Windows 10: Windows 10 and Microsoft Account Sign-in

Somehow along the way Microsoft made me create a new password for my Microsoft Outlook email account because they thought it was being accessed by a stranger! I think the stranger was me using my Amazon Fire Tablet while on vacation. Anyway, I now have one password to log into Outlook on all the machines I have connected to my home network. That did not seem to be a problem since I had all the machines setup for Auto Logon with the old password and they all shared files with no issues since they all had the same password.

But...when I installed Windows Update 1703 on a system (Home Server) I used the New Password when asked to Login to my Microsoft Account. That created a minor problem since all of the mapped network drives had to be re-signed in to the server. I think the reason the Update 1703 asked for a Microsoft Account Sign-in was because I had changed the motherboard a few days earlier. Windows 10 prior to Update 1703 did not have a problem with the hardware change and did not ask for any new sign in's.

So...it appears I had been running all the computers on my home network with one password to sign into Windows 10 and another password to log into Outlook mail and my Microsoft Account.

I recently set up a new system and of course I used the NEW Microsoft password created above and the new system had to login to all the other systems using the OLD password to share files.

Finally, the question - I need help on how do I get rid of the dual passwords being used on the old systems?

All of the above has been compounded by the bug in Windows Update 1703 that makes Network Discovery work like it did on the infamous Windows 8.1 update! I'm sure Microsoft will get around to fixing the bug sometime in the next several months but then that's a separate issue.

:)

 

Windows 10 can not sign into to microsoft account from any screen

Just sending a fresh complain on the Microsoft Account failure to sign in from Windows 10. No Apps will allow sign in to Microsoft Account. Windows 10 will not allow a sign in from Microsoft Account. Outside of Windows 10 there is NO sign in issues with
my Microsoft Account. This is a problem specific to Windows 10. Keep the complaints coming somebody will notice.

 

Can't sign in into Microsoft account in Store and Mail apps.

After recent big Windows Update I'm not able to sign in into my Microsoft account in Mail and Store apps.

The Mail app gives following error:



The Store gives following error:



I tried to google this error and all that I found was related to windows activation, but my version of Windows is activated.

What should I do?

 

Hi Ken.

For my clarification it sounds like some of your devices are using local accounts to sign in and some are using Microsoft accounts to log in, like the Home Server. Is this correct?

Could I also get clarification on your Outlook.com account and microsoft account, are these unique accounts?

Finally from your description you are not using homegroups to share but rather User Accounts and Passwords, correct?

 

Nope.

Initially I used password "xyz" to sign into my Microsoft Account on all the computers. I also used password " xyz" to sign into my Outlook Account although I don't remember having to sign into Outlook email it was just there. Since all the computers used the same Microsoft Account and Password sharing did not require anything extra.

Then I got an email from Microsoft saying my email account may have been exposed to a bad guy (that was me using an Amazon Fire while on vacation) and I had to change my Password for my Microsoft Account and Outlook. So I changed the Password to "xyzabc". The new Password became the new login for all my systems and Outlook.

Then Microsoft screwed up Outlook and started making me sign in using "xyzabc" every time I wanted to use it on all the computers.

Then Version 1703 came along and Outlook reverted back to the good old days and behaved itself - no more login issues.

However, any machine that I updated to 1703 that had a hardware change, my server, Microsoft required it to login to complete the 1703 update - of course I had to use the new login Password "xyzabc"

At that point all the other computers on the system had to login to the server using the new password! The Reverse issue existed with a new install of windows on new hardware. The new system had to log into the old systems with the old "xyz" Password. And of course version 1703 has screw up sharing in general like it did initially in 8.1. I can only hope they'll fix the "new" Discovery issues. But that's and aside.

So... somehow the old systems are using "xyz" for sharing but are using "xyzabc" to log in to my Microsoft Account. If they have a local account I'm sure did not set them up that way!

Hope this long saga helps determine how to get rid of the "xyz" on the original computers on the newtowrk.

 

Check the Manage Windows Credentials on your old systems.

Press Windows Key + S and enter credentials, and choose Manage Windows Credentials from the menu.
Click on Windows Credentials
Under Windows Credentials, click on the Computer Name you want to edit to expand it, then you can Edit the password

 

Hi Ken429,
I have to admit, I'm not 100% sure I understand which of your pc's are which, so not sure how much help I can be. Not sure this helps, but the credentials are split into three categories:

1. Windows Credentials - are used only by Windows and its services. For example,
Windows can use this data to automatically log you to the shared folders of another
computer on your network. Or, to store the password of the Homegroup you have joined
and use it automatically each time you access what is being shared. If you type a
wrong log-in credential, Windows remembers it and fails to access what you need.
If this happens, you can edit or remove the incorrect credential.

2. Certificate-Based Credentials - they are used together with smart-cards, mostly
in more complex business network environments. Most people will never need to use
such credentials and this section will be empty on their computers.

3. Generic Credentials - are defined and used by some of the programs you install,
so that they get the authorisation to use certain resources. One very common example
of a generic credential is your Windows Live ID, stored and used by the tools included
in Windows Live Security Essentials.

Note: You are showing your email address in those screen shots *Sad

 

The screen clips are gone along with my last response. Here are the same clips with my Microsoft Account blanked out, I hope.

I still don't know what is going on but it looks like when I resigned in the mapped drives on the computers using the server I used the Microsoft Account and Password. It appears Windows added that to the Generic Credentials and all is well for the wrong reasons?! I'm going to play around with the user name "Ken" on the server and see if I can get it changed to "KRLor" so that it is the same as all the other computers on the network. If that works I'll start deleting Credentials and see what happens.

Just to clarify, the first clip is from the server with the user name "Ken" and the second clip is what shows on all the other computers on the network using the server and they use the user name of "KRLor".

 

Ken429,
Each of your pcs has a unique name right 'PCNAME\USERNAME'?

Since your using a Microsoft Account, I think your USERNAME is your email address.
Server - KILLER_XEON\xxx@yyy.com
Pc1 - MY_PC1\xxx@yyy.com
Pc2 - MY_PC2\xxx@yyy.com

Since I use a local account and it's just me here I have the same username/password on the desktop and laptop.
Desktop - EAGLE-DESKTOP\eagle
It's Windows Credentials has the laptop ... EAGLE-LAPTOP\eagle

Laptop - EAGLE-LAPTOP\eagle
It's Windows Credentials has the desktop ... EAGLE-DESKTOP\eagle

Note: I don't think you need to mess around with the Generic Credentials.

 

Oh well, I'm in a slightly different world. Today, I have eight computers on my home network. They all have different computer names like: Killer Xeon, Extreme6-4790K, Extreme6-4790K2, Extreme6-4790K3, Extreme4-4770K, Extreme4-2600K, P8Z8-3570K and finally Taichi-1700X. All are signed in to the same Microsoft Account. All use the same User Name of "KRLor" EXCEPT the Killer Xeon (Network Server) which has a User Name of "Ken" - no quote marks on either.

All the network stuff was working as advertised until I upgraded the Server to version 1703. All of the other systems on the network were already running version 1703 and I was not aware of any issues - my sharing setup worked between all the systems - but I only used Mapping to the server drives.

I know there are a bunch of people out there complaining that version 1703 has some major networking problems centered around Discovery. If you don't have a home network most people would not know there was a problem. I'll try to just relax and wait for Microsoft to hopefully fix the problem and things might get back to the way they were. Microsoft has some experience with this since Windows 8.1 had similar Discovery issues when it first came out and they just magically went away after a few months.

 

I may be way off base.

If you are using the same Microsoft Account to sign in to all then the User names should all be the same as it gets it from your Microsoft account. At least this has been my experience.

 

I think we are talking apples and oranges.

Yes, I sign into the Microsoft Account on all the systems. That means that they all use the same user name and password. But there is also the C:/Users/KRLor for Ken that was created when Windows was originally installed. That's where all the key Windows folders are setup on each system. Maybe that's what is causing the confusion.

Microsoft uses the computer name and hardware signature in the Microsoft Account or in the cloud somewhere so that when you reinstall you do not have to go through the Activation process unless you have made major hardware changes (MB and Processor) - at least that's been my experience since I have reinstalled Windows many times and rarely have had to call Microsoft to Re-Activate.

I'm sure you know all this and, as I said above, I can live with the current setup and hopefully Microsoft will fix 1703 so it works like it should. I guess if you don't use a Microsoft Account, Sharing or have a multiple computer network the problems do not exist.

 

Indeed apples and oranges.

Windows 10 allows you to sign in / log on either with a local account or a Microsoft Account. You can re-install windows on a device without your microsoft account as long as it has not changed. You can also log your digital entitlement to your Microsoft account.

One nice thing about signing in with a Microsoft Account is you can resolve password issues for a machine on the web where as if your local admin account gets corrupted you have to do some hoop jumping.

Where I log in with a local account as administrator, and its the only one, I always set up a dummy admin account to act as a second set of keys to admin functions.

So on the machines that are using local account to sign into windows you go to Start=>Settings=>Accounts

When it opens under "Your info" you can change to using a Microsoft Account. This is a confirmation you are using a local account. I neither recommending or not the use of a Microsoft account. Two items down is Sign in Options. Here you can change the password to your local account.