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  • It's bad when an operating system keeps giving you a screen full of options and the best answer for every single one is No.

  • If you are learning all that might as well just switch to Linux and stop relying on Microsoft's enshittified products in the first place.

    • I'm on your side, but comments like these are nonsense and help nobody.

      • how so?

        learning all that stuff to clean windows is like replacing reddit with another privately-owned publicly-traded alternative instead of lemmy.

        the same problems will keep returning over and over. in this case until next update. i'm old enough to remember these issues going back to the Vista days and its only gotten worse.

  • 🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary I've written before about my nostalgia for the Windows XP- or Windows 7-era "clean install," when you could substantially improve any given pre-made PC merely by taking an official direct-from-Microsoft Windows install disk and blowing away the factory install, ridding yourself of 60-day antivirus trials, WildTangent games, outdated drivers, and whatever other software your PC maker threw on it to help subsidize its cost.

    I frequently write about Windows, Edge, and other Microsoft-adjacent technologies as part of my day job, and I sign into my daily-use PCs with a Microsoft account, so my usage patterns may be atypical for many Ars Technica readers.

    There are plenty of experimental hacks dedicated to that sort of thing—NTDev's Tiny11 project is one—but removing built-in Windows components can cause unexpected compatibility and security problems, and Tiny11 has historically had issues with basic table-stakes stuff like "installing security updates."

    Regardless of your reasoning, if you don't want to bother with sign-in at setup, you have two options (three for Windows 11 Pro users):

    During Windows 11 Setup, after selecting a language and keyboard layout but before connecting to a network, hit Shift+F10 to open the command prompt.

    Proceed through the Windows 11 setup as you normally would, including connecting to a network and allowing the system to check for updates.


    Saved 70% of original text. :::

44 comments