On Fri, 15 Sept 2023 at 14:35, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <[email protected]> wrote: > > [Always do backups before such drastic measures.] > > The best way to install Windows is to go to another Windows box and use > the the Window Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB stick > <https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows11> > Alternatively you could download the WIndows 11 Disk Image. > > During installation, you have to answer a lot of questions. It is > extremely hard to evade linking the installation with a global Microsoft > account (google to learn the ever-evolving tricks). > > Good news: Windows can let other partitions on the disk remain. In > earlier years, it would just grab the whole disk. > > Once it is installed, Windows will spend a lot of time installing updates > and rebooting. Installing updates is quite slow (perhaps due to > anti-malware software). > > And it lies about whether there are more updates. When it says there are > none, ask it to look again. > > You also need to separately run the Microsoft app store app and ask it to > do updates. > > You also need to run you system vendor's update thingee too for some > driver and firmware updates. Even then, it is useful to see what firmware > is available on the vendor's web site > > This whole process involves multipler reboots, each requiring babysitting.
Regular readers of this list may recall that I recently bought a mini-mini-computer: the slim instruction manual basically said that if you wanted to avoid trouble (which I take to mean "having to connect to a global M$ account"), I should boot WITHOUT a network connection. Which I did, and it seemed to create a local account without hesitation. At which point I shut the machine down, imaged the drive, wiped it, and installed Linux. Windows might have fought me hard the second I booted with a network connection, but that really seems to be a great way to win that first fight. How long they'll leave that door open I don't know - I expect Windows 12 to say "I have no network connection, therefore this is not a real computer. Shutting down now." -- Giles https://www.gilesorr.com/ [email protected] --- Post to this mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
