Kill this Canary

I have Windows 11 Pro. I never signed up for any Insider builds, but somehow I ended up on a Canary build. I removed it and everything was fine for a while. Then I upgraded my CPU, network card, and motherboard didn’t think it was a big deal.

Later I noticed my account name had changed on my PC. Odd, but whatever. I asked Copilot about it and found out I no longer had a local account. Still not a huge deal, except suddenly I couldn’t change anything because “your organization manages some of these features.” How is that even possible? I built this PC myself. I installed the software. Nothing has ever been connected to a work or school account.

So I figured I’d start fresh. I backed everything up and downloaded a clean Windows build. That’s when I discovered the Canary build had somehow come back. I have no idea how.

I’ve spent the last three days trying to get this Canary build off my PC with no success. I’ve deleted the hard drive, wiped the BIOS, used Rufus to create a bootable installer from my Windows 10 laptop, and installed it with my modem, router, extender, and phone all unplugged so nothing could trigger the Canary build to return. And yet this stupid build is still on my PC.

At this point I can’t even use my computer. I’m probably going to have to reinstall Windows again. One tech support person told me I “have a Canary ring,” whatever that means, but it sounds like Windows can just install itself on my PC without my consent. There’s a word for that, and I’m not a fan.

Please, for the love of God, help me get rid of this Canary build and get my PC back.