How to Disable Microsoft Nags to Update Windows 8.1 [to buy a new computer]

[c627627]

I knew, I just knew that Microsoft would pull something like this today.

I made a drive image just before installing the last final Tuesday Patch today for Windows 8.1 and sure as $#&% Microsoft immediately, on first final update Reboot displays a Blue Screen of Death Reminder making sure that I remember that my PC will explode if I don't buy a NEW COMPUTER and install Windows 11 on a NEW COMPUTER.
No mention of Windows 10 by the way.

Microsoft threatens to "remind" me every three months of my Windows 8.1 heresy.


Eventually, I hope we can figure out how to permanently disable these threats. If not, I have my last month's OS partition drive image, but everyone else using Windows 8.1, starting today if you install the final Windows 8.1 Update, you are signing up for perma-nag reminders to buy a new computer and install Windows 11.

 

[c627627]

Mmm-kay

* Start > type in: Task Scheduler
> [upper left] Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Setup > Right click on EOSNotify > Disable
> Right click on EOSNotify2 > Disable
> File > Exit

[Or else you will get a Microsoft Nag to update to Windows 11 every three months.]

 

[Woomack]

MS is very annoying recently. I understand they will drop the support for "old" OS, and new hardware can be skipped in all updates. It still doesn't mean that users want to see announcements all the time.
On the other hand, I wonder why you stay with Win 8.1 when Win 10 is so much better in pretty much everything, and the update is free.

Btw. you get announcements on Win10 or Win11 because of various things too. On Win11 it's every couple of days when you don't use a Microsoft user account. I don't get that. It's my PC, and I want to use a local account, so why do they force me to use an MS account?
One more thing I found out the hard way in the last few days. You won't install Win11 without internet access using a standard ISO anymore. The PC I was installing it had too new network adapters and no drivers in the OS, so Win11 couldn't find any network. They removed the "I don't have internet access" button in the last releases, so there is no other way to skip it and finish the OS installation. Good that I had an old ISO where you could skip everything.

 

[JLK03F150]

On Win11 it's every couple of days when you don't use a Microsoft user account.

@c627627 here's your next assignment. I'm not using Win11 anywhere yet, but I always use local accounts an sure don't want that nag.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I need to see if the process is the same for Win10, reminding to update to Win11.

 

[JLK03F150]

I need to see if the process is the same for Win10, reminding to update to Win11.

I have TPM disabled in BIOS so my Gamer doesn't meet the requirement for Win11 = no nag to upgrade.
That's the only PC I have that meets Win11 hardware spec.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I have TPM disabled in BIOS so my Gamer doesn't meet the requirement for Win11 = no nag to upgrade.
That's the only PC I have that meets Win11 hardware spec.

Good info, thanks

 

[c627627]

On the other hand, I wonder why you stay with Win 8.1 when Win 10 is so much better in pretty much everything, and the update is free.

Womack, I stayed on Windows 8 the entirety of Windows 10 cycle because I love setting things up just like I like them to be. Every front is just so, every program I need and use is customized, every icon customized.

Windows 10 does not update, Windows 10 REINSTALLS itself.

Windows 10 hoses all your customizations and settings with a major update, which is not an
update, it is a REINSTALL of the core of the operating system. Reinstalls are lethal to anyone who likes to customize.


Windows 8 does not have forced updates, and they were available until 2023 for Windows 8, so it was a lie that we "had to" update Windows 8, we could have just skipped Windows 10 from the security point of the argument.
It is 2023 and I have all major 2023 security updates on my Windows 8 today, which WITH a 30 second Classic Shell install has a custom User Interface, not a forced UI, that they all have out of the box now.


There are two Windows 11 ISOs.
21H2 and 22H2. Are you saying 21H2 works with no internet access?
I have every Windows 10 ISO but foolishly forgot to get the 21H2 Windows 11.

Do you have the media creation tool file for Windows 11 21H2? Not 22H2.
I don't know who to trust on the internet for downloads of that.
EDIT: Nevermind, 22H2 will just hose any 21H2 customizations and force the Nag to use MS account.


I even have Windows XP installed on my PC [they said it was impossible - it wasn't], so when I buy a new computer next year or so, I'm sure I'll figure out how to install Windows 8 on it and multi boot it with Windows 10 and Windows 11 without MS account.

 

[repo man11]

Moving my mother from Windows XP to Windows 7 was traumatic for everyone involved, and I hoped that Windows 7 would last long enough so that it wouldn't be necessary to move her to another operating system; since she was in very poor health it seemed likely that it wouldn't be an issue. When Windows 7 support ended in January of 2020, it wouldn't have been a big deal except they did their best to scare people into upgrading by sending a message about how Windows 7 would no longer be secure. And it worked! My poor eighty year old mother called me in a complete panic about how her banking information would be stolen, blah blah blah, so I had to get over there and upgrade her computer to Windows 10 as soon as I could. And it was all for nothing, she passed away three months later. But for that scary message from MS, I could have reassured her that it would be fine for quite a long time, but there was money to be made (I guess, though the upgrade was still free?). Three years later I'm still angry about it.

 

[c627627]

The money to be made is in telemetry gathered by Windows 10, personal usage data which is more profitable to Microsoft than charging for the OS itself.
That is why they were "giving" Windows 10 away "for free."

 

[c627627]

@c627627 here's your next assignment. I'm not using Win11 anywhere yet, but I always use local accounts an sure don't want that nag.

Try this on Windows 11 22H2 or later:

Physically disconnect internet. Do not enter any product keys. Do a custom Install.


On the "Oops, you've lost internet connection" or "Let's connect you to a network" page, use the Shift + F10 keyboard shortcut.

In Command Prompt, type the OOBE\BYPASSNRO command to bypass network requirements on Windows 11 and press Enter.

The computer will restart automatically.
You will need to select the region and keyboard settings one more time to get to the network connection page.

Click on "I don't have internet" > “Continue with limited setup”

 

[Woomack]

There are two Windows 11 ISOs.
21H2 and 22H2. Are you saying 21H2 works with no internet access?
I have every Windows 10 ISO but foolishly forgot to get the 21H2 Windows 11.

I'm not sure which version of ISO it was but the one from August 2022 works fine.
Media creation is downloading the latest version. MS website has only the latest ISO.

 

[c627627]

Well, next time try the trick in the post above yours and tell us if it installed latest Windows 11 ISO without internet.

I think it can be done.

 

[c627627]

This is for my brothers and sisters on ocforums. This is very useful because it allows you to download *any* version of Windows.


This thread is going so well, because EarthDog is not posting in it, please no one tell him it exists.

===================


Microsoft does not allow you to download any older version of Windows 11, you may only download the latest ISO of Windows 11.
Though there is a workaround to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account, only the 2021 version of Windows 11 has a CLICKABLE option to install Windows 11 without an internet connection.

To download older Windows 11 version 21H2 [or any version], use Rufus software from

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Start Rufus > Settings [which is the third icon on lower left] > Check for updates: SELECT Daily (Default) > Close

Under Boot selection, SELECT: Disk or ISO image

Now click on the down arrow next to SELECT and change SELECT to DOWNLOAD.

Now click on the word DOWNLOAD > (You may need to click on DOWNLOAD again to see) Windows 11 > Continue >
Release: 21H2 v1 (Build 22000.318 - 2021.11) > Continue > You may change the Language to English (United States) > Continue > Download.


Rufus software was tested to be able to download the older Windows 11 ISO under Windows 10 in January 2023.
Rufus was tested *not* to able to download this ISO under Windows 8.1, so the download option does not work under Windows 8.1.
Rufus is reliable, safe and in wide use.

 

[EarthDog]

This thread is going so well, because EarthDog is not posting in it, please no one tell him it exists.

 

[stompah]

This is for my brothers and sisters on ocforums. This is very useful because it allows you to download *any* version of Windows.


This thread is going so well, because EarthDog is not posting in it, please no one tell him it exists.

===================


Microsoft does not allow you to download any older version of Windows 11, you may only download the latest ISO of Windows 11.
Though there is a workaround to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account, only the 2021 version of Windows 11 has a CLICKABLE option to install Windows 11 without an internet connection.

To download older Windows 11 version 21H2 [or any version], use Rufus software from

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Start Rufus > Settings [which is the third icon on lower left] > Check for updates: SELECT Daily (Default) > Close

Under Boot selection, SELECT: Disk or ISO image

Now click on the down arrow next to SELECT and change SELECT to DOWNLOAD.

Now click on the word DOWNLOAD > (You may need to click on DOWNLOAD again to see) Windows 11 > Continue >
Release: 21H2 v1 (Build 22000.318 - 2021.11) > Continue > You may change the Language to English (United States) > Continue > Download.


Rufus software was tested to be able to download the older Windows 11 ISO under Windows 10 in January 2023.
Rufus was tested *not* to able to download this ISO under Windows 8.1, so the download option does not work under Windows 8.1.
Rufus is reliable, safe and in wide use.

I was able to download a non current version of Windows 10 by downloading from my Android phone. Not sure if using non Windows OS will still allow you to download older ISOs.

Once easy anti cheat works on Linux I'm out. Way too much hassle being a Windows user nowadays.



I had to LOL at the Windows 10 reinstalls itself... So true and so sad.

 

[MisterEd]

Try this on Windows 11 22H2 or later:

Physically disconnect internet. Do not enter any product keys. Do a custom Install.


On the "Oops, you've lost internet connection" or "Let's connect you to a network" page, use the Shift + F10 keyboard shortcut.

In Command Prompt, type the OOBE\BYPASSNRO command to bypass network requirements on Windows 11 and press Enter.

The computer will restart automatically.
You will need to select the region and keyboard settings one more time to get to the network connection page.

Click on "I don't have internet" > “Continue with limited setup”

Those steps no longer work. However, it is easy to get around Windows 11's so called requirement to use a Microsoft account.

You must connect to the Internet. Do not enter any product keys. Do a custom Install. When it gets to this step...

Let's add your Microsoft account...just make one up. I entered the following:

Username: username
Password: password

Since this Microsoft account doesn't exist it comes back with:

"Oops, something went wrong"

Windows 11 then asks you to enter a username and password for a local account.

To make sure this still works I used the Media Creation Tool to download the latest ISO for Windows 11.
I then used Hyper-V to create virtual machines for Windows 11 Home and Pro.
The workaround worked fine. Both machine only have local accounts.

BTW, I just bought a new ASUS laptop a couple months ago. During the setup I used the same trick. The laptop only has a local account to log in.

 

[Woomack]

This is for my brothers and sisters on ocforums. This is very useful because it allows you to download *any* version of Windows.


This thread is going so well, because EarthDog is not posting in it, please no one tell him it exists.

===================


Microsoft does not allow you to download any older version of Windows 11, you may only download the latest ISO of Windows 11.
Though there is a workaround to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account, only the 2021 version of Windows 11 has a CLICKABLE option to install Windows 11 without an internet connection.

To download older Windows 11 version 21H2 [or any version], use Rufus software from

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

Start Rufus > Settings [which is the third icon on lower left] > Check for updates: SELECT Daily (Default) > Close

Under Boot selection, SELECT: Disk or ISO image

Now click on the down arrow next to SELECT and change SELECT to DOWNLOAD.

Now click on the word DOWNLOAD > (You may need to click on DOWNLOAD again to see) Windows 11 > Continue >
Release: 21H2 v1 (Build 22000.318 - 2021.11) > Continue > You may change the Language to English (United States) > Continue > Download.


Rufus software was tested to be able to download the older Windows 11 ISO under Windows 10 in January 2023.
Rufus was tested *not* to able to download this ISO under Windows 8.1, so the download option does not work under Windows 8.1.
Rufus is reliable, safe and in wide use.

I wanted to add some info about the latest Rufus version, but I noticed your post. It work nicely and there is one more thing. When you create a flash drive with the Win10/11 ISO then there are additional options like to disable all the questions from the first-boot configuration. It still asks for a user account and have to create that, but at least skips all other annoying things.