Window 11

Network Adapters

@ "Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections"

• Properties : UNCHECK (Disable) IPv6
  • At adapter(s) bound to gateway, else DNS latency is some 10x greater.

Install

Use [Rufus]() or [Ventoy]() utility to create a bootable USB

Machine Prep

Gather information for bootable USB creation

# Partition Style
(Get-Disk -Number (Get-Partition -DriveLetter $env:SystemDrive.Substring(0, 1)).DiskNumber).PartitionStyle

# EUFI Secure Boot status
Confirm-SecureBootUEFI

Disable Requirement for MS Online Account Sign-in

We want to install a local-only account, bypassing requirement of online Microsoft account

Rufus has options that handle this when burning to a USB drive.

Otherwise, or additional methods …

Build 24H2

• Method 1

  • Follow install menus until "Select Country" page
  • Shift + F10, which launches a CMD window.
    • OOBE\BYPASSNRO (at the command prompt), which causes computer to reboot.
  • Shift + F10 again
    • ipconfig /release (at the command prompt).
  • Close CMD window
  • Resume install.
  • At screen: "Let's connect you to a network", click "I don't have Internet" to continue.
    • "Continue with limited setup"

• Method 2

  • Follow install menus until User page
  • Add user name
    • Click Next (button)
  • Do not enter password at Password page.
    • Click Next (button)

Method if After Installation

The default OS install has a "Welcome" login sequence requiring a Microsoft account. It blocks user from login until user signs up for MS account, enters creds of existing account, or selects a button that is effectively a "Repeatedly block and bother me again later".

This statement cures that:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" -Name "NoConnectedUser" -Value 3 -Type DWord

Builds 26120 and beyond

The OOBE/BYPASSNRO command has been erased and no longer works. Instead, there's a new command called start ms-chx:localonly that does something similar. Here's how you use it.

• Follow the Windows 11 install process until you get to the Sign in screen.
• Shift + F10, which launches a CMD window.
  • start ms-cxh:localonly

Activate @ "Not Activated"

How to Activate via KMS using Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS) method at a PowerShell terminal:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name VolumeActivation -IncludeManagementTools

# Run this statement and select the "KMS" option at its menu
irm https://get.activated.win | iex

• get.activated.win

OS/Boot Utilities

# Add drivers to mounted WIM  
dism /mount-wim /wimfile:D:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:\Mount
dism /Image:S:\Mount /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\drivers\ /Recurse
dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\Mount /commit
oscdimg -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bD:\boot\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bD:\efi\microsoft\boot\efisys.bin D:\ C:\Win11-custom.iso

# Fix boot record
bcdboot S:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI # Z: is (small ~ 100MB) EFI partition
shutdown /r /t 1 /o

# Fix OS
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Typically, EFI partition is not assigned a letter (Z:); use DISKPART to assign:

  diskpart
  

  list disk
  list volume
  list partition
  select disk ...
  list volume
  select volume ...
  select partition ...
  assign letter z
  exit