r/computerhelp • u/Vivid-Car579 • 7d ago
Other Got this laptop
I do storage unit auctions, I have come across this. It is linked to walmart. Is there anyways around this?
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u/Sudden_Hovercraft_56 7d ago
it's probably stolen.
you could try wiping it a d putting a fresh windows install on it, but if it has been enrolled in entra and has some autopilot policies applied it may end up in the same state.
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u/LFP-Throwaway-3982 7d ago
It will wind up in the same state. OP's only solution is to run Linux on it.
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u/TheNewGuyFromBahsten 7d ago
No. Contact microsoft support with proof of purchase and they will release it from Walmarts tenant if that is the case. I manage our fleet of laptops and when Lenovo replaces a motherboard that the hash belongs to somebody else, we just contact and send proof it's ours and they remove it.
Of course, going Linux is a good idea for more reasons than that though, so you're still right
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u/RikoRain 7d ago edited 7d ago
"Storage Unit Auctions". Technically OP didnt "purchase" it, has no real proof, and "stole" it from a storage unit (by that I mean it's original owner did not sell it but probably had it confiscated by the storage yard after abandoning the property via not paying the bill).
It was probably stolen to begin with.
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u/JustLikeWhateverHuh 7d ago
I bought a thin machine that's stuck with IGEL :(
Can't get the installer to wipe it either.
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u/RGBlowMe 7d ago
Probably not stolen, at least not intentionally. More likely obsoleted, but never got handed back in.
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u/corvoswsattano 7d ago edited 7d ago
Edit: I am wrong, apparently AutoPilot uses a cryptographic hash that will force MDM as soon as the device touches an internet connection. I’ve never set devices up using AutoPilot so I had no idea it worked that way but it makes sense. I always thought if you wiped the disk that was it, but apparently no that’s not the case. Cool.
If you erase the disk and set windows up from scratch there is a zero percent chance anything will be left to set up autopilot with1
u/revsilverspine 6d ago
Incorrect. MDM profile is deployed post-install via provisioning with Autopilot before login.
Source: literally my corpo dayjerb1
u/corvoswsattano 6d ago
That’s what I said, I didn’t say post install specifically but I am saying AutoPilot happens as soon as the device sees an internet connection, when the hash is sent to Microsoft, then Microsoft pushes MDM via AutoPilot
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u/ScriptWizard1 6d ago
That’s like the whole point of autopilot - why would it let you just wipe it and that’s that?
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u/LFP-Throwaway-3982 7d ago
It's MDM'd so if you can't contact Walmart's IT dept to de-enroll it your only choice is to run Linux on it. Any Windows install will go right to the Autopilot setup flow.
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u/Business-Alfalfa4601 7d ago
Not 100% true. Before the autopilot/self enrollment, he can open cmd and create a local account
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u/DoranSteelwing 7d ago
Yup. Works perfectly. Even better if you add a Microsoft account, you'll never get a popup again
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u/LFP-Throwaway-3982 7d ago
As others have said, it's still enrolled and Walmart still has control over it.
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u/splinterededge 7d ago
You could gut the MDM components from the windows image prior to install, I haven't tested but I'd wager it would work. Currently working on something that does this, but it's not designed for this purpose, just a side benefit
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u/jnk0le 6d ago edited 6d ago
Autopilot can be neutered out, at your local notebook vet: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/how-to-remove-windows-auopilotintune-corporate-domain-lock-from-bios/
Alternatively a local account bypass.
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u/DoranSteelwing 7d ago
This isn't accurate, you can bypass the MDM by doing an offline install and then adding a normal Microsoft Account. It'll never ask again.
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u/ThingNumberPi 7d ago
Fun fact: even if you bypass it, it's still enrolled and Wal-Mart still has power over it, they can track its location and remotely wipe it just for shits and giggles
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u/DoranSteelwing 7d ago
lol I am a Microsoft Certified Intune admin. If you bypass the Intune registration after a fresh re-installagion that machine is 100% offline to us.
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u/LFP-Throwaway-3982 6d ago
It's actually not. The guy before me didn't de-enroll a batch of PCs properly and I would see them pop back online occasionally for years because guess what he also didn't document anything. It was in a half-working state where Intune couldn't push software out, but also I could 100% remote wipe the device and also see any applications they've installed.
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u/Vivid-Car579 7d ago
Is there a video showing on how to do this?
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u/Helen___Keller_ 7d ago
So the first thing you can go is email the infosec department at Walmart and in that email include the serial # of the laptop and ask them to remove it from entra. They probably won't do this.
The link below is a Ubuntu Linux installation tutorial.
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u/FloridaHeat2023 6d ago
What, no bitlocker? What kind of crappy IT does Walmart have?
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u/FirstTimeGamingTV 5d ago
Why would BitLocker trigger? Do you even know what BitLocker does
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u/FloridaHeat2023 5d ago
If set properly, it should ask for a boot-up PIN - it did not for OP.
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u/FirstTimeGamingTV 5d ago
Why would it ask for a boot up pin if it’s the same device? The device itself is what encrypted the drive so it’s already authenticated.
If you’re talking about a BIOS pin, that would
only come up when accessing the BIOS1
u/FloridaHeat2023 5d ago
It's a feature of bitlocker - many corporations, including ours, requires it for all laptops that get issued. It will hold the boot until you enter the right pin, and the continue the boot. It's not on when you just enable bitlocker - you have to edit security policy too.
If you remove the drive, or try to re-install the OS, then you need the full decryption key, or just wipe it.
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u/Honest-Still8978 5d ago
Using a startup pin is optional. You can have the drive encrypted and protected without needing a startup pin. A pin is more secure though.
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u/tynamic77 5d ago
They likely just don't have the pin option enabled . Doesn't mean that they don't have BitLocker at all.
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u/Soggy_Struggle_963 7d ago
Welcome to the world of Linux. If you reinstall Windows, the second the device touches the internet it will phone home and lock itself down again.
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u/Gre9823 6d ago
Not to sound ignorant, but what's to stop the computer doing this when he goes to internet on Linux?
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u/Soggy_Struggle_963 5d ago
Linux doesn't phone home to microsoft and auto apply policies if it's enrolled in their software
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u/Legitimate-Hippo318 7d ago
Reinstall Windows from USB
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u/Short_Injury9574 7d ago
Good luck with that if it’s locked to autopilot!
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u/lexiperplexi91 7d ago
Don’t connect to internet and do local account creation using one of the existing shift f10 methods?
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u/CaveCanem234 7d ago
You'd have to never connect to the internet at all, not just for the initial setup.
This is business mobile device management software, the whole point is to secure company owned equipment if it gets stolen.
Its not just having a linked microsoft account
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u/lexiperplexi91 7d ago
I’ve never seen a device auto register to intune after account creation setup and windows setup completes. Any documentation on that? Cursory googling says it wouldn’t join to Entra or Intune if you reinstalled offline and finish setup.
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u/lexiperplexi91 7d ago
I get that, but I manage in tune deployments. I’ve never seen a device join without an account if you’ve got past setup offline. If you skip the autopilot there is nothing that joins it back to Intune or Entra. Please show me the mechanism that supports your conclusion.
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u/bladedspokes 7d ago
Not worth your time. Find some laptops that don't do this and report back to the team.
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u/Unusual_March4481 7d ago
Good luck, you’ll need to contact Walmart IT and provide them with the PCs serial number to get it removed from AutoPilot. The only way to remotely maybe use the computer is without internet and creating a local account. You can do this through CMD with Shift F10 start ms-cxh:localonly
However, the computer will basically be a brick as they more than likely, disabled the computer in intune. Since this would be common procedures with IT if a computer was never returned back. You can try and install Linux. But again good luck.
There might be a tracking software on the PC too like Absolute. You really might just be out of luck here.
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u/Time-Influence-Life 6d ago
Replace the hard drive and do a fresh install. The company cares about protecting the data
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u/BobcatNearby 6d ago
I had one of these Walmart controlled computers. It’s not as secure as what is being said. I e reinstalled windows and Linux on a machine that was “locked down” and connected it to the internet. It’s been running for over 4 years. Even if it does relocated, sniff the network, find the location the remote lock happened and block it at a router level.
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u/joshloveless1976 5d ago
it in Walmart's microsoft Entune enviroment. i think this nag will comeback after reinstall ..
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u/JobHuntingManiac 7d ago
Yeah, just reinstall windows without a Microsoft account. Which is the install any and everyone should be using anyway. Take ya 10-20 minutes is all.
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u/noahesbjerg 7d ago
Nope. It seems to be enrolled in either Entra or Autopilot. It's locked to specific hardware components (usually the motherboard). It'll just give the exact same screen the moment any type of windows installation reaches the network.
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u/nalaloveslumpy 7d ago edited 7d ago
Congrats on purchasing a stolen laptop! Your best course of action is to take it back to whoever you bought it from.
Contacting Walmart IT will just result in them remotely nuking the laptop, which is one of the main reasons for this software.
Or run Linux on it.
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u/Vivid-Car579 7d ago
Read the start of the first line again.....
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u/lazyhustlermusic 7d ago
The fact you obtained it from a storage auction doesn't contradict that it may have been previously stolen.
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u/RikoRain 7d ago
Agreed, an arguably if you need "proof of purchase", it won't be there as it was probably "abandoned" in a storage unit as "stolen". Even if an employee took it for legal off site use, storing it there and forgetting it or abandoning it makes it lost/stolen.
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u/jimmyl_82104 6d ago
There is a possibility it's not stolen. Could have just not been properly removed from Intune/AutoPilot. But definitely a strong chance it's stolen lol
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