unattended-computing

Repository with instructions for setting up Windows 11 for unattended computing

Installing Windows 11

To setup Windows 11 without Microsoft account press shift + F10 to spawn a console window. In the consle type: OOBE\BYPASSNRO, the installer will boot into a version that allows skipping over the Microsoft account registration. This will also allow you to skip the installation of network drivers and connecting to a network.

Note that you will need to do this before setting a network connection. In case you have accidentally set up a Wi-Fi connection before you can make Windows forget about it using netsh wlan delete profile name="YourNetworkName"

References:

• https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/install-windows-11-without-microsoft-account

Set up unattended login

• Start regedit
• Find the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device
• Set DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion to 0 (default is 2)
• Restart the machine
• Run netplwiz
• Uncheck the "Users must enter a username and password to use this computer" box

References:

• https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-11-22h2-auto-login-no-option-for-disabling/5016049f-cf8a-4087-af42-b1048a8d8de2

Disable the widgets service

• Run PowerShell as administrator
• Run Get-AppxPackage *WebExperience* | Remove-AppxPackage
• Run winget uninstall –id 9MSSGKG348SPC

References:

• https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/how-to-permanently-stop-the-widgets-service-from/de082ed2-81db-4074-a334-0c9ca13f15c4
• https://www.thurrott.com/forums/microsoft/windows/thread/uninstall-widgets-completely

Disable the web search functionality

(Optional, I just find this feature counter productive)

• Start regedit
• Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
• If the Explorer key does not exist, right-click on Windows and create a new key called Explorer.
• Create a new DWORD (32-bit) registry key and name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
• Double-click on DisableSearchBoxSuggestions to edit it and set the Value data field to 1 and click OK.
• Restart the machine.

Remove "Finish setting up windows" start-up screen

• Navigate to settings System\Notifications
• Disable notifications
• Go down to the Additional settings dropdown
• Uncheck all boxes

Change power settings

• Navigate to settings System\Power
• Set Power Mode to Best Performance
• In Screen, sleep & hibernate timeouts. Turn my screen off after: Never, Make my device sleep after: Never
• To prevent accidental shutdowns inPower & sleep button controls.
• • Pressing the power button will make my PC: Do Nothing
• • Pressing the sleep button will make my PC: Do Nothing

Enable Remote Control

• Navigate to System\Remote Desktop
• Enable Remote Desktop

Change system name

The default name is Desktop-XXXXX let's change that.

• Open an explorer window
• Navigate to This PC
• Right-click on This PC and open Properties
• Click Rename this PC