[SOLVED] Bypassing Network Connection Check in Windows 11 Command Line

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Background

When performing a fresh installation of Windows 11 (using the 2023H2 version as an example in this article), a network connection is required to complete the configuration.

However, some devices (such as the new Lenovo ThinkPad X7 laptop) do not have pre-installed wireless network card or Ethernet card drivers, resulting in an inability to connect to the network (as shown in the image).

At this point, there are two possible solutions:

Use the command line to bypass the internet connection and perform an offline installation (install drivers through the graphical interface after installation is complete)

Load wireless or wired drivers during the installation process (this is clearly more challenging, as you can't use the graphical interface during installation, and some manufacturers don't provide .inf versions of drivers, only .exe installation packages).

Most people will first try to bypass the restriction, but there's a critical issue.

Problem Description

Press Shift+F10 on the keyboard (some devices may require the Fn key as well) to open the command prompt window (cmd.exe).

At this point, we attempt to input certain commands to bypass the network connection requirement. However, we can't input anything, as if the keyboard has stopped working.

Cause Analysis

This is due to a bug in Windows 11 that prevents the command prompt window from gaining focus.

Solution

The key step is here:

Press Alt+Tab on the keyboard (sometimes multiple times) to switch focus to the command prompt window (the window title bar will show a selected effect).

Next, you should be able to type the necessary commands (such as the oobe\bypassnro command (case-insensitive) to bypass the network connection prompt) and press Enter.

You will see the newly added option to bypass the network connection. The problem is solved! 🎉

References

Thanks to Reddit user SteveRealm for their generous sharing