability to create a local account when the computer is already set up and Microsoft's changes also have not had any effect on the XML file generated by Winhance or in the UnattendedWinstall project.

Adding toggles to "bypass Microsoft account" in Winhance is redundant at this point in time, you can still create a local account from within the Windows Settings when the computer is already set up. Microsoft is making it harder during the OOBE phase like mentioned earlier, and the XML file automatically takes this into account and forces a local account, a Microsoft Account can't be created if you install Windows with an XML file generated by Winhance (at the time of writing this). Here is a snippet of the code in the XML file:

<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
          <Order>2</Order>
          <Description>Registry Entry to Create a Local Account during OOBE</Description>
          <Path>reg.exe add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE" /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>
<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
          <Order>3</Order>
          <Description>Disable All Network Adapters Temporarily so Windows Doesn't Update During OOBE and to Allow Local Account Creation</Description>
          <Path>powershell.exe -NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Get-NetAdapter | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false"</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>

As for the Chris Titus bypass script:
It is a good method but I don't like it that much, because the thing is, the user account folder under C:\Windows\Users will always be "Admin" even if you change the name in Control Panel or Settings, and I don't like that. The other thing is, this is an autounattend.xml file that he is using to create the local user account. I will be adding more customizations to the XML generation in the future, and users will be able to specify if whether to use a local account and what the username should be.

I'm closing this issue as none of this needs to be added to Winhance at this time, the local account creation is working perfectly fine, and if Microsoft changes it again, I will update it to use a method that works.