Setting up a new Windows 11 PC can be a bit of a hassle if you don’t want to sign in using an online Microsoft account. There are many reasons for this, be it on principle or to be able to rename their username. Or simply because you don’t have an internet connection while you’re setting things up. Unfortunately, Microsoft has been hard at work plugging workarounds to setting up your PC without an online account.
In a new Windows 11 test build, the company says it is removing more known workarounds for creating local accounts. Microsoft claims that being allowed to do so “inadvertently skip critical setup screens, potentially causing users to exit OOBE (out-of-box-experience) with a device that is not fully configured to use”. Should there be little or no pushback from Insiders, this will be the reality of future versions of the OS.
Specifically being blocked this time around, according to The Verge, is the “start ms-cxh:localonly” command. This was something that users only discovered following the removal of a much simpler method. Back in March of this year, Microsoft already plugged the bypassnro.cmd script. This was the simplest way to skip needing a Microsoft account or internet connection when setting up a new system. But even then, it needed some Google-fu skills.
For what it’s worth, Microsoft is also letting you name your default user folder during OOBE in this latest Insider Preview build. But this, too, requires pulling up the Command Prompt. But ultimately, there’s no getting around the feeling that this is another change meant to protect users from themselves, for better or worse.
(Source: Microsoft [1], [2], The Verge)
