What are the downsides to logging into MS when booting?

John Pombrio · 30 May 2015

I love how MS and Google remember my settings, preferences, previous searches and enjoy the apps like GMail, Google Earth Pro, XBox Live, One Drive, etc. My son is constantly logged into a lot more sites like DropBox, Twitter, Facebook, etc. My best friend absolutely refuses to log into any accounts except for Facebook.

For the life of me, I cannot come up with a good reason NOT to log in. I don't get spam from them and I get to use some cool apps and tools that simply will not work without logging in. Besides the usual "they (MS, Google, NSA) are tracking/listening/watching their users!" stuff and possible marketing promos, is there something I have not thought of?

Brds7t7 · 30 May 2015

John Pombrio said:

I love how MS and Google remember my settings, preferences, previous searches and enjoy the apps like GMail, Google Earth Pro, XBox Live, One Drive, etc. My son is constantly logged into a lot more sites like DropBox, Twitter, Facebook, etc. My best friend absolutely refuses to log into any accounts except for Facebook.

For the life of me, I cannot come up with a good reason NOT to log in. I don't get spam from them and I get to use some cool apps and tools that simply will not work without logging in. Besides the usual "they (MS, Google, NSA) are tracking/listening/watching their users!" stuff and possible marketing promos, is there something I have not thought of?

Your friend won't login to any site other than Facebook? You might want to tell them that they're actually one of the worst sites for tracking your Web activities. That was one thing I ditched years ago and don't miss it at all.

I have no issue logging into MS on my pc. I've had a Hotmail for years so doesn't really make any difference. The only thing I have no interest in is features like Cortana. If I do update to 10 that will be the first thing I disable. I've used android phones for years and never use features like voice search or Google now.

lehnerus2000 · 30 May 2015

You forgot cyber-criminals in your list of usual suspects.

linw · 30 May 2015

John, you are asking for facts. Your question is more about beliefs!

I'm a bit wary but appreciate the conveniences of Google and MS logins. I've even learnt to take my silver foil hat off!! Maybe we're headed for the devil but there you go.

pparks1 · 30 May 2015

Biggest downside that I can think of is that if your account gets compromised online, you might find yourself locked out of your PC.

I usually prefer a local account because my kids will use my PC and I don't necessarily want them to be able to get into my OneDrive, email, calendar, etc...without having to supply a username/password.

John Pombrio · 31 May 2015

pparks1 said:

Biggest downside that I can think of is that if your account gets compromised online, you might find yourself locked out of your PC.

I usually prefer a local account because my kids will use my PC and I don't necessarily want them to be able to get into my OneDrive, email, calendar, etc...without having to supply a username/password.

Couldn't you create a separate login/password for them that would also prevent them from accessing both your online accounts and certain folders/programs that you don't want them use/see? Depends on how old they are and what mischief they are capable of. The worst happened by my kids was accessing dubious websites and the mess they left behind.

As for getting compromised online, my friend is well aware of not going to anything but known websites and I got him to run World of Trust on FF so he knows when he is straying. The other is that he still clicks on links to programs he wants that are simply malware sites that are at the top of the list rather than the Mozilla site for instance but he broke himself of that habit. Finally, he is always watching out for suspicious e-mails and has caught some clever ones (which he forwards to me!) so he is perfectly clean as far as I know.