Elon Musk just found out they can't install Windows 11 without MSA and is having none of it

Those who regularly follow Neowin or Windows news, in general, are likely aware of the requirements like MSA (Microsoft Account) or an internet connection when setting up a new Windows 11 PC (via the Out of Box Experience or OOBE). However, not everyone may be well versed about these and sometimes it can also be high-profile figures in the tech space itself.

Twitter (now X) owner Elon Musk apparently bought a new laptop and was surprised, in a bad way, to find that they could not install Windows 11 on their new PC without an MSA. Needless to say, they did not appear too thrilled about it.

Musk expressed their disapproval of this requirement via their official X handle stating that it gives Microsoft's AI (Copilot) access to user data.

Responding to one of the replies on the same thread, they labeled this particular requirement as "not cool":

If you want a recall of how it all came to be, like many new changes, Microsoft first started test-driving the MSA requirement in a Windows 11 Insider build back in February of 2022, and expanded that to Insiders as well later on in the year.

Neowin published a guide on how to bypass the MSA requirement, alongside some other ones like the one that works around the internet check (the previous one we published may no longer work).

It is also possible to use third-party software utilities with popular ones like Rufus, or Ventoy, as well as a little less popular ones like WinToUSB.

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