Crazy Twist To New Windows 11 Pro ‘Bare Metal’ Installs

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Okay, this has happened twice now, so I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I’ve done multiple ‘bare metal’ installs of Windows 11 Pro off of the downloaded ISO from the Microsoft website using several versions of RUFUS (most recently version 4.5, build 2180) and have never had a ‘ghost password’ problem, ever. I always set them up with a ‘local’ account, never a Microsoft online account. In both recent cases (on the 3rd bare metal install in a row, since I’m apparently a slow learner) and after 2 failed ones in a row (each time, I mean), I had to set a password ‘up front’ because after the 1st (eventually required) reboot it always asked me for one, which I’d never set in the 1st place. At that point I was ‘dead in the water’ because the install would not proceed any further without a password. Needless to say, I tried everything from ‘password’ to leaving the ‘dialog box’ blank (which always worked before) but to no avail. I don’t know if this is unique to some recent version of RUFUS or not – or some bizarre recent nuance of Windows, but it’s pretty crazy. I was just wondering if anybody else has had this experience? If you don’t use a Microsoft account during the install & don’t set a password anywhere along the way, why would Windows insist that you provide one after the 1st reboot? And if so, where the Devil would it come from, if you never set one in the 1st place? Something has recently changed, and not even the great oracle Ed Bott (whom I follow religiously and is an advocate of the ‘RUFUS’ install method) has the answer here…

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This topic is under Win11 24H2. Version 24H2 has not been released to the public yet (unless it was done last night after I logged off). Did you install an Insider version? Run winver and verify your version.

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It is indeed the Insider ‘Release Preview’ (24H2, Build 26100.1876) version so it’s probably pretty close to being rolled-out in the near future. This is just an odd phenomenon that I’ve never seen before and I’ve been an “Insider” for a long time now, along with using the RUFUS flash drive method for installation (it automatically creates a local account, etc). But I’ve only ever been in the ‘Release Preview’ program, not the Beta or the Dev or any of the other less-finished ones. If it hadn’t happened on 2 different occasions I wouldn’t take much notice of it, but it did / has, so I don’t think it’s a 1-off deal. And I paid very close attention during the subsequent installation procedures to ensure that I wasn’t doing something different or out-of-the ordinary; it went the same as it always has previously (with RUFUS it’s pretty ‘automated’), except for the ‘ghost password’ being required after the 1st reboot (that’s the only time it asks for one). If you don’t have it (which I didn’t) then you hit a brick wall and can’t go any further, requiring another bare-metal install. I would still like to get some information about why / where the ‘mystery password’ comes from and how to circumvent it in the future.

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I was in the Insider Program for years. It always required a Microsoft ID/account and an unlimited sharing of diagnostic data (no privacy). I think it is an MS password it is requesting – and I don’t think you can have a Local ID.

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Travasaurus, PL1

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I don’t recall ever having to do that before, but it’s certainly possible. Far & away most of my installs have been of the ‘Release Preview’ variety over the last couple of years and that has not been necessary.  I’ve got another one coming up in the near future, so I’ll make this one a ‘test case’ and see if that works. It still seems like that in the past & using the ‘RUFUS method’ I never had to provide my Microsoft account password before. That was 1 of the (several) ‘sell points’ of using RUFUS, that it obviated a lot of that kind of stuff, i.e. being able to set up a ‘local user account’ so you wouldn’t have to mess with the Microsoft nonsense.  (Per Ed Bott, no less) Actually, I seem to remember that Susan (the ‘AskWoody Goddess’ around here) might’ve said the same thing, as regards a local user account vs. a Microsoft one during an install. Maybe she’ll weigh-in here and shed some light on this conundrum…

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