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  • PSA: I can happily report that my first Win11 Home installed sans a MSA

    From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to alt.comp.os.windows-11,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,alt.comp.microsoft.windows on Mon Jan 12 15:24:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

    This was a Christmas gift for a teen gamer grandchild. <https://www.costco.com/p/-/omen-16l-gaming-desktop-pc-intel-core-ultra-7-265f-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-32gb-memory-1tb-ssd-windows-11-home/4000406617>

    We can happily report that we definitely were able to NOT create an MSA for Windows 11 Home, but, we had to have the secret decoder ring in our hands.

    It's impossible to find the "skip" mechanism if you don't know that you
    must go to the command-line interface using <Shift+F10> and then enter
    OOBE\BYPASSNRO

    Only then do you get the option to set up only the local account.
    I have no idea what 'magic' that command does, but it worked.

    So at this point, only iOS requires the mothership tracking account in
    order to work (although Windows 10 extended support also requires it).

    However, looking it up just now, apparently OOBE\BYPASSNRO tells Windows
    Setup to reboot and re-run OOBE with the 'Network Requirement Override'
    flag enabled, which exposes the hidden 'I don't have internet' and
    'Continue with limited setup' paths.
    <https://ideasawakened.com/post/microsoft-windows-11-local-account-oobe-bypassnro-fails>

    Apparently OOBE/BYPASSWORD (case insensitive) does four things:
    1. Calls an internal script stored in the Windows installation image
    2. Sets a configuration flag telling OOBE to allow offline setup
    3. Modifies the OOBE workflow so the MSA requirement is skipped
    4. Forces an immediate reboot so the new OOBE mode loads

    This Out-Of-Box Experience bypass only affects the current installation
    session as far as I can tell from looking up how to customize it myself.
    <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/customize-oobe-in-windows-11>

    Unfortunately while Microsoft confirmed this script existed, apparently Microsoft later removed bypassnro.cmd in Insider build 26200.5516 & later.
    <https://ideasawakened.com/post/microsoft-windows-11-local-account-oobe-bypassnro-fails>

    Microsoft is blocking other known shortcuts like start ms-cxh:localonly.
    And Microsoft is enforcing MSA sign-in during OOBE in new builds.
    <https://www.windowslatest.com/2025/10/07/microsoft-confirms-windows-11-to-require-microsoft-account-internet-during-oobe-tested/>

    This means the simple, built-in bypasses are likely maybe disappearing.
    <https://www.tech2geek.net/bypass-microsoft-account-in-windows-11-setup-latest-methods/>

    But some of the known methods are apparently still potentially working.
    <https://pureinfotech.com/bypass-microsoft-account-windows-11-oobe/>
    a. Registry edits during OOBE
    b. Domain-join trick (Shift+F10 -> OOBE\MSOOBELOCAL)
    c. Fake network drivers / invalid proxy
    d. Using a custom installation USB (Rufus, NTLite)
    e. Developer Console exploit (WinJS bypass)
    <https://github.com/Virtual0ps/winjs-microsoft-account-bypass>

    I really wanted to build the PC from scratch as a homebuilt with the kid,
    but the clock ran out against me, so I will have to build an equivalent PC
    for another grandkid's upcoming birthday, where the PC I bought for
    Christmas is what I'll try to match as an entry-level "gaming" PC.

    <https://www.howtogeek.com/836157/how-to-use-windows-11-with-a-local-account/>
    OMEN 16L Gaming Desktop PC
    Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, 20 cores, up to 5.3 GHz boost,
    32GB DDR5 RAM (2x16GB, 2 more slots available)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, 16GB GDDR7 dedicated memory
    32GB Memory (16GB GDDR7)
    1TB NVMe SSD
    Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4
    OMEN AI performance tuning, RGB control via OMEN Light Studio
    Compact 16-liter chassis, which is basically not expandable)
    Windows 11 Home
    Costco Item 1950087 $1,499.99

    Omen is apparently HP's gaming line (as far as I'm aware as I'm not a
    gamer, although I'd love to run my old copies of MS FlightSim on floppy
    disk with a joystick on it some day just to see how it works nowadays).

    Omen AI Performance is apparently a marketing gimmick to "squeeze more performance out of a gaming PC" but it's not really AI apparently.

    OMEN Light Studio is HP's RGB lighting customization software which is
    another marketing gimmick, in this case to add layered lighting effects.

    Looking it up, apparently the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F debuted in January
    2025, and the NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti launched in April 2025. These are first-generation Arrow Lake (Intel) and Blackwell (NVIDIA) components.

    The kid runs MSI Afterburner HUD temperature and fan speed displays
    and he says the CPU gets a bit hotter than the GPU does, which, I don't
    know gaming, may be how such things go 'cuz the CPU is smaller and probably
    has less heat sink, but I'm not opening the case as it's only the size of a boot box (it's only a 16 liter size).

    I had forgotten to check as I thought all desktops were 'standard sizes'.
    Turns out this PC is a custom size, which is 16 liters.

    I didn't even notice the 16L in the name which should have been a clue.
    Looking it up, these are the standard case sizes according to my search.
    Full Tower (50-80 liters)
    Fits E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
    Mid Tower (35-50 liters)
    Fits ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
    Micro Tower / Mini Tower (25-35 liters)
    Fits Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
    Small Form Factor (10-20 liters)
    Fits Mini-ITX & custom motherboards
    Ultra-Small / Mini-PC (1-10 liters)
    Intel NUCs, Mac Mini, tiny office PCs

    This device has a proprietary motherboard and even the CPU and GPU are apparently not sold to the public yet (as far as I could tell), which I
    didn't know was a thing. It sucks if you ask me, since the only thing the
    grand kid can upgrade is to add one more SSD and maybe two full cards.

    Looking up how to build an "equivalent" mid-level gamer PC, I found
    the PA Parts Picker web site, which seems to be an excellent resource.
    <https://pcpartpicker.com/>

    There are BILLIONS of choices, but I'v narrowed it down for now to
    CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (LGA1851 socket, fits Z890 motherboards)
    GPU: RTX 5070 (12GB GDDR7)
    RAM: 32GB DDR5-6400 (2+16GB) Supported by Z890 motherboards
    MB: ASUS Prime Z890-P WiFi (LGA1851,DDR5,PCIe 5.0x16,M.2 PCIe 4.0/5.0,ATX)
    SSD: 1TB NVMe SSD (PCIe 4.0, 7000 MB/s)
    Power supply: 750W 80+ Gold ATX PSU
    Case: Fractal Pop Air XL, NZXT H7 Flow, Lian Li Lancool 216,
    Phanteks P500A, or Corsair 4000D Airflow
    Cooler: DeepCool AK620 (air) or Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 (AIO)
    OS: Windows 11 Home (license ~$100)

    Rough prices for those parts are
    CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, Estimated: $420-$500
    GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5070 (12GB GDDR7) Estimated: $550-$650
    RAM: 32GB DDR5-6400 (2+16GB) Estimated: $90-$130
    MB: ASUS Prime Z890-P WiFi Estimated: $230-$280
    SSD: 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 (7000 MB/s) Estimated: $60-$90
    PS: 750W 80+ Gold Estimated: $90-$130
    Case: Pop Air XL,H7 Flow,Lancool 216,P500A,4000D Estimated: $90-$150
    Cooler: DeepCool AK620 Estimated: $65-$75
    Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 Estimated: $95-$110
    Windows 11 Home License Estimated: $100

    The total becomes about $1,695 to $2,140 but I have no idea how warranties
    work given a Costco PC has a 90-day return and 2-year warranty (but they no longer add doubling of the manufacturer's warranty with the Costco Visa).
    --
    Just one person paying it forward by helping others who later help me.
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