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Can't take a Windows 11 Home PC out of S Mode

I have several brand new Lenovo laptops running Windows 11 in S Mode. I want to place all of these laptops into normal mode. They all have an Intel i3 13 gen processor.

I was successful getting one of them out of S mode and into normal mode.

- Under settings, system, activation, choosing the option to get out of S Mode leads you to the Microsoft store and to choose "Get". When choosing "Get", I see a message "Working on it" and it doesn't move from there. This is happening on several brand-new laptops that I tried to place in normal mode

- I'm finding that this has never been an issue in Windows 10. It is a big issue in Windows 11. I spoke to Microsoft and they are consistently flooded with calls running into issues with Windows 11 and getting out of S mode

- I tried several options such as "wsreset.exe" and restarting the windows update service - to no avail

- the only option Microsoft has is to reset your PC. That's always their answer in first level support. So, thats what I did on several of laptops. This time, I started to set up and before installing any updates, I created a new user account but this time I used a separate email account for each install. I believe there is an issue if you use the same email account for separate installs. Microsoft could not confirm.

- all PC resets allowed me to get out of S Mode. When I completed the install, I then used credential manager to remove the email address I used to setup the laptop.

- many times when I set up a laptop, I prefer not to use the end-users email address, especially if it's an AOL account or any other non-Microsoft account. I prefer using a local account and then if they purchase Microsoft 365, I'll link their Microsoft 365 email account. It's what I've always done and it works well for me.

Anyway, I'm providing more information than you really need here.

Just my thoughts

- in Windows 11, the only way to even set up your computer is to have Internet and you must use an email account. You cannot create a local account as the initial account. At least Windows 10 allows you to whom create a local account if you didn't have Internet.

No one will ever convince me of any benefits running a PC in S Mode. To me and from all of my experience, all S Mode really is, is to get users to purchase from the Microsoft store - its just a Microsoft money making gimmick.

Does anyone else have any thoughts and/or workable solutions when you can't place a PC output of S Mode and into normal mode? Any feedback would be appreciated

arnold

The following explains thinks to do.
Windows key + i updated and security...

https://www.uubyte.com/blog/what-is-windows-11-s-mode-the-good-bad-and-tutorial/

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CompProbSolv

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nobus

here a nice article for setting up a local account : How to set up Windows 11 without a Microsoft account | Windows Central

** i usually disconnect the lan cable when i setup a new pc

rindi

As mentioned above, you can setup the OS with a non existing E-Mail address, then you can setup a normal Local Admin account rather than the M$ Admin account.

The Default installation using M$ accounts is then usually also the one used by the user for everyday work, & in my point of view Admin accounts should never be used by anyone for everyday work. There should always be a separate Admin account & a standard account that will be used by the user. The Admin account should only be used if UAC pops up & asks for it, or logon to the Admin account directly for the few tasks that UAC can't handle.

Are these laptops being used in a business environment? If yes, the Question arises why you are getting laptops that have a home version of Windoze installed in the first place? If you intend to upgrade to pro, just get the upgrade keys & enter that new key in the Activation place. As S mode is only available for the Home versions of Windoze, you'll be out of that mode once the Professional Version is setup.

serialband

You can install Windows 11 with a local account when you start without internet.

Windows Home editions for work means someone's being cheap and have usually also bought lower end laptops. The i3 says it all. It probably has only 4 GB or 8GB RAM This may seem cheap short term but will end up costing more long term. Usually, this is done by non-IT people or very inexperienced IT people.

Andreas Gieryic

ASKER

These laptops are being used by salespeople who are out in the field. All we need is PowerPoint for PP presentations. The users already have a Microsoft 365 subscription. We dont want to use Chromebooks, which would be cheaper. We do don't want to use Microsoft apps. The laptops were priced well. This has worked well in Windows 10

I really wanted to keep the focus on S Mode issues with Windows 11 and not how cheap someone thinks the business may be.

CompProbSolv

Have you tried the "clean" installation from a USB stick? It shouldn't take very long and has additional benefits of only having the applications that you actually want.