Microsoft account devices & Windows 11

Ok, I've got a few systems all running windows 10, 2 of them are my 2 son's PCs when they come stop at mine. They were all linked to my microsoft account so if I need to reinstall or hardware change, the licenses are saved on my account for peace of mind. However recently I've upgraded all the machines to windows 11 & something has really made my head hurt out of frustration & anger. The relentless push to have all the devices require authentication to sign in, which I do not want nor asked for because the windows 10 were all local accounts only. Now I got round this by setting a pin, setting it as a local account only & entering the pin & then it signs out & back in as local accounts, however by doing so it removes the saved device from my microsoft account. Only the 2 machines my son's have not everyone of them.

I will note, both of my sons PCs are identical down to the ram used & SSDs. So when they show up on my MS account, the system type are the same, but different names used on the machines of course which also show up. But as soon as I switch to local, they're removed from my ms accounts. The only ones that remain are the machines I'm yet to upgrade to windows 11 which are also all local accounts.

So, any idea's how to fix this? Because I do not want to have each machine demand I authenticate the log in via my ms authenticator every time, especially 4 of my machines auto turn off & on themselves as they run servers & services.

Thanks

I have three computers with Windows 10 and two with Windows 11. From time to time I have switched from local to MS accounts and then back to local accounts. Right now I think all my computers have local accounts. To me it is just a personal preference. I prefer local accounts. The same goes for my three copies of MS Office. I usually don't log them into my MS account.

It really doesn't concern me about having to reinstall Windows 10 or 11. I have always been able to reinstall Windows even though I am using local accounts. The only problem I had was when I reinstalled Windows 10 for a friend. It insisted I log into a MS account so I did. Then it was a simple matter of switching that to a local account.

I don't see why you have to fix anything. Can't you just leave the computers with local accounts?

About logging into more than one computer. If you want to log into more than one computer just have the same local account on each one. Then there should be no problem. I use the same local account on five Windows 10 and 11 computers. No problem there. To make logging in easier I use a PIN in addition to a password. I find it faster logging in with a PIN.

MisterEd said:

I have three computers with Windows 10 and two with Windows 11. From time to time I have switched from local to MS accounts and then back to local accounts. Right now I think all my computers have local accounts. To me it is just a personal preference. I prefer local accounts. The same goes for my three copies of MS Office. I usually don't log them into my MS account.

It really doesn't concern me about having to reinstall Windows 10 or 11. I have always been able to reinstall Windows even though I am using local accounts. The only problem I had was when I reinstalled Windows 10 for a friend. It insisted I log into a MS account so I did. Then it was a simple matter of switching that to a local account.

I don't see why you have to fix anything. Can't you just leave the computers with local accounts?

About logging into more than one computer. If you want to log into more than one computer just have the same local account on each one. Then there should be no problem. I use the same local account on five Windows 10 and 11 computers. No problem there. To make logging in easier I use a PIN in addition to a password. I find it faster logging in with a PIN.

Click to expand...

Well ordinarily I wouldn't bother worrying having the devices linked to my ms account so I can use my ms account to activate the windows should it be required. However I had a new mobo,cpu & gpu installed to a dedicated machine I run plex on for for better transcoding speeds. And despite that machine originally having windows 7, upgraded to windows 10 & then upgraded to windows 11 before this hw change, it all of a sudden deactivated & wouldn't re activate using the windows 7 product key. I contacted ms support & they just said I needed to buy a new product licence which indurated me. So I freshly installed windows 10 again & the product activated as normal, tried to upgrade to windows 11 & wouldn't activate as it says my product key isn't accepted.

But this happened with a laptop I do have linked to my ms account as it's my work laptop with windows 11, I changed the board as it developed a fault & windows 11 wasn't activated & wouldn't activate with the product key, but it did activate by using my stored device on my ms account I had for the laptop. Which is why I wanted to do it for my son's PCs. Because we all know what Microsoft are like, any excuse to deactivate windows & say sorry, go buy a new product key, they will.

Sometime in September 2023 Microsoft officially pulled the plug on the free upgrades from Windows 7 and 8.1 to Windows 10. Most people now just buy a cheap key online. You can buy either a Windows 10 or Windows 11 key as they are suppose to work the same.

A year ago I bought a Windows 11 Pro OEM key for $22 (after discount). I used the seller because it was recommended by a well-known YouTube channel. Some YouTube channels offer a code that gives you maybe 20/25% discount on a particular site for Windows or Office.

MisterEd said:

Sometime in September 2023 Microsoft officially pulled the plug on the free upgrades from Windows 7 and 8.1 to Windows 10. Most people now just buy a cheap key online. You can buy either a Windows 10 or Windows 11 key as they are suppose to work the same.

A year ago I bought a Windows 11 Pro OEM key for $22 (after discount). I used the seller because it was recommended by a well-known YouTube channel. Some YouTube channels offer a code that gives you maybe 20/25% discount on a particular site for Windows or Office.

Click to expand...

That's besides the point. I shouldn't have to buy a new key because all my systems are windows 10 which were all upgraded from windows 7 & now going through process of upgrading to windows 11. I don't accept that for no reason because of a change in hardware, ms decides no longer to allow me to use the licence key I already paid for & used to upgrade as ms intended.

I run a business with over 100 pcs that were downsized from just shy of 200 systems. So all the windows 7 product keys that were upgraded to windows 10 I retained & I'm in the process of upgrading them all to windows 11 because I can sure ms will one day say, no free upgrade to 11 from 10. This way, I've protected the keys & future proofed them. I just don't like waste!

You said you had a hardware change. What change was that? Was the Windows 7 key Retail or OEM. Technically only only Retail keys can be moved to a different computer. Whether Windows setup considers your computer new or not depends upon what hardware was changed.

You could try calling Microsoft support to plead your case. They might even activate Windows 10 for you.