Pete DID!! A couple of years ago or so. Very extensive. Google it!
Here we go again 
Thanks! I will look into it. However a few years ago is light years in IT dev terms so it will need to be updated for 26Hx.
Use the guide or don’t use the guide. All the info is valid as of January 7 2026 imo.
I utilize the info for my custom clean install win11 pro Cubendo installs all the time. No spies in the house
I always create a local acct as it’s my preference….which…..is not a hidden step in the least. I’m on 25H2.
The guide is here. Still applies to current Windows 11. There are a couple small things I’d add to it (like set power settings to “best performance” in Settings app, not the old control panel, and some folks have found the interrupt affinity tool useful when they had unresolvable conflicts with GPU drivers)
FWIW, the background services changed removed almost certainly had no performance impact.
As to the rest, entirely your call, although the reasons data leaves your PC from the OS (when you have diagnostics set to minimal) are more about getting early reports of bugs (we’ve shared aggregated info about trending crashes with DAW partners who had no idea they had crashes in the wild) than anything else other than keeping the PC and preinstalled apps and virus/malware signatures up to date.
We don’t make money off that collected info. But yes, if you buy more OneDrive space or do Bing searches from the shell, that can be different. I wouldn’t classify any of this as spying, but given how strong opinions are here, based on reliable information or not, I’m not going to die on that hill.
Agreed there are some shell annoyances that you may want to turn off. They don’t impact PC performance, but are far less helpful for musicians than for, say, general users.
And as for trusting a corporation: Agreed. You should never implicitly trust any publicly traded corporation blindly. But that doesn’t mean all these various guides and videos and hyped-up YouTuber videos are factual.
Pete
Microsoft
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We have made it harder to create a local account. I’m not personally a fan of that continued change and recommend folks use a tool like Rufus to install Windows if they prefer to use a local account.
Pete
Microsoft
I guess it’s how one defines hard/difficult.
I have no issue with beginning a clean install via a hotmail address, and upon completion, it’s super easy via windows prompts to switch to local in a couple of clicks…and then continue my buildout.
I also live dangerously anyway. uac completely disabled, instant start (hey, like dos 6.22 no password, login etc ) , online only to get manufacturer updates, don’t care about much of anything related to security…although I do use defender simply because it’s built in. It never finds any issue anyway
All I really pay atention to are my backups, redundant backups, and condition of my zillions of onsite/offsite nvme drives. And performance.
I realize some people have issue with not being able to BEGIN an install “as” local…. but…personally….I have no time for those opinions. Don’t care
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I’m in the habit of reinstalling everything every 18 months or so. (Because reasons.)
Last October I was going to reinstall Win 10, but thought, Sod it, give Win 11 another chance (the third).
Not wanting to use an MS account (I use one for Visual Studio), I simply unplugged my PC from the internet (I use an ethernet cable plugged into the router).
During the setup, the part about setting up an MS account was skipped.
Win 11 lasted about 5 days before I wiped it and started again with Win 10. Same procedure.
As usual, YMMV.
There was a rant here about Win 11 but, caring for the sanity of my readers, I deleted it.
I believe …believe….the unplug-the-internet thing no longer lets one proceed. I tried that a year or so ago, but don’t remember the details other than I quickly thought “screw it, I’ll use a hotmail”
This was three months ago. So, who knows!
Last time I set up a disconnected test VM, the no-internet thing didn’t work, but there was a way to set up “for work or school” in setup, and then use a local account from there. I don’t recall the exact steps.
Win11: I get it. Some folks don’t like it for reasons. There’s a team in my org in Windows working on removing or dialing back many of those papercuts.
FWIW, the new MIDI stack is coming only to supported Windows 11 installs this quarter (I have no way of deploying to unsupported versions), so if you use MIDI a lot, and want things like multi-client (more than one app using the same ports) and built-in loopback, port / endpoint renaming, MIDI 2.0, etc., you’ll want to be on a supported Windows 11 version like 24h2, 25h2, or later. Similarly, the upcoming in-box USB Class 2 ASIO driver will be in supported Windows 11 versions only, when it releases (it’ll go to Windows Insider builds first).
Pete
Microsoft
Patiently waiting for Window 12… 
Just to follow-up, since I’m setting up a demo PC for NAMM and just went through this.
To use a local account from the start, choose the option to set up for school or work, and then the option to domain join.
You’ll then create a local account with name and password, as well as security questions.
This was the option I used for VM setup previously, but I couldn’t remember the steps exactly.
Pete
Microsoft
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Thanks for this.
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