I have my new machine now and am about to hit the power on button. Have looked at a few out.of.the.box start/setup vids. Looks to me there is a choice to create an account or to use a MS account. What is recommended or the pro/cons? -thx
If you set up an MS account initially then the name for your user folder will be the first five characters of the email address.
If you set up a local account initially then the user folder name will be whatever you choose as the account name.
I'd always set up as a local account for that reason alone. You can always switch it to an MS account after you have signed in for the first time.
Switch to Microsoft Account in Windows 10
Note that if you have Home you may not see the offline account option being offered in the initial setup. One way round that is to set up while not connected to the internet.
Clean Install Windows 10 - Step 24If this does not work to allow you to set up a local account, then disconnect from the Internet and restart the clean install while disconnected from the Internet.
This tutorial lists some characteristics of an MS account vs local:
Switch to Microsoft Account in Windows 10
Note too you can have either a non-MS email address or an MS email address as your MS live id account email address.
Again, there are some differences.
More: (ignore the text, this is win10.guru)
You are being redirected...
https://w w w.lifewire.com/local-vs-microsoft-accounts-in-windows-3507003
(Had to add spaces else the site does silly things with that site's URL).
^ ^
Thx - it seems a local account is best as I will be the only operator of this machine, yes?
Too simple a question... read thru and consider the above.
E.g.
And that's just a little sample.If you don’t care about Windows Store apps, only have one computer, and don’t need access to your data anywhere but your home, then a local account will work just fine. It’ll get you into Windows and provide you with personal space to call your own.
If you’re interested in accessing all the features that Windows 10 has to offer, then you’ll need a Microsoft Account to take full advantage of them.
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understood, but I could always create an MS account later?
Yes, you can switch a local account to an MS account, and back again, whenever you feel like it.
Switch to Microsoft Account in Windows 10
Switch to Local Account in Windows 10
Adding a Microsoft Account and registering you copy of Windows 10 against the Microsoft Account ID gives you a major advantage, it gives the ability to move the licence from the existing system to a new one, should you have a major failure such as a motherboard,.
You need not run the OS on a day to day basis on the Microsoft Account, you can do this on a local account, but having the replacement option is useful
Great advice everyone.
Quick question on a related note - on my W7 machine I had the Aministrator account appear as one of the accounts on my login screen. Is this possible with W10?
Yes, but it is not advisable to use it while online. The built-in Administrator account is not subject to the UAC controls that protect a normal administrator account from being abused by malware. By default the built-in Administrator account is disabled (and usually by default in Win7 too).
Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10Built-in "Administrator" - The hidden built-in elevated "Administrator account" is a local account that has full unrestricted access rights to the PC. By default, this "Administrator" account will not be prompted by UAC. Anything that runs while signed in to this "Administrator" account will also have full unrestricted access to the PC, so it is not recommended to use the built-in "Administrator" account for everyday usage. It's recommended to only enable and use the built-in "Administrator" account as needed instead.
Rather than enabling Administrator I prefer to create another local account, make it an administrator, then only use it for maintenance purposes. It gives me an alternative way in for emergencies without the risks of using Administrator itself.
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