Solved W11 Pro MS Account?

Building a new system and figure I may as well upgrade to 11 while I'm doing that. I have used Win Pro version for as long as I can remember, specifically for the convenience element that it provides over home versions. I like not having an MS account to use my PC and not having updates forced. Does 11 pro afford its users the same conveniences? No MS account needed and update control? Are the privacy settings opt in/out etc? If this is in the wrong section, could you suggest a more suitable one, thanks.

amancandance said:

Does 11 pro afford its users the same conveniences? No MS account needed and update control?

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Welcome to Eleven Forum.

11 Pro is much the same as 10 Pro for update control, I have the Group Policy for 'notify for update...' set in both.

The OOBE setup for 11 Pro will insist on an internet connection and an MS account as the first account (I believe the latest version of 10 Pro now does the same). There is a way to bypass this though and still be able to set up with a local account with the OOBE/bypassnro command.

See step 16 here:

you can also install using a fake email address and a fake password, it will then say, oooops something went wrong and then let you create a local account.

amancandance said:

Building a new system and figure I may as well upgrade to 11 while I'm doing that. I have used Win Pro version for as long as I can remember, specifically for the convenience element that it provides over home versions. I like not having an MS account to use my PC and not having updates forced. Does 11 pro afford its users the same conveniences? No MS account needed and update control? Are the privacy settings opt in/out etc? If this is in the wrong section, could you suggest a more suitable one, thanks.

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Having a MS account for login can be useful. I recently built a new PC and it was simple to activate via my MS account by linking the new PC to the old PC shown under Devices in the MS account.

Steve C said:

Having a MS account for login can be useful. I recently built a new PC and it was simple to activate via my MS account by linking the new PC to the old PC shown under Devices in the MS account.

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Agreed, but it's not actually necessary to sign in to Windows with your MS account to get your PC listed as a device in your MS account. All my PCs and VMs use local accounts, but all of them (13 at last count) are there. All that is required is that you sign in to something with your MS account, the Store or Widgets would be sufficient. Once listed the Activation Troubleshooter can transfer activation to a new PC.

pparks1 said:

you can also install using a fake email address and a fake password, it will then say, oooops something went wrong and then let you create a local account.

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Yes I have found that works with both Windows 10 and 11 for Home and Pro Editions. You have to be connected to the Internet for it to work but you need to get updates anyways.

Bree said:

Agreed, but it's not actually necessary to sign in to Windows with your MS account to get your PC listed as a device in your MS account. All my PCs and VMs use local accounts, but all of them (13 at last count) are there. All that is required is that you sign in to something with your MS account, the Store or Widgets would be sufficient. Once listed the Activation Troubleshooter can transfer activation to a new PC.

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Add Microsoft account to Local account for Hybrid account in Windows 11

A Microsoft account (MSA) is a good choice if a user wants to use the same account on multiple devices, or wants to make it easy to use all / any Microsoft services. Setting up a preinstalled Windows 10 on a new device, after a clean install, or creating a new user on existing Windows...

www.elevenforum.com

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Hey there and sorry for hijacking OP's thread after a whole month, but I'm particularly interested in keeping my PC using a local account while having the device listed in my Microsoft account.

So I've been using a local account on my laptop for over seven years, and I think my device has been listed to a Microsoft account for the past seven years as well, probably because I've been using their Mail, Xbox apps and Office 365 with my Microsoft account (but for my PC it has always been a local administrator account). And even though I've been using a local account to download free apps from the Microsoft Store, my device is somehow listed as one of the 10 device limits in the Microsoft Store. Now, everything works perfectly for me as I do want to see my device in my Microsoft account while still using a local account for my PC.

When I was renewing my Office 365 subscription the other day, I found out that my Microsoft account was logged out of Microsoft Word, probably because I haven't used it in a while. My first reaction was to log in, and when the prompt "Use this account everywhere on your device" popped up, I clicked "Next" without thinking much. Then I found out that my local account was replaced by my Microsoft account, or rather, a hybrid account that was sort of like a local account but was essentially a Microsoft account (like this: Add Microsoft account to Local account for Hybrid account in Windows 11 Tutorial). This makes me feel uncomfortable because Microsoft used misleading language to make me unknowingly convert my local account that I've had for years into a Microsoft account.

After doing some research, I found out that clicking "Stop signing in to all Microsoft apps automatically" reverts my account to a local account After that, however, my device is no longer listed in my Microsoft account. I've tried logging into the Microsoft Store with my Microsoft account, but my device still doesn't appear in the Microsoft account's Devices page.

Any idea how to get my device listed in my Microsoft account while keeping me using a local account on my coumputer like before?