windows 10 setup question \ VOGONS

windows 10 setup question

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First post, by ncmark

Posted on 2025-07-30, 11:32

ncmark Offline

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Hi everyone, a serious question

I just got a windows 10 computer off dell refurbished. One my reasons was I wanted to escape the wholes windows 11 forcing you you have a micro$oft account. Unfortunately, I started looking around and it seems newer versions of 10 also required the account! Grrrrrr.

I have seen a couple of workarounds:

1. Enter no@thankyou.com for an email address and a random password

2. Install with no internet access. Question - possible to add this later?

3. Just create the account but don't use your real name or birthdate. Question - are they going to let you set up an account without a phone number?

4. If using windows 10 professional, on network setup you can opt to connect to a domain. Question - can regular networking be set up after the fact?

Does anyone have any experience with any of these methods and can shed some light?

Reply 1 of 5, by Living

Posted on 2025-07-30, 11:38

Living Offline

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use rufus

Reply 2 of 5, by Grzyb

Posted on 2025-07-30, 12:25

Grzyb Offline

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I always install Windows 11 with local account:
- disconnect LAN
- start installation
- when it complains about no Internet connection, press Shift+F10, and enter OOBE\BYPASSNRO
- after reboot, select "I don't have Internet"
- when installed, you can connect LAN again, and normally use the Internet

Kiełbasa smakuje najlepiej, gdy przysmażysz ją laserem!

Reply 3 of 5, by ncmark

Posted on 2025-08-02, 01:13

ncmark Offline

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Thanks to those who offered advice here. I installed it completely offline without a hitch! I may not even connect it to the internet at all, undecided. Taking thinks slowly.

The long story - I initially could not try it out because of no VGA connector, display port only. Then I opened the case and looked at the inside and saw (what I thought) no hard drive! Just a cable where one would connect. What the heck. In the meantime I got a display port cable, and it booted right up. Again, what the heck.

There *IS* a SATA cable there with nothing connected to it and an empty 3.5 slot. But I think what I was interpreting as the DVD drive was really the hard drive. Live and learn, I guess.

Seems like a pretty sweet machine, especially considering what I paid for it.

Reply 4 of 5, by Grzyb

Posted on 2025-08-02, 12:02

Grzyb Offline

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BTW: what happens if you have a Microsoft account, but there's some connection problem?
You can't even login to your own computer?
If you don't have any additional boot device - how to access the data stored on the local drive?

Kiełbasa smakuje najlepiej, gdy przysmażysz ją laserem!

Reply 5 of 5, by chinny22

Posted on Today, 06:12

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Grzyb wrote on 2025-08-02, 12:02:

BTW: what happens if you have a Microsoft account, but there's some connection problem?
You can't even login to your own computer?
If you don't have any additional boot device - how to access the data stored on the local drive?

Same thing as when your work computer can't connect to the server.
It'll still log you in. You just wont have access to anything online until the connection issue is resolved.

I'm not sure what happens if you have no connection for an extended period of time. Work computers will lock you out.
But if that's the case it would be in your own best interest to create a local backup account anyway.

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