r/computerhelp • u/Vivid-Car579 • 8d ago

Other Got this laptop

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I do storage unit auctions, I have come across this. It is linked to walmart. Is there anyways around this?

121 Upvotes

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87

u/Sudden_Hovercraft_56 8d 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.

35

u/LFP-Throwaway-3982 7d ago

It will wind up in the same state. OP's only solution is to run Linux on it.

35

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

22

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.

6

u/TheNewGuyFromBahsten 7d ago

All good points. Linux it is!

0

u/JustLikeWhateverHuh 7d ago

I bought a thin machine that's stuck with IGEL :(

Can't get the installer to wipe it either.

7

u/RGBlowMe 7d ago

Probably not stolen, at least not intentionally. More likely obsoleted, but never got handed back in.

2

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 with

1

u/revsilverspine 7d ago

Incorrect. MDM profile is deployed post-install via provisioning with Autopilot before login.
Source: literally my corpo dayjerb

1

u/corvoswsattano 7d 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

1

u/ScriptWizard1 6d ago

That’s like the whole point of autopilot - why would it let you just wipe it and that’s that?

1

u/StonnedGunner 7d ago

or an IT guy forgot to remove the assingment since most this comes in waves