Question Windows 11 forces me to login with some random IT organization's email.

[Myronazz]

Today, I tried to install Windows 11 on a used Dell laptop I bought from eBay.

After the USB finished installing and the setup restarted to OOBE, it demanded that I connect to a WiFi network. So I did this and next thing I knew, the company name of some random IT organization pops up. Worse, Windows demanded that I enter a Microsoft account registered to their name or else I can't continue.

I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Presumably, this was an ex-business laptop owned by that organization, and Microsoft recognizes it upon signing into the cloud.

I managed to bypass it by re-installing all over again and forcing OOBE to skip the WiFi part. But I'm still a little weirded out. Should I be aware of something? Now that the laptop has a local account and fresh install of Windows, is there any link remaining between my laptop and this organization?

Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

Today, I tried to install Windows 11 on a used Dell laptop I bought from eBay.

After the USB finished installing and the setup restarted to OOBE, it demanded that I connect to a WiFi network. So I did this and next thing I knew, the company name of some random IT organization pops up. Worse, Windows demanded that I enter a Microsoft account registered to their name or else I can't continue.

I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Presumably, this was an ex-business laptop owned by that organization, and Microsoft recognizes it upon signing into the cloud.

I managed to bypass it by re-installing all over again and forcing OOBE to skip the WiFi part. But I'm still a little weirded out. Should I be aware of something? Now that the laptop has a local account and fresh install of Windows, is there any link remaining between my laptop and this organization?

Thanks.

For ANY used system, your first move needs to be a full wipe and reinstall of the OS and everything else.

Not a simple 'reset'....but full wipe and reinstall from an OS obtained directly from Microsoft.


You bought some ex-corporate system.

 

[USAFRet]

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[The_Prophecy]

Sounds to me like that system is enrolled to that organization via Intune / Autopilot. A full wipe - while still a very good idea - won't necessarily fix the issue, as each time it goes online during OOBE it will check to see if it is part of an organization. The org that this machine belonged to previously needs to remove the device in question from their Intune/Autopilot tenant. Seems that didn't get cleared (or at least didn't get cleared properly) before the system was sold.

 

[ubuysa]

Sounds to me like that system is enrolled to that organization via Intune / Autopilot. A full wipe - while still a very good idea - won't necessarily fix the issue, as each time it goes online during OOBE it will check to see if it is part of an organization. The org that this machine belonged to previously needs to remove the device in question from their Intune/Autopilot tenant. Seems that didn't get cleared (or at least didn't get cleared properly) before the system was sold.

Which makes me wonder whether the laptop was sold by the company or whether it was stolen and resold? How much do you trust the person from whom you bought it?