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Comment by mulakosag | Hacker News Reader

I have not used windows in a while but thinking of building a PC. Is there a way to install way older version of windows 10 without Microsoft's AI nonsense and the online account requirement?

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I just did it today with the current ISO you can download from Microsoft themselves. Then installed all the Windows updates, graphics drivers and even enrolled in the free extended security support. Then I just uninstalled Cortana and Copilot manually. Ezpz

Be warned that they employ extreme amounts of dark patterns to try and trick you into converting the offline account into an online one.

Online activation of the Windows license is separate from an online user account.

  > Be warned that they employ extreme amounts of dark patterns to try and trick you into converting the offline account into an online one.

This would be an extremely valuable comment if you would document that.

Were you able to enable extended security updates without logging in?

I've held out for literal years, but that was the thing that finally made me log into an online user account (and start figuring out how to finally cut the last bit of Windows out of my life)

Just pirate the updates with Massgrave.

Were you able to use the online activation system without a Microsoft account? I wasn't able to - though as you say, that account doesn't have to be tied to the license or an account on the machine being activated.

https://massgrave.dev/windows_ltsc_links

Just get Windows 10 LTSC from the pirate bay and install IOT version. It's an actually good version of Windows MS dont sell to normal people.

It's based on 20H2, so there's software that doesn't support it like Starfield.

I thought it worked just fine on LTSC 2021 (21H2)

I played starfield just fine on LTSC 2021.

If you're willing go through a little bit of trouble -- and it sounds like you are -- it's pretty easy to configure Windows 11 to look and act pretty much like Windows 7. You'd be hard pressed to tell what version of Windows I'm running if you gave it a cursory glance.

The main tool for me is https://www.startallback.com/

O2O Shutup ( https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10 ) is also pretty useful for disabling anything you don't like all in one place -- it doesn't even install.

I also found Winscript and Windhawk useful.

https://github.com/flick9000/winscript https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk

Only Aero, Classic theme not really.

Look into LTSC, and the resources at https://massgrave.dev/ .

Disclaimer: I have no personal knowledge of that site, but it is commonly recommended when this subject comes up.

I've heard that it is a way to reliably but potentially illegally activate MSFT products. Stay away.

Nah, it's been hosted by Microsoft for years, on Github for a decade, without as much as a takedown notice, 161k stars now, they don't mind.

https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

If they wanted it removed from GitHub they would have done so.

Hot take but legality is completely irrelevant for home use

If you're a midsize business with revenue, theoretically one of their enforcement partners may take a run at you, but this is not a thing with home users (or even most small business abuse).

I'd feel bad only if there were a legitimate way to acquire the LTSC for home use

It's possible, but it won't get security updates anymore.

Windows 10 is outdated, not recommended at all. Just install Win11 Enterprise and get your favorite LLM to give you instructions to remove the stuff you don't want, after like 15 minutes it will be totally cleaned for perpetuity.

Not recommended by whom? Win10 still works perfectly fine, has less bloatware, will be supported for a while, and probably won't get updates that just add useless AI and advertisements.

If someone wants/needs Windows, I would absolutely recommend windows 10 right now, it's probably the best time for using that version.

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