Windows 10: Initital Installation with Local User Account

When running a new computer for the first time today (an HP Desktop) it was impossible to set up Windows 10 initially with a local user account. The option simply wasn't there. There was a help item that said, in effect, you have to use a Microsoft account and then can change it later to local. This is the first time this has happened. I've set up dozens of comptuers with local accounts at the outset. (FWIW -The version on the computer was 1809.)


Has anyone else run into this? I'm wondering if it's caused by something HP did in it's setup or a involves a change by Microsoft. I can't find any information about such a change.


(This is frankly infuriating. I set up many computers for small businesses and we NEVER want to use a Microsoft account. To make this work, I had to use one of my own MS accounts and then change it later. I certainly don't want to end up with many customers computers referenced in my account, not to mention the additional time it wasted. )

:)

 

Local account installation question

I'm fairly certain that Skip this step was available in 10.0.130 - the workaround in Step 20 (back button) is no longer required.

The currently known, as of 10.0.130, ways to create a Local account sign-in are

• Skip this step at the MS account creation phase
• No Internet connection during the install
• static IP (post# 2 by Fragment) - New (to me anyway)

 

Local vs Network user accounts


I just did a VM install, just to verify that I don't speak total crap.

Steps I took:

1. Installed Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 15063.0
2. Entered the License Key
3. Created a local account
4. Went to accounts and added my Microsoft account
5. Let Windows use this account for all apps
6. Checked status on Microsoft account web page.
7. Verified that the VM shows up there
8. deleted my VM locally
9. created a new VM installation without entering the License Key (on same VM but totally new Virtual disk)
10. re-did steps 3-7
11. verified that my VM is activated.

And indeed it is activated and I login to my VM using local account which is linked to my MS account.

Should I create a Video of this or do you trust my word on it? Or better yet test it yourself if you have a valid license key you can waste on a VM.

 

Local Acct user and MS account user - sync them or merge them


If the local account is the one where you have most of your personal data, this is how I would do it:

• Sign in to your Microsoft account
  
• Copy all documents, pictures and other personal data from Microsoft account's user folders to corresponding folders in user Public (contents of MS account Documents folder to Public Documents folder and so on)
• Sign out from Microsoft account

Notice that above steps are only required if Microsoft account user folders contain data you want to keep. If its user folders are empty or do not contain anything worth saving, you can skip the above steps. Continue from below.

• Sign in to the local account
  
• Delete the Microsoft account (Option One in this tutorial)
• Switch your local account to a Microsoft account (tutorial)
• Copy the data backed up from old Microsoft account to Public folders to new Microsoft account in corresponding folders

That's it. Using the Public folders as temporary storage you will have none whatsoever file owner / permission issues later on.