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I bought a second-hand laptop which was supposed to be "factory reset" but when I booted it up it asked me to login as a specific person:

enter image description here

So I did a clean boot and had Windows reset itself - same login screen still came up.

Then I ran Windows setup from a fresh media creation USB stick and deleted all the HD partitions during install - same problem.

Next I ran a gparted boot from USB and wiped all partitions using parted and wipefs (from here) - same problem.

I don't know what else to try. There is only one HDD/SDD in this laptop, where else could these login settings be stored?

How can I clear away this login information and get Windows to truly behave as a totally clean installation?

FYI I can return this laptop if nothing works, but avoiding that could save a lot of time. Plus at this point I'm curious how this works.

Update: I ended up returning it. I did try to login without a network at one point, but even that login screen looked to be non-standard (showing the same company name etc.) Ultimately I didn't trust this laptop would work reliably. Also as comments have suggested this is dodgy at best and could indicate stolen hardware. Best to steer clear.

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  • 10
    Return it. Quite possibly it is stolen.
    – Ian Kemp
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 21:45
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    Are you stuck with Windows? Other OSs would ignore this, though it would not fix the underlying problem, just hide it.
    – Criggie
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 22:18
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    "...I did try to login without a network at one point...". Returning isn't a bad choice, but to note that the suggestion wasn't to "login without a network" but to do the full reinstall from USB without network.
    – Yisroel Tech
    Commented May 12, 2023 at 12:54
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    @YisroelTech true. So my statement here should not be taken as authoritative in any way. It just got to be too time consuming to reinstall Windows so many times + the other factors as noted.
    – StayOnTarget
    Commented May 12, 2023 at 12:55

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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During the initial setup or Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) wizard, Windows establishes a connection with Microsoft services to verify if a PC is associated with Azure Active Directory (AAD) or has Windows Autopilot configured, among other possibilities. If any of these conditions are met, Windows will automatically initiate a reconfiguration process. (To identify the PC, a "hardware hash" from your device is utilized, although Microsoft has not officially disclosed the specific details of its composition.)

  • The real way to stop this, it must be released by the prior owner (or their company IT management) from their management control. Maybe ask the seller about it, as they (if they have the authorization and access) can do that on their end.
  • If you can't get it removed/reach them. Maybe try reinstalling without letting the machine connect to the network as part of the OOBE (Out-of-box experience). It is possible that once fully setup and logged in to Windows (without being connected) it won't then come back and reconfigure from the company provisioning.
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    So the original owner ("company name" in the screenshot) messed up when they sold this on without doing this first, I assume? I bought it from a refurbisher who presumably wiped it and reinstalled Windows but never actually booted it up to verify things.
    – StayOnTarget
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 14:20
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    They either messed up by forgetting to remove it, or they never actually authorized the sale... The question just is "what now". Maybe the seller still has a way to contact them/get it off their system, or else maybe the other workaround might help.
    – Yisroel Tech
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 14:31
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    Definitely try the "setup without a network" method.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 21:25
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    for what it's worth, changind the hard drive/SSD and/or RAM will not change the hardware hash, I know mobo replacement would do it but that's almost the whole PC.
    – htmlcoderexe
    Commented May 11, 2023 at 8:46
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    The invasive trusted computing platform is popping out again. I wonder what happens if the setup without a network works, but upon later connection to the network the system re-activates the remote backup and sends all the local data to the company server.
    – FluidCode
    Commented May 11, 2023 at 14:04

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