10 Pro Asks For Company Login After Clean Install in OOBE

St0iK 1

Hi, I bought a few used 10 Pro Dell desktops and laptops during a liquidation sale from a business to refurbish and resell, but after resetting or clean install if I connect to internet during initial setup (OOBE) it says Welcome to XYZ Company please sing in with your company email address.

Laptops came with 10 Pro so I can't enter a different key during installation.

How can I remove this? A clean install on brand new ssd doesn't change this as the 10 pro key is in the UEFI/BIOS.

If I don't connect to internet during OOBE, I can set up with a local account with no issue, but incase whoever uses it wants to reset it, I don't want to have problems in the future.

If the pc is connected to the company's Azure or something, then I don't want them to be able to lock it or remotely wipe it or do anything else with the device.

I believe the company was bought out so there's nobody there who would be willing to help.

Steve Graham 6 Reputation points

2022-03-31T19:12:46.077+00:00
I just went through this with a machine that was previously connected to Azure AD.

The issue is that the computer was previously part of Azure Autopilot. In order to regain control of the equipment, the hardware hash of the machine must be deleted from the autopilot database by the company. Once that is complete you will be able to install windows as normal (I just completed this process on my equipment).

To find your hardware hash ID you can run the following code in an elevated PowerShell window.

> NOTE: I had the ability to login using my current company credentials to get this information. You obviously don't have that luxury. I would suggest contacting the company and provide them with as much system information as possible; any hardware serial numbers or asset tags on the machine.

New-Item -Type Directory -Path "C:\HWID" Set-Location -Path "C:\HWID" $env:Path += ";C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts" Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned Install-Script -Name Get-WindowsAutoPilotInfo Get-WindowsAutoPilotInfo -OutputFile AutoPilotHWID.csv

I know this is only partially helpful because it requires a functioning version of windows to get the information. However, at least this is an explanation of why it's happening, and hopefully gives some non-obvious direction on how to resolve it.

Here's link to the source material for that code:
https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/mem/autopilot/add-devices#powershell
Thomas LaBeff 1 Reputation point

2022-12-12T18:28:28.69+00:00

You actually helped me figure it out by mentioning the internet. I made sure my drive was erased, and didn't connect to the internet until Windows 10 was fully installed. It worked great!
Ej Lawrence 1 Reputation point

2022-12-17T06:26:14.02+00:00

i am unfortunately in the same boat, “refurbished” hp elitebook from a defunct company. i see where you were able to complete setup as long as you waited to connect to the internet until after setup. i was able to do the same, and even was able to log in and connect and download firefox, but then at some point got a pop up that said “THIS COMPUTER IS PROPERTY OF XYZ COMPANY” “if you think this is in error contact xyz@mathieu.company .com”. did you deal with this as well? or do you have any other solutions?

6 answers

Balbir Kaur 5 Reputation points

2023-12-09T20:28:18.4633333+00:00

Use win 10 home and it will be good to go. Better spend $60 then lose a $1000 PC
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1 person found this answer helpful.
LanghorneComputers 0 Reputation points

2024-02-19T19:13:23.32+00:00

Windows 10 Home install solves the issue. I cloned a windows 10 home computer and then installed the ssd. Worked great. It even auto activated 10 home. You can also use windows creation tool: Use on a win10home computer, and leave check box checked when it asked "use recommened settings" for this pc. This created the flashdrive with only win10 home.
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Limitless Technology 39,661 Reputation points

2021-09-02T10:48:32.363+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

Its seems that its OEM machine,

Method : 1
old down the shift key on your keyboard while clicking the Power button on the screen.

Continue to hold down the shift key while clicking Restart.

Continue to hold down the shift key until the Advanced Recovery Options menu appears.

Click Troubleshoot

Click Reset this PC

Click Remove Everything

Fully clean the drive

Click Reset

Set up with a local account and sign in.

Method 2:
I would like to suggest you download and Install Windows 10 ISO using media creation tool and make it bootable and do the clean installation.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10

If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer.
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St0iK 1 Reputation point

2021-09-02T16:07:36.47+00:00

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I have put in a brand new ssd and did a clean install of windows. I've downgraded to Home from registry, then did a reset with cloud download and I was back to square one, with it reverting back to Pro.
I have done everything multiple times.

RTMG 1 Reputation point

2022-03-25T15:12:20.277+00:00

We're you able to find a solution I'm in the same boat here and totally stumped

Dylan Rinck 0 Reputation points

2023-08-18T02:37:46.8133333+00:00

Indispensable knowledge, worked for me
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DMR 1 Reputation point

2022-03-30T12:27:12.133+00:00

Hello , im in the same thing here, any solution to this?
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RTMG 1 Reputation point

2022-03-30T23:34:36.703+00:00

after spending few days trying to figure this out I've come to the conclusion the serial # for the computers are registered on the Azure cloud and only the IT department from the particular company can remove them
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Ray Park 1 Reputation point

2022-06-30T14:57:11.773+00:00

To take this and throw it a curve - I didn't get my machine as a refurb.
We bought these new in 2016.

I work in a school - Every year, we have one or more faculty members leave - at which point we do a Windows 10 reset and prepare the laptop for the new incoming faculty member. This year is no different. I reset 4 of these laptops - all sitting side by side. 3 of them went through the normal windows setup routine - but 1 now is welcoming me to The Kipp Foundation and requires me to use an authorized account to continue setup.

I looked at the Preinstalled OS License in the BIOS on 9 of these machines - all of them are SDK******** WIN except for the one that is in question and it is ******* PRO.

This computer will be needed in a couple of weeks - How do I correct this problem and why did this happen.

Thanks
Ray
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Computer Technician 0 Reputation points

2023-06-11T19:27:40.42+00:00

This happened most likely because, at some point (even at the factory), the motherboard was replaced. Possibly a prior tech at your location was able to get the initial setup done, working around the issue and/or whoever last set it up, first did the setup with NO Internet access - then it would, in theory, complete a normal setup. And then, when you did a "full reset," you likely are connected to the LAN + Internet, so it sees the motherboard as having the Intune Autopilot info and/or Mobo HW ID as belonging to XYZ company. I'm in the same boat, and have yet to wipe out the AutoPilot registry entries - this may help resolve it. It's very easy to hit Shift-F10 when you're prompted to "Please sign in as XYZ company" - then you have command-prompt, and you possibly can elevate cmd prompt to 'run as administrator' or 'remove' UAC and reboot; then you'll auto-magically be in admin mode for any cmd prompt. Any time you're stuck, from CMD prompt, you can type "control" and press Enter & it will open control panel. You can then "alt-tab" between all windows on the device you're setting up. Similarly, you can run "msedge" from the c:\program files (x86)\Microsoft ... folder - find the 'msedge.exe' and run it. Similarly, from CMD prompt, you can type "explorer" and it will pop up the familiar GUI "File Explorer" and it opens a world of possibilities. And you can run "taskmgr.exe" to get to task manager. Anyway, also from CMD elevated prompt, you can type "regedit" and go "Find" that XYZ company name in the registry - and you'll see a bunch of Autopilot registry entries. Clearly, there are also some "oobe" (out of box experience) registry entries as well - I've found some of those so, with all the amazing talent on here, someone (MICROSOFT?) should be able to tell us: What registry entries can we use to completely bypass the OOBE? But my next step is to try to finish oobe setup without Internet & see if I get further. If not, I'll toy with the AutoPilot & oobe settings. Bottom line: I had motherboard replaced, and the "certain large company" technician did not do his/her job - they did not fully reset the image and/or BIOS and/or other settings, to make the motherboard and/or installed image NOT OWNED by a previous company - a VERY LARGE company!

Computer Technician 0 Reputation points

2023-06-11T19:44:41.5833333+00:00

Also, what would help tremendously and save us a lot of "Googling" is for you to say exactly how you checked the 'preinstalled BIOS licenses.'
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Computer Technician 0 Reputation points

2023-06-11T19:38:56.7833333+00:00

I'm posting the below as a partial answer, since I believe this is the scenario: mobo gets replaced, new image, but not everything is properly reset as it should be.

This happened most likely because, at some point (even at the factory), the motherboard was replaced. Possibly a prior tech at your location was able to get the initial setup done, working around the issue and/or whoever last set it up, first did the setup with NO Internet access - then it would, in theory, complete a normal setup. And then, when you did a "full reset," you likely are connected to the LAN + Internet, so it sees the motherboard as having the Intune Autopilot info and/or Mobo HW ID as belonging to XYZ company. I'm in the same boat, and have yet to wipe out the AutoPilot registry entries - this may help resolve it. It's very easy to hit Shift-F10 when you're prompted to "Please sign in as XYZ company" - then you have command-prompt, and you possibly can elevate cmd prompt to 'run as administrator' or 'remove' UAC and reboot; then you'll auto-magically be in admin mode for any cmd prompt. Any time you're stuck, from CMD prompt, you can type "control" and press Enter & it will open control panel. You can then "alt-tab" between all windows on the device you're setting up. Similarly, you can run "msedge" from the c:\program files (x86)\Microsoft ... folder - find the 'msedge.exe' and run it. Similarly, from CMD prompt, you can type "explorer" and it will pop up the familiar GUI "File Explorer" and it opens a world of possibilities. And you can run "taskmgr.exe" to get to task manager. Anyway, also from CMD elevated prompt, you can type "regedit" and go "Find" that XYZ company name in the registry - and you'll see a bunch of Autopilot registry entries. Clearly, there are also some "oobe" (out of box experience) registry entries as well - I've found some of those so, with all the amazing talent on here, someone (MICROSOFT?) should be able to tell us: What registry entries can we use to completely bypass the OOBE? But my next step is to try to finish oobe setup without Internet & see if I get further. If not, I'll toy with the AutoPilot & oobe settings. Bottom line: I had motherboard replaced, and the "certain large company" technician did not do his/her job - they did not fully reset the image and/or BIOS and/or other settings, to make the motherboard and/or installed image NOT OWNED by a previous company - a VERY LARGE company!
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Computer Technician 0 Reputation points

2023-06-11T19:49:29.2633333+00:00

Adding to this some more info: Nobody mentioned that you possibly can do some "dsregcmd" commands to see if your device shows up as 'azure-registered' or 'azure-joined,' etc. And you can "force leave" Azrue: 1. dsregcmd /status 2. dsregcmd.exe /debug /leave 3. dsregcmd /leave /force"

Computer Technician 0 Reputation points

2023-06-11T19:53:56.54+00:00

Found this also - I saw my image has "Defaultuser0"
So, i found "Autopilot known issues"
https://video2.skills-academy.com/en-us/mem/autopilot/known-issues

DefaultuserX profile not deleted

When you use the EnableWebSignIn CSP, the defaultuserX profile may not be deleted. This CSP isn't currently supported. It's in preview mode only and not recommended for production purposes at this time.

Just wondering... maybe kill that "DefaultuserX" profile

Laticslomugy 0 Reputation points

2023-09-14T10:28:52.97+00:00

I had the same problem with a Dell Precision 7530 I bought second hand. If TL;TR go to THE SOLUTION down below.

Tried every tip I could gather on google, mostly on laptop manufacturer's and Microsoft's forums. I couldn't solve this puzzle. Every time I wanted to make a clean install of Win10, I got the "trying to connect to Microsoft" and then "something happened, reconnecting..." messages. You can bypass it either with the Ctrl+Shift+F3 combo to get the Admin login state with OOBE, or get a CMD with Shift+F10. After going through OOBE-reboot, I ended up with the "login to your XYZ company" screen. If I added a user it did not behave like a clean install first admin-rights user, that you can add on welcome screen. My Win10-debloat script was not running the same way, wasn't working properly.

I tried:

Limitless technology's "shift key while clicking Restart" reset computer solution.

Permanently disabling Absolute/Computrace in BIOS.

Clearing all TMP 2.0 keys, then disabling TMP in BIOS.

Flashing BIOS with manufacturers official BIOS.

Switching out the SSD it came with.

And other tips.
Nothing worked.

THE SOLUTION was, to put the laptop's SSD into another laptop or PC, that doesn't have this issue. Install Win10 Pro N, to the point of creating first user after Welcome screen, boot into Windows, then shut it down. Put the SSD back to the problematic laptop, and eureka, it booted up properly. After connected to the internet, activation also worked by clicking Troubleshoot on Activation settings screen. And it used the laptops own activation key, I did not need to use my own Win10 key. Debloat script executed. Actually, it is not a solution, it is a workaround.
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10 Pro Asks For Company Login After Clean Install in OOBE

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