The original game of Whac-A-Mole dates back to 1975, but if we want a more modern edition, we will definitely find it in this confrontation that Microsoft maintains with many Windows 11 users. Every time someone discovers a method to skip the account requirement or uninstall an unwanted feature, an agent from Redmond blocks it. Today it's the turn of the famous "BypassNRO", removed from the latest Insider build. Although there is still the possibility of restoring its function, it's only a matter of time before Microsoft eliminates it completely...
What's most irritating about all this conflict is that the company already has an appropriate solution, but it refuses to distribute it through retail channels. Of course, I mean Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC: It's updated, compatible, works very well, doesn't distract the user with nonsense, and most importantly, all hardware "requirements" are optional. If that edition of Windows 11 were legally available, Windows 10's market share would plummet. Instead… Redmond responds like this:
Microsoft removes BypassNRO in the latest Windows 11 Insider build
Yesterday, Microsoft announced the release of Windows 11 Insider build 26200.5516 under the Dev Channel. All these builds are based on Windows 11 24H2 and contain the "improvements" that made it to the beta channel. The text highlights optimizations such as local semantic search on Copilot+ PCs, search for photos saved in the cloud, a "recap" for Narrator, and a simplified "green screen" (this is the BSOD in Dev builds), among other things. However, under the "Other" category we can see this notice…
To "improve security and user experience" in Windows 11, Redmond decided to remove the script known as bypassnro.cmd, thus ensuring that all users complete the setup process with Internet connectivity "and" a Microsoft account. How does that script work? In essence, it must be manually activated when the user reaches the point where Windows asks to connect. The Shift+F10 combination opens the elevated prompt, and the command OOBE\BYPASSNRO activates the script to "continue without Internet" after a restart.
Now, Microsoft may have removed the script, but its internal commands are still there. The content of bypassnro.cmd is nothing more than:
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f shutdown /r /t 0A bit more inconvenient to type, but it should work the same. Guarantees? None, since Microsoft has the ability to remove that command whenever it wants. Alternatives? We can always use Rufus, generate an unattended.xml file in extreme cases, "look for" the aforementioned Windows edition, or take a bet on Linux. My latest experiments with Ubuntu Unity have worked very well…
Sources: Microsoft, The Verge
