L I N U X
1000 percent. I did this for myself a year ago and haven’t looked back.
I did 6 months back to linux mint. The experience is smooth
Fix:
open this site: https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/
check your options that you like
download your xml
download win 11 iso
put on stick (with rufus) with the downloaded xml file
install win 11
profit
I’ve had issues with the installer from 24H2 for my unattended. I had to use the previous versions installer and installed the 24H2 ISO.
I put this in another thread: It’s not a big deal. They’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script, which is just this:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0
You can still use shift-F10 at the same point, type those two lines (not the @ECHO OFF), and it will achieve the same result.
I will copypaste your comment next time people complain Linux is hard to learn.
It’s actually so bad lol. Idk what Microsoft has against
-forargsflags but it’s fuckn annoyingIt’s also incredibly inconsistent, at least now that they’re pushing more and more towards powershell.
What, as a delimiter? Even some FOSS software uses spaces.
Whoops, meant flags
if someone says linux is hard to learn, that person isn’t making regestry edits.
That said, windows used to be intuitive, but they peaked with xp and it’s been a downhill slide since.
So you’re telling me 2% of new Window’s users won’t be forced to make an account? Neat!
This is not about the technically savvy. The populace is being conditioned into not owning what they purchase. This will in turn make everyone’s life worse.
Ultimately this change, while frustrating, probably doesn’t change the initial value for those who fit these two categories:
- Needs Windows
- Cares about their privacy
These people were already going to go out of their way to use the OOBE bypass. They still will. This is no more effort thanbit already was.
Microsoft crossed the line already by disallowing offline account creation through their default setup process.
A bitch to remember compared to the bypassnro though.
Well, who cares. I’m never installing Windows again anyway.
You know, if you copied those three lines into a text file, then saved it as bypassnro.cmd, you’ll have solved that problem.
start ms-cxh:localonly
upvoted for visibility.
Its not a big deal the same way cancelling adobe subscription is not a big deal.
I have to have Windows, a VM at least, for reasons.
A nameless install, decrapified with Chris Titus’ decrapifier, installer and streamliner script is actually decent
I mean, not really. You had to open command prompt anyways. The command is just a bit different now. There’s no monetary penalty here, just a few more keystrokes.
Its shity corpo behavior to force users generate more profits for shareholders. It is no benefit to anyone but ms.
Seems an alternative, easier method was found: https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/an-even-better-microsoft-account-bypass-for-windows-11-has-already-been-discovered
Relevant part:
But fret not, as a new, perhaps better bypass has already been discovered that still uses the command prompt (which you can open with Shift + F10) and makes skipping the Microsoft Account sign-in step a total breeze.
Discovered by user @witherornot1337 on X, typing “start ms-cxh:localonly” into the command prompt during the Windows 11 setup experience will allow you to create a local account directly without needing to skip connecting to the internet first.
Shit like that has to be a leak, idk how else you’d just pull that out of one’s ass.
“The bypass uses a CXH (cloud experience host) URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) string during the OOBE to invoke the hidden local account setup screen.” this had to be data mined or something yeah.
I just bypass the requirement by installing Linux Mint instead
I did the same on my media center mini PC. Any idea how to check/enable HDR?
The answer is a bit complicated. Linux has a long history with HDR where you would need exact software and hardware, or else no HDR… Just know that it will get easier because the ball has already started to roll in the correct direction.
But the shortest way I can say it now,
If you use Valve’s game mode, (which is possible to get either using steamos, bazzite, chimera OS, nobara, or you can manually set it up. You should be able to get it to work. This should work for windows games that support HDR. AFAIK there are no Linux games yet supporting HDR. It should be possible to get videos playing with HDR also, but that would be an exercise for the reader, or wait until people make it easier.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I currently believe the newest version, of KDE and Gnome are now HDR ready. If I am wrong you might just need the newest beta which will become stable Q2 this year.
Playing videos, I believe the newest version of MPV just got HDR support. With more apps incoming.
Anything that let’s a gamepad or a remote browse your videos? AFAIK not yet, but be patient, as this is all new
If you use Valve’s game mode, (which is possible to get either using steamos, bazzite, chimera OS, nobara, or you can manually set it up. You should be able to get it to work. This should work for windows games that support HDR. AFAIK there are no Linux games yet supporting HDR. It should be possible to get videos playing with HDR also, but that would be an exercise for the reader, or wait until people make it easier.
gamescopeis what you’re going to want to search for if you’re attempting this exercise. I just set gamescope in the launch options for the games where I want HDR.Wayland has had HDR support for around 6 months (using Arch, btw, so YMMV depending on how current your distro is). The issue has been that there is no way for an application to determine if your hardware supports HDR because Wayland doesn’t have color management protocols.
The Wayland color management protocols are done and are targeted for the next major release of Wayland (in a month or two, roughly). In the meantime, in applications that supports it (like mpv if you want to watch movies) you can launch it with
ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1to let it know that your setup can use HDR. Once the protocols are released you won’t need to do this.You can edit/create a .desktop file for HDR mpv like so:
Exec=ENABLE_HDR_WSI=1 mpv --player-operation-mode=pseudo-gui --vo=gpu-next --target-colorspace-hint --gpu-api=vulkan --gpu-context=waylandvk -- %UHere’s a link to the topic on the Arch wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/HDR_monitor_support
TL;DR: Official support in a few months. But this is Linux, so you can get things sooner if you want to tinker.
You’ll want to not use cinnamon for HDR, cinnamon is not going to get it for a very long time, KDE is a much more up to date environment and it works mostly out of the box on the most recent versions. Although I don’t think those patches have made it to mint yet.
HDR is kinda complicated right now.
As it stands, it’s only available on the Plasma and Gnome desktop environments.
The HDR stack on Linux has went through a lot of change recently, and much of the stack has only just been finalised/standardised. It’ll take a while to mature, and to arrive on distros like Mint.
What is hdr and why do people care about it? Seems like another doly atmos that is just made to sell expensive hardware and invent a solution looking for a problem.
Simplest explanation is HDR enables more color bits per pixel so you have much higher contrast in bright and dark images. It’s pretty much essential if you are using OLED panels as these can turn off pixels for a realistic/not washed out black.
Interesting, thanks. I just assumed monitors themselves handle that same way as monochrome monitors manage to display the same content as shitty gaming monitors and art monitors with huger rgb coverage.
The command (C:\Windows\System32\)
OOBE\bypassnro(.cmd) one types into the command prompt (after opening it with Shift+F10) for the bypass is the location of a batch file they will be removing (the parenthesized parts are optional, implied by the command interpreter, and so is any capitalization). You can still do whatever it’s doing (adding a registry key and restarting) by typing the command manually or providing a copy of the file on a USB drive. After a restart, the OS will check for the registry key AND lack of internet connection to provide the local account option.For the record, the contents of the file are
@echo off reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f shutdown /r /t 0The first line is optional, and so is the third if you’re OK with restarting manually. If creating the file on Unix-based systems, make sure the newline sequence is CRLF (DOS/Windows standard).
Obligatory shoutout to literally any Linux distro, which does not need this workaround, and is usually easier to install and set up than debloating a fresh Windows 11 install.
Rufus has an option to auto add this for you when building a bootable drive. Works great.
Still using Rufus? Ventoy is the way of the future. One USB, hundreds of ISOs.
Edit: Seems I was unaware of some potential risks with the binary blobs pre-built in Ventoy. No threat has been found, but there are supply-chain concerns. It appears there is a fork where someone is cleaning up the build process.
I might be OOTL but wasn’t there some concerns with the developer or something? I thought I heard something but I forgot what
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1buhnrs/is_ventoy_safe_in_light_of_xzliblzma_scare/
It’s basically a security nightmare.
Oh geez…
Until they remove checking that reg key from all versions other than maybe enterprise. If they decide that running windows requires an MS online account, they can keep bumping up the difficulty of running it without whenever they want.
They are keeping around so many deprecated features for internal use and whatnot, I would be surprised if they did remove this registry check.
Until Windows 12 is released, you can always use an old ISO and then update to the newest version.
Thank you! I’ve bookmarked this for next time I have a Windows reinstall! Hoping it still works then…
Are people shocked that windows keeps removing things that allow the os to be usable and debloated?
Copilot recording your screen will be a non optional feature before win11 is over.
This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity
And what if someone doesn’t have internet connectivity?
no computer for you
But then how we can put advertisements in the Start Menu, and spy on them once our Project2025 overlords want the general populous to be fully committed to extremist christianity 24/7?
More and more people just need to switch to Linux and grow the userbase so more and more proprietary software create Linux builds just like how Maya and Davinci Resolve are available for Linux. If your computer is a web browser, you should be on Linux. Firefox, Chrome, Edge are all on Linux
If you’re a casual photo editor, Darktable. A casual photo editor can probably be well served with GIMP or Krita. If you’re a web browser and digital painter Krita. If you edit videos, Davinci Resolve and Kdenlive. Office - OnlyOffice, Libre office, WPS Office
Or you can always pay for Wine and help it develop. Usually popular applications work well.
So happy that I switched to linux. Microsoft has been one of the main forces of enshitification of the world. Fuck em. I cant play a bunch of games with my friends anymore, and I have to learn a few new CAD programs, which is like 10 thousand hours of work that I am flushing down the toilet. Worth it.
A few weeks ago I helped one of my client’s employees set up their brand new laptop, which came with Win11 installed, of course. They just need it for basic work stuff and there’s no chance in hell anything other than Windows is a viable option here.
We work remotely so I would help them get set up to a point where they could at least share their screen to me, or I could take over via remote access myself, to finish the installation process. I just needed to guide them through the steps “blind” for a short while. Easy peasy, right?
So we go through the Windows 11 first time setup together. All seems to go ok until Windows asks them to log into their MS account or create one. No problem, we should be able to do that, right? Only that we can’t. We’re connected to the WiFi, etc., yet they get some generic ass error message like “Sorry, something went wrong” and that’s that.
Ok, so we can’t log in with an online account. Let’s try offline as a fallback! We set the username, password… “Sorry, something went wrong” again. We try to guess maybe it’s the password, it doesn’t match! Or it’s not strong enough! So we try all these different things for ages. Again, we’re getting no feedback whatsoever from Windows. Just “Something went wrong fuck you lol”.
I don’t use Windows myself, I’ve been a Linux user for years now, I don’t have any freaking clue how to remotely diagnose a vague issue that literally prevents them from getting the laptop to a functional state. So I Google the problem and the recommended answer is to run this magic “bypassnro” command. It will cut all the mandatory online account bullshit, move straight to a reliable offline account setup screen, and allow us to, you know, actually do work? And it worked!
If I hadn’t had that command at my disposal, that I was forced to use by Microsoft’s broken ass setup UX, I would’ve probably spent twice or three times longer coaching my non-tech-savvy client through booting into fail safe mode and doing all kinds of arcane sysadmin shit that I don’t even have to ever think about in Linux. All this just to get them into the desktop, on a brand new laptop.
And Microsoft have now decided to take it away. Nice one.
I was trying to set up win 11 laptop for my mom and ran into S mode, that took like an hour to walk my elderly mom through the steps to disable it so I could remote in. Finally gave up and grab a MS approved remote desktop app to remote in a disable the S mode, its s for Shit. Of course the other remote desktop app crashed. Sorry family, no more windows PCs for you
You could’ve just had your mom install linux and you wouldn’t have to remote in since theres nothing to do. Everything just works.
How the hell are we supposed to install it without a Internet connection? I worked in a company that was so hard on security that only certified machines were allowed access to the net, so virtual machines were not allowed to access the LAN and therefore the Internet. Generally not a problem as we just used them to test software on different OS versions, so no Internet required.
This change disallows all offline installs. What is their gain? Are they that keen on our data or are they planning to use the connection to a Microsoft account for something even worse than just selling personal information? I could think of a few reasons and none are nice…
They are indeed just that keen on our data.
They know they can’t get rid of it for all of their customers, but they do want to make it as hard as possible for random users to do so.
I’m sure there’s a way around it for institutional customers.
I guess this does not apply to Enterprise editions, but only to filthy peasants like us
I used the iso modification tool from the GitHub for ChrisTitus before installing with good results
I’M OKAY WITH MAKING A WINDOWS ACCOUNT. I’M JUST NOT OKAY WITH MY ~/ PATH BEING
C:/Users/Jacobuedhbcuycbdhh55674c4bhdncy6448774/THIS CAN ONLY BE FIXED BY CREATING A LOCAL USER AND THEN SIGNING IN
Maybe your parents should have picked a better name then.
Is that how it is these days? If I log with my Microsoft account on a Windows device, the username used is only part of my first name. It always annoyed be that it was cut in a very unnatural way and I had no way to change it. I searched for some way to fix it and what I found said it was auto generated way back in the first time I used it on a windows pc and that it was saved in my account in some attribute that nothing ever updates.
windows is not user friendly
Exactly!
My answer to everyone saying “but Linux is hard…!”
No, it’s DIFFERENT!!
If using Cinnamon was your first learning experience on a computer, you’d think Windows is the worst user experience in the world!
I switched to Linux a few weeks back and setting up the work printer on my laptop took 2 seconds as opposed to the normal 10 minutes. I was gobsmacked
I’ve always thought that Unix (and therefore Linux) was much more internally consistent and accessible than Windows ever was.
Everything is in places that kind of make sense, there’s heaps of documentation that comes with the system, you can set it up how you like it, you can see everything… There are actual logs that aren’t hex gobbledygook…
I’ve been using computers long enough to know how to do my own tech support (also working in IT for a few years now, it sure does help). Been using Mint daily for more than a month now and I’m convinced average people can use it (or equivalent : Ubuntu, Pop…) hassle free.
But people must also accept to learn a bit about computers. Most don’t know and don’t want to.
Exactly. And if you use a desktop like Cinnamon or KDE Plasma, it really isn’t that different, other than how you install software. I fully believe anyone can use it. Especially since the majority of computer users tend to only use them for browsing the web, email and light gaming. The learning curve is minimal.
Apple does this.
Microsoft is now doing this.
I wonder how long until Google start doing it with Android 🤔
This future is so fucking dystopian
You can still very easily use macOS without an Apple ID or iCloud account, actually. You lose out on iMessage, FaceTime and the App Store, basically. But that’s about it. And they don’t nag you about it ever again unless you try to send an iMessage or what have you.
On iOS and Android it’s effectively a requirement though, because App Store / Google Play. Phone is not too useful if you can’t install any apps.
Agree. On iOS, if you don’t login with an Apple ID, you can’t really install apps. On Android though you can just use F-Droid to install apps just fine.
True, but realistically for most people the lack of Google Play is a non starter. Unless you’re really technical and committed to FOSS, you’re going to need every day apps in there.
IMO the biggest issue on mobile is not even the stores but the fact that both platforms are so tightly integrated with the cloud and the account signed into the OS. Again, if you’re an ordinary user, you can barely do anything without it being tied to your Google account or whatever. Everything from maps to notes to music, it’s all tied up in that.
The future is bright on Linux
Sadly, no linux phones that are actually usable.
Yeah, its fucking absurd. Closest option is probably a fairphone right now. They allow a bunch of degoglified options of android and a few linux options too.
My mobile OS of choice is currently Lineageos for Microg. Makes all my apps work and protects me from google as good as possible.
Fairphone works in Europe, but in the US, for example, only Tmobile allows fairphones, the other carriers, while there nothing technological that prevents them fron working, the carriers being being really shit about it. And Tmovile could also become hostile with a flip of a switch. So yea, that’s a huge issue, unless you want a wifi-only device.
I fear in the future, devices will be more strictly locked down because of “terrorism” “scams” “fraud” or “criminial activity” that allows the authorities, worldwide, to control devices even more. Perhaps, computers could also face such lockdowns.
I mean, look at drones. One harmless crash on the US whitehouse lawn triggered a lot of laws restricting them, inclusing the infamous DJI Geo-locking. One terrorisr using encrypted messaging apps to coordinate would allow governments to control our communications even further. All locked bootloaders. Perhaps even locked BIOS/UEFIs. Imagine such a future.
The future looks bleak. It’s not even like 1984, the reality of dystopia is more subtle. People are being stalked by the government, while there are parties are happening all around, that is what dystopia looks like.
China turned QR codes red to restrict people’s movements on the pretenses of Covid. The US trump admin could do the same with QR code IDs to “prove you are a citizen” with checkpoints throughout the country.
(Sorry if it kinda got offtopic, but still kinda relevent)
Amen. Not a non-Android one, at least.
LightPhone is your best bet for a Linux phone if anyone is interested.
Hmmm
I skimmed the webpage and seems like some minimalist phone, which cannot adequetely replace many functions of a modern smartphone.
Arent they already for official OEM ROMs?
No
Really?
I’ve used Samsung and Motorola Android phones, I can set them up offline.
I assume every other OEM is the same.
Well tbh. I never tried to bother circumventing the semi-mandatory google account.
Would be interesting if it is so or not
