Running Windows 10 with both Local and Microsoft account facilities

[Dave-H]

I had my Windows 10 system in a sort of half and half mode between using a local account and using a Microsoft account.
Somehow I managed to lose this, and it took me a very long time to find how to restore it back again!
I'm just putting the answer here in case anyone wants to use it, and to remind myself how to do it if I have to do it again in future!

The advantage of how I have Windows 10 set up, at least for me, is that as Windows is fundamentally still logged on with a local account, I can use any user name I like, in my case just "Dave". You cannot do this with a Microsoft account as you can't have a singe word user name.
Also, I can set it to log in automatically when I boot up, something that as far as I know you can't do when logged in with a Microsoft account.

The mode I was using allows all this, but the system still looks as if it is logged in with a Microsoft account. The banner on the settings home page looks right, all the Microsoft apps log in automatically and even the sync system works, all still with a local account.

The way you do it is to make sure firstly that you are logged in with a local account, then you need to log out of all Microsoft apps like Cortana and Edge. Go to the accounts settings page and remove any Microsoft accounts listed there.
Then go to the Microsoft Store app, and if necessary log out of that too.

Count to ten, then log back into the Store app again. When the login dialogue runs, ignore the "Microsoft Apps Only" link, and carry on logging in normally.
If you do this in many places, it starts the procedure to switch the whole of Windows over to using a Microsoft account to log in for the future, but for some reason the Windows Store login does not do that, however once you've logged in there you will find that your Microsoft account has appeared in the "accounts used by other apps" area of the accounts setting page, and all Microsoft apps (except strangely in my case, the Photos app) will log in automatically when you run them.
You should now be able to enable sync too if you want to use it, which is normally impossible with a local account.

If you want to return to normal, simply click on the link to stop Microsoft apps logging in automatically on the "your info" settings page.
This should return you to a normal local account setup.

I hope this might be useful for people, and sorry if it's already common knowledge!
As I said it took me a lot of digging to find out how to configure it manually at will.
Cheers, Dave.

[sunryze]

I use a domain, so I have it so MS accounts aren't required to install store apps. Really nice for those apps that I like. Also, I have figured out how MS accounts work. They do create local usernames, but it is your email used. For example, you signed in with "example@gmail.com". If you were remoting in or needing to find your local user, the user folder is usually the first 5 letters of your email "examp" and the username Windows knows is the full email "example@gmail.com" it makes it seem like its signing into gmail as a domain server, but the times I do it does not.

I agree that local accounts are easier to handle with MS accounts used for UWP apps strictly. Local accounts are miles ahead of MS accounts. 

You can sign in automatically, but there are some registry entries you need to set to specify autologon passwords, and sometimes it doesn't even work.

[UCyborg]

You don't have to be in a domain nor use MS account to be ale to install Store apps. It gives you a nag to sign-in when you click the button to install it, but you can close it and then the installation begins.

Still, no way to tell it nicely that you don't want MS account after you install Windows other than disconnect from the internet...

[bookie32]

It is a mixed bag Microsoft these days...

When installing just don't connect to Internet when asked to....

On the other hand there is a lot of **** attached to digital licences...have just checked one that a customer bought cheaply but it activated and it was supposed to be a license for Windows 10 Pro. When I checked the digital license with Microsoft it was for Windows 8.1....now how does that work...?????

If you have a retail license Microsoft wants you to have it connected to a Microsoft account for easy moving to new hardware...

I still prefer after doing that to logout and have a local account...

If Microsoft know about the crap with digital licenses being sold for stupid prices and they are working - then the question remains...why allow digital licenses?

sorry waffling on today....lol

 

bookie32

 

 

[Dave-H]

I guess that the really cheap keys that are being sold for Windows are like the ones being sold for Office.
IIRC they are OEM multiple use keys, and I read that it was ruled in court that selling them was perfectly legal, much to Microsoft's annoyance I'm sure!
Doesn't explain why a Windows 8.1 key should unlock Windows 10 though!