Activating Windows on New PCs Before Reinstalling

Jul 25 — Written By Donovan Adkisson

As IT professionals, we often prefer not to use the OS as it comes pre-installed on new computers. These systems frequently include additional software that consumes space and bloats the overall system. However, caution is needed when replacing the default installation with a clean, vanilla install. It is essential to ensure that the OS (Windows 10/11) is digitally licensed first. This ensures that your new, non-bloatware install will also be properly licensed.

Windows 11 can be particularly challenging because Microsoft strongly encourages setting up the new install with a Microsoft account. You can, however, license the OS before it nags you to create an account.

1. Get through the OOBE far enough to connect to the network (ethernet or Wi‑Fi)
2. Shift + F10 to open a command prompt
3. Type start ms-settings: and press ENTER
4. The settings screen opens on top of the OOBE
5. Go to Windows activation and verify it’s licensed
6. Done. Now reinstall your own Windows and it should auto‑activate once online.

Side note: If you are re‑installing with Windows 11 and want to avoid creating a Microsoft account, after the OOBE has started, press Shift + F10 and run: OOBE\BYPASSNRO. The system will reboot; do not connect to the network and you can create a local account.

10/7/25: Microsoft is removing some of the workarounds for not creating a Microsoft account in upcoming versions of Windows 11