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Prepare and install Windows

  1. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool
  2. Download the Windows USB and DVD Download Tool
  3. Have a USB drive ready with more than 4GB of space that can be formatted and fully erased
  4. Run the Windows USB and DVD Download Tool and follow the guided setup to prepare the USB media
  5. Back up your files and folders, browser bookmarks, videos, audio files or any files you may value to another separate USB drive or cloud drives before proceeding as the next steps will erase entire hard drives
  6. Disconnect your Ethernet cable from the back of your computer for the first install
  7. Restart your computer and boot from the USB drive you created with Windows USB and DVD Download Tool
    • You might need to change the Boot Order in the BIOS or enter the Boot Selection menu after restarting (Each BIOS is different)
  8. After booting into the Installation process, Choose your Language settings then press Install Now.
  9. Enter your Activation Key if you have one, otherwise choose I don't have a product key
  10. On the screen where it asks What type of installation do you want?, Choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)
  11. Assuming you have a single disk (HDD/SSD) in the computer and no other disk in the system, for each disk present on the screen choose Delete until all the space is unallocated.
  12. Press Next and Windows may indicate it will create other required partitions automatically
  13. Continue through the rest of the guided setup process, if installing Windows 11 use the following process to do an offline local user account installation.
    1. Press Shift and F10 together to open a command prompt
2. Change your directory to C:\Windows\System32\oobe
3. Run C:\Windows\System32\oobe\BypassNRO.cmd
Your computer will apply a registry setting and automatically restart so you can continue an offline installation.

Note: Many features will be disabled after the installation if you choose to use Powershell Desired State Configuration (DSC) in this guide, otherwise select the options you prefer out of box.