By default Microsoft forces you to sign in with a Microsoft account. Many times people don’t have a Microsoft account, or don’t think they do. If you simply follow the prompts, it asks you to connect to WiFi or plug in your Ethernet cable for Internet. The problem is once you connect to the Internet via WiFi, it’s not easy to undo that and start over, so it’s critical to avoid connecting to WiFi from the beginning and follow these steps.
Unless you want to sign in with a Microsoft account, there’s a trick to getting past the step of being forced to connect to WiFi to continue. Here are the steps to avoid being forced to sign in with a Microsoft account, or worse, having to create one if you don’t have one.
- CRITICAL STEP, DO NOT plug in your Ethernet cable (Internet) or connect to WiFi at any point until you are completely done all steps.
If you already plugged in a cable, simply unplug it and force the computer off and on again. If you connected to WiFi already, you will have to unplug the power to your Wireless modem/router to stop broadcasting the WiFi signal. You can plug the Wireless router/modem back in after you are completed all the steps below. - Turn on the computer. Soon as it gets to a screen to start choosing options, don’t click anything, follow these steps first.
- Hold down the Shift key then press F10 while still holding down Shift.
If it’s a laptop, Hold down the FN key and Shift key then press F10 while still holding down those keys first two keys. - You should get a black window that is the Command Prompt.
- Click the mouse in the black screen once to be able to type in it.
- Type in the following command, then press enter
oobe\bypassnro - Your computer should reboot when you press enter.
- After the computer reboots, follow the prompts, but watch out for another critical step as follows:
When prompted to connect to WiFi, you should now see and select the option “I don’t have Internet”.
I know this is a lie, but you must choose this option to avoid being forced to sign in with a Microsoft account. - You may be prompted again about choosing WiFi, just be persistent to respond in a way that tells the computer you do not have Internet.
- Once you get past Microsoft harassing you to connect to WiFi, you should be prompted with the remaining steps of setting up your new computer.
- Just choose whatever options you want until it finishes setup and you will eventually get to your desktop.
If you want to choose the best option for privacy, I suggest choosing the 2nd option (the bottom option of the 2 choices), for every single prompt. There will be several prompts.
- Hold down the Shift key then press F10 while still holding down Shift.
- Once at your desktop screen you can plug in your Ethernet cable or connect to WiFi. If you had to unplug your modem/router, you can plug it back in now. Note, it can take 5 minutes to be fully up and running again.
- Once your are on the Internet, you can download our remote tool from this link so that we can help you remotely with everything else such as setting up printers, email etc or just future support.