Notes on setting my ACEMAGIC Vista Mini PC

Russell Bateman
June 2025
last update:

For years I have run Window 10 for the sole purpose of being able to run TurboTax® each 15 April on an HP notebook computer. Now that Windows 10 notebook is broken beyond belief—abandoned by the evil Microsoft.

I have to find another solution and this may be it. (Also, it will allow me to wipe my HP notebook and put Linux Mint on it.)

I saw this tiny minidesktop for $150 on Amazon, did a little background research and decided to purchase it to replace my old notebook. This mini comes with Windows 11 Professional on it along with

• Celeron processor N97 quadcore running at 3.6GHz
• 16Gb (upgradable to 64Gb) DDR4 SDRAM
• 512Gb SSD (roughly 430Gb after Windows 11)
• HDMI (probably never use)
• DisplayPort (HP 24" or Acer 27" monitor)
• 2 USB 3.0 (occasional, external optical spindle)
• 2 USB 2.0 (mouse and keyboard)
• Integrated Intel UHD graphics with 16Gb DDR4 SDRAM (3840×2160)
• Ethernet RJ-45 hard-wire
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2 (my Sony headphones?)
• Analog headphone jack
• Fan-cooled
• Windows 11 Professional
• Measurements: 100mm &time; 100mm × 33mm

Set-up steps

1. Unpack computer, wall wart and video cable (HDMI)
2. For faster set-up of Windows, do not connect to LAN (avoid updates)
3. Connect to power, speaker or headphone.
4. Connect a mouse and keyboard to USB 2.0 ports.
5. Power up—less than 20 seconds to Windows desktop.

Install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account

The standard procedure is to sign up in a Microsoft account when installing Windows 11, however, there are a few tricks you can apply instead. See How to Install Windows 11 without Microsoft Account 2025 | Use Local Account Instead.

Principally, go to Download Windows 11, scroll down to Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices, choose Window 11 (multi-edtion ISO for x64 devices), and Confirm. Answer the language question, then click Download to get the ISO on your local harddrive. This will take a long time; the resulting ISO weighs in at just under 6Gb.

There's trial software, SYSCute WinBootMate, that can create a thumbdrive copy of the ISO to use from this point. Afterward, the steps are:

1. Patch Windows 11 to by-pass the Microsoft account requirement.
2. Do the installation, but create a local login.

If already set-up with a Microsoft account, it's possible to boot after installation without Internet (i.e.: unplugged) by navigating to the Accounts section in the Settings application.

All of this is explained at the article link above (not the download link).