How to change login to a local account in Windows 8
I personally installed the Microsoft Windows 8.1 update to five different personal computers since
October 17, 2013. (Five days ago at this writing.) For the most part, the upgrade was smooth for all
the computers, as long as you had the time to wait for the download. In general, I am happy with the
upgrade and I continue to recommend it to anyone running the original Windows 8.
However, there is one caveat that I discovered during installation that everyone should be aware
of before they undertake the process:
After you install Windows 8.1, you will be asked to sign in to a Microsoft Live account. There will
be no apparent way to move past that screen if your intention is to only have a local account. Here
is the trick: Click the Create New Account link and then at the bottom of that next screen you will
see a link that will let you cancel the process. You will then login using your local account.
Now what
Many users got caught by this poorly implemented log in process and ended up creating and / or using
a Microsoft account to log in to their new Windows 8.1 operating system. Since that time, I have had
several questions from readers asking if there was a way to reverse the process. There is and it is
fairly straightforward.
First, go to the Start Screen and type "users" to get search results. Click the first item in the
search results and you will get a screen similar to Figure A.
Figure A
Users
Click the Add an account box to reach the screen shown in Figure B.
Figure B
How will you sign in?
Of course, Microsoft wants you to create a new account with them, but you can click the link at the
bottom of the screen that says: Sign in without a Microsoft account. You can just ignore the "not recommended"
advice.
Clicking that link will take you to the Add a user screen shown in Figure C. Click the Local account
button.
Figure C
Add a user
After you click the Local account button you will see Figure D where you can enter your local account
credentials.
Figure D
Local account
Click the next button and then the Finish button and you will have created a new Local account that
you can log into instead of your Microsoft account.
lso read: A look at some Microsoft Windows 8.1 highlights" itemprop="articleBody">
I
personally installed the Microsoft Windows 8.1 update to five different personal computers since
October 17, 2013. (Five days ago at this writing.) For the most part, the upgrade was smooth for
all the computers, as long as you had the time to wait for the download. In general, I am happy with
the upgrade and I continue to recommend it to anyone running the original Windows 8.
However, there is one caveat that I discovered during installation that everyone should be aware
of before they undertake the process:
After you install Windows 8.1, you will be asked to sign in to a Microsoft Live account. There
will be no apparent way to move past that screen if your intention is to only have a local account.
Here is the trick: Click the Create New Account link and then at the bottom of that next screen you
will see a link that will let you cancel the process. You will then login using your local account.
My Windows 8 username/password is attached to my Hotmail.com account. I
am not how this happened. I think the installation asked me for it
however I don't like this arrangement. I need to use a separate account
which is not attached to anything external.
How do I remove this
account from Windows? Is it checking my Hotmail password every time I log
into the computer? This account is an admin account.
Answer:
Open the side bar. With a touch-screen or tablet, swipe from the right,
otherwise hit Win + C. Go to Settings and click
Change PC Settings. Under Users you can unlink the Hotmail account.
To answer your second question, it is checking your credentials against
your Hotmail account. Since the account is linked to your Windows 8 user
account, it can automatically log you in to mail, chat, etc using the
credentials you supply when you log in.
Now what
Many users got caught by this poorly implemented log in process and ended up creating and / or
using a Microsoft account to log in to their new Windows 8.1 operating system. Since that time, I
have had several questions from readers asking if there was a way to reverse the process. There is
and it is fairly straightforward.
First, go to the Start Screen and type "users" to get search results. Click the first item in
the search results and you will get a screen similar to Figure A.
Figure A
Users
Click the Add an account box to reach the screen shown in Figure B.
Figure B
How will you sign in?
Of course, Microsoft wants you to create a new account with them, but you can click the link at
the bottom of the screen that says: Sign in without a Microsoft account. You can just ignore the
"not recommended" advice.
Clicking that link will take you to the Add a user screen shown in Figure C. Click the Local account
button.
Figure C
Add a user
After you click the Local account button you will see Figure D where you can enter your local
account credentials.
Figure D
Local account
Click the next button and then the Finish button and you will have created a new Local account
that you can log into instead of your Microsoft account.
The Last but not LeastTechnology is dominated by
two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand ~Archibald Putt.
Ph.D
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