Solved install without username or email?

Is it possible to install Windows 8.1 without a username or email? The reason I'm asking is that I have some spare hardware lying round, my local store has Windows 8.1 on offer and I thought I could knock a couple of machines together as Xmas presents.

When I have played around with Windows 8.1 in the past, it seems very picky re usernames, email, email security code etc whereas I would like to give my neighbor a new pc, and the 1st time he turned it on it would ask him to choose a name, set up an account etc. I'm guessing a new box from Dell etc would be like this. Also I don't want to give someone a machine with my name and email address on it.

If I could setup a computer in this way, could I activate it? Would it be fully working for test purposes or in reduced functionality mode?

Re email security code - how is the average Joe with one machine and one disk supposed to access the internet part way through install to get the code? It's not a problem for people like me with a houseful of computers.

sorry for noob questions (not a Windows 8 user)

Hello Mancman,

Sure can. Do step 18A when you get to step 16 in the tutorial below to be able to.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2299-clean-install-windows-8-a.html

18a says click local account and go to 18c. 18c says type in username and password, which is what I want to avoid.

I've never bought a computer from HP, Dell etc but am I wrong in thinking that they come without a username and password? I recently had to do a factory restore of a Windows 7 AIO pc for a friend and I'm pretty sure the first screen we saw said choose user name and password. That's the kind of thing I'm after.

What you are describing is the OOBE, Out Of the Box Experience. If you buy an OEM PC with Windows pre-installed that's what you get the first time you power up the PC. Language selection, color personalization, username and password etc. The OEM's use a custom image to achieve that. Doing the factory restore will reset that image. Setting a PC up like that by the average Joe isn't all that easy, you'll need some IT skills to get it done. You can come close by installing Windows and then syspreping it. That should wipe the username you used to do the setup. There is a "I can't do this right now" option for the e-mail trust this PC code. You'll get a reminder from the Action Center to do it latter on. Have a look at these tutorials.
New Installation: How to Create a General System Image in Audit Mode - Windows 7 Help Forums
Windows 7 Installation - Prepare PC to be Sold - Windows 7 Help Forums

EDIT: The tutorials are for Windows 7 (didn't see any for Windows 8) they should work for 8 as well.

What I would do is setup the box with a local account named admin then sit with the person when they first logged in and help them setup their personal account letting them choose whether they wanted to use a MS account or a local account.

Thanks guys - its not as easy as I thought it would be.

It's above my present skill set. Doing a sysprep will likely get you close enough.

mancman said:

18a says click local account and go to 18c. 18c says type in username and password, which is what I want to avoid.

I've never bought a computer from HP, Dell etc but am I wrong in thinking that they come without a username and password? I recently had to do a factory restore of a Windows 7 AIO pc for a friend and I'm pretty sure the first screen we saw said choose user name and password. That's the kind of thing I'm after.

Click to expand...

Step 18A

A) For Windows 8.1, temporarily disconnect your internet connection from your PC, enter a wrong password, and click/tap on Next. (see bottom screenshot below step 16)

...then you would "Click/tap on the Create a local account button, and go to step 18C below."


However, for what you are wanting, I would do what alphanumeric posted above instead. Otherwise, you could just give the local account a generic user name without a password so the new user can modify themselves later.

Thanks for reply Brink. Its all a bit complicated. I think I'll bottle it and go for something like

username : mypc
password : 1234

at least today I've learned about OOBE and custom images.

Yeah, it would be nice to have those options easily available to use while setting up Windows instead.

An animation I did a while back inspired by the Windows 8 spinning balls (1080p).

[video=youtube;v4aXXV8JkZ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4aXXV8JkZ0&feature=youtu.be[/video]