Solved Re all the weeping over local user accounts...

cereberus said:

Actually, there is a good reason to retain the MS account if you change to a local account.

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You make some really good points. So, I guess that in the future I will create it with the MS account and just let it sit deactivated.

I only switched to local accounts about 6 months ago (rough estimate) to address some very specific issues I was having but before that I was a huge fan of using an MS account but I have found workarounds to those things that I liked about an MS account.

But I thank you for your excellent summary. You have convinced me to go that route.

MS Accounts suck because MS has deliberately never provided an API or programmatic method to create new accounts or change their passwords. Functions available today with Local Accounts.

If you manage an Azure Active Directory (AAD) domain, there's an API for managing those types of features but not for MS-owned domains (hotmail.com, msn.com, live.com, outlook.com).

TraderGary said:

I honestly don't believe that Microsoft is spying on me or that I have anything that Microsoft wants to steal.

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I agree, but for added security, consider a third-party add-on. There is a tool called StableBit CloudDrive that mounts your OneDrive as a local drive letter. Fully encrypted.

Link:

Winuser said:

Not everybody knows how to do it and not everyone knows it can be done.

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I consider that willful ignorance. The first time I sit down in front of a new OS there are a LOT of things I don't know how to do. So, I educate myself by asking you fine folks


This one is as simple as "Hey, how can I crerate a local account now?".

Helmut said:

SkyDrive/OneDrive always was 15 GB and then at some point they reduced it to 5 GB. However after complaints they let people retain 15 GB if you used a certain link. All my MS Accounts are still at 15 GB.
If you do not use the OneDrive part of the Account after a certain time the One Drive it is frozen and then deleted, even if you are still using the Email part of the Account see the MS Account T&C for details.

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I researched it, and you're absolutely right, my Internet was so slow back then, it must have felt like unlimited storage.

Thankfully, with my Microsoft 365 subscription, I now have 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive, and I can make it a solid offsite portion of my backup strategy.

hsehestedt said:

I consider that willful ignorance. The first time I sit down in front of a new OS there are a LOT of things I don't know how to do. So, I educate myself by asking you fine folks


This one is as simple as "Hey, how can I crerate a local account now?".

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I'm sorry to say but my wife is one of those people and she is far from being ignorant. She and some others I know have no desire to know any more then just the basics of using a computer. Would it benefit them to know more? Yes! Is their world going to come to an end if they don't? No.

Winuser said:

I'm sorry to say but my wife is one of those people and she is far from being ignorant. She and some others I know have no desire to know any more then just the basics of using a computer. Would it benefit them to know more? Yes! Is their world going to come to an end if they don't? No.

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My Kate is the same way. She uses her computer a lot. She does the majority of her shopping online. She even does all her grocery shopping on Amazon Fresh and has it delivered. She does all the social media her friends do. She calls me her own personal System Administrator. I keep her computer updated and backed up, and she even fully understands and uses our Password Manager! But any more than that, she is totally lost and seems to prefer it that way.

TraderGary said:

Thankfully, with my Microsoft 365 subscription, I now have 1 Terabyte of cloud OneDrive, and I can make it a solid offsite portion of my backup strategy.

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On top of that, since that subscription can be used by up to 6 people, each person gets 1TB. I share with myself (as a different username) so I get multiple TBs, but have never needed it.

hsehestedt said:

On top of that, since that subscription can be used by up to 6 people, each person gets 1TB. I share with myself (as a different username) so I get multiple TBs, but have never needed it.

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I have thought about doing that if I ever find that I need more OneDrive space. It probably will never happen though. So far I'm only using 17% of my OneDrive storage.

hsehestedt said:

On top of that, since that subscription can be used by up to 6 people, each person gets 1TB. I share with myself (as a different username) so I get multiple TBs, but have never needed it.

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Yes, Kate has her own 1TB of OneDrive and she also keeps all her data and photos in OneDrive for the offsite portion of her backup strategy.

hsehestedt said:

You make some really good points. So, I guess that in the future I will create it with the MS account and just let it sit deactivated.

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I actually prefer to use a MS account on my computers but not when first setting them up. I always setup the computer with a local account. Once setup and running I switch to my MS account. I do that so that I can decide what username I want, were I want my User folders located and If I want BitLocker turned on or off. IMO, Mommy Microsoft needs to lighten up and let us decide how we want our computers setup.

TraderGary said:

she also keeps all her data and photos in OneDrive

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I love being able to take pics with my Samsung phone and having them automatically uploaded to OneDrive so they are available on all of my computers. The same goes for my One Calendar app. It doesn't matter what device I'm on, anything I add is available on my other devices.

Josey Wales said:

. . . every user should be able to choose what they want. No matter what MS thinks, this is not a one size fits all OS!

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Oh, but it is. That was the MS goal from the git go and for all intents and purposes they have succeeded. Unfortunately, Win 11 does not fit all very well. When I first started using it I seriously wasn't that impressed. Currently, its still a bad fit for me, but since then I have capitulated and purchased Windows 11 "Ready" hardware. It is still a little rough around the edges and not quite tight enough in some places. I'll give them this much: They definitely eliminated a whole lot of needless and unnecessary bloatware that came with Win 10.

PCUser said:

@TraderGary I'd never use a OneDrive account. No thanks.

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I plan on building a ROGUE PC where I can mess around with OneDrive and have some fun with it. I'm an Office365 user and a bit of a "writer" so I tend to use MS Word rather extensively. I'm on the family plan because I have family and a daughter in university who also uses Office. The challenge is keeping OneDrive off our operating systems. With over 60 TB of data on the main I find it troublesome to keep having to tell Microsoft to stay off of my cloud. I feel like Keith Richards some days.

All in due time, of course.

on our 2 systems, HP 24" AiO's which are both made with laptop components.
we use local accounts set up by Rufus burning the Windows 11 ISO to USB
i then add each Hotmail address in settings > add email addresses
best of both worlds that way, while still using a local account.

my OneDrive available space is 25GB Microsoft gave me an extra 10GB, years ago, as a bonus
but i don't have OneDrive installed on both systems, its to intrusive and controlling
i just use OneDrive, as well as Google drive, as a type of dropbox, it works for me.

Microsoft licence their software aka Windows to those that wish to use that software
Microsoft can change the terms and conditions of that licence as they wish when they wish
you can agree or not agree, that is your only choice.

there are work arounds but Microsoft can close them down any time it chooses
i try to keep our computers as private as possible, i am not paranoid, just data safety conscious.

best of luck Steve ..

cereberus said:

In the end, the whole MS versus local account issues are largely based on 10 year old bs beliefs that a local account is more private than an MS account LOL.

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Privacy is important but not a big reason in the Why I prefer using a Local account over a Microsoft account. I think the most important reason for me to use a Local account is that by not using a MS account, I am not allowed to use certain features, benefits or apps that nowadays comes with Windows, and for the user to use and take advantage of this (so called) benefits, you must sign in. And 99% of this apps and benefits are features that I do not want to use. So, MS making it a requirement to use a MS account to use this features and apps, works great for me because by using a Local account, I can be sure that I will not be forced or enrolled to use features that I don't want to use. Examples of this are OneDrive and Device encryption, there are plenty of examples. Almost all Store apps are stuff that I don't use. I ignore the Store a 100%. I think the only Store App that I use is Paint and that is probably because it comes from old Paint.

Another (that I see as a benefit) is Local over Cloud. I know Cloud is kind of the future and present but I want Local. I would feel restless having my files in the cloud. Or synchronizing devices. I do not want any of that. I feel safer and more secure doing my thing Local. Doing it Local makes me feel relaxed. I ll probably live longer, that is a good reason (for me) to use Local instead of Cloud/MS Account.

When I turn On my computer, they boot straight to the Desktop. No password, no sign in. I like that and want to keep it that way. With the Local account you can do that, this is something that you can't do with the MS account (you have to sign in). If you don't have internet, you can start your computer with Local but you can't if you are using the MS account. I think you can bypass this with a Pin but in my W11 Home Pin is not available. Cereberus, there are plenty reasons for not using a Local account. You mentioned Privacy as being the one big reason. Personally, I have never used any program to protect privacy from MS. Never, so to me, Privacy is not even among the important reasons. What I wrote above is what is important to me. Take good care, and best regards.

Bo

PCUser said:

I think the point is, users shouldn't have to create an MS account just to install the OS.

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In the meantime, 99% of those users use phones with mandatory accounts.

MS is just trying to plug in the biggest security hole, the local account. MSA with 2FA can improve security significantly.
Plus OneDrive, which can backup the most important files. Free account can have 15GB, that will suffice for most people.

Yet people with local accounts will constantly complain about security breaches and ransomware, caused by MS's "incompetence".

bo elam said:

Privacy is important but not a big reason in the Why I prefer using a Local account over a Microsoft account. I think the most important reason for me to use a Local account is that by not using a MS account, I am not allowed to use certain features, benefits or apps that nowadays comes with Windows, and for the user to use and take advantage of this (so called) benefits, you must sign in. And 99% of this apps and benefits are features that I do not want to use. So, MS making it a requirement to use a MS account to use this features and apps, works great for me because by using a Local account, I can be sure that I will not be forced or enrolled to use features that I don't want to use. Examples of this are OneDrive and Device encryption, there are plenty of examples. Almost all Store apps are stuff that I don't use. I ignore the Store a 100%. I think the only Store App that I use is Paint and that is probably because it comes from old Paint.

Another (that I see as a benefit) is Local over Cloud. I know Cloud is kind of the future and present but I want Local. I would feel restless having my files in the cloud. Or synchronizing devices. I do not want any of that. I feel safer and more secure doing my thing Local. Doing it Local makes me feel relaxed. I ll probably live longer, that is a good reason (for me) to use Local instead of Cloud/MS Account.


Bo

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This pretty much explains it in a nutshell for me. The idea of attempting to hide your data from MS on an OS made by MS strikes me as a bit silly. That said I think there are examples where MS has been known to cross the line with respect to ethics i.e. Windows Keylogger (aka Windows 10). Oh, sure the very idea that what I think, say, or do matters to Microsoft smacks of narcissism but who knows? My position is, Who cares? I'll say what I want and do what I deem as fair, decent, and ethical. Let Microsoft take a back seat and learn from the Master then. Muah-ha-ha-ha!

What I consider a kick in the teeth is the idea that I pay for a license to use their OS and they treat it like I'm paying them to spy on me. They should respect the fact that I'm a licensed user to the extent that they don't behave like dogs. In other words they should watch where they put their noses. They really should mind their manners. I don't subscribe to the fascist belief that because I have nothing to hide I have nothing to fear. I have plenty to hide, my banking information and personal credentials included.

Just because I use Windows this shouldn't grant them the right to hijack my hardware either. I should be free to boot to any OS on my PC when I want and to do so without having to make extensive changes in my BIOS each time before I am able to do this. This is my PC, this is my hardware. I own it. MS seems to have a problem with this so why in the world would I trust One Drive??

Having a local account spares me from so much commercial onslaught. If that means MS wants to flip my logo upside down and deem me an undesirable so be it. I don't like paying them to advertise to me. Using a local account helps to keep me bloatware free. This doesn't mean I don't have a Microsoft account by any means. I simply don't use my account as my log in. I would rather not tether my operating systems to my account. I tried synching my devices once and once was enough. Local accounts serve my purposes immensely better but that's me. User preference prevails.

I forgot to mention a couple of things in my post. The first one, I think is funny, and it made me smile today (the 15th) when I saw in my W10 for the first time ever MS offering the ESU program in exchange (I didn't click anything but likely) for creating a MS account.

If only they knew, there are 2 things they could give me that would entice me not only to create the account but I would also use it. And this are, getting rid with their permission of the Microsoft Store and Windows defender. If they do that for me, I ll use their account.

Bo

TraderGary said:

I've had a Microsoft account for many years. I have a Microsoft 365 subscription. I wouldn't be without my up-to-date Microsoft Office. And my 1TB of OneDrive is the offsite component of my backup strategy. I find it curious the need of so many forum members to eliminate having a Microsoft account.

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It's like TDS, but instead it is MDS