Windows 8.1 questions

[Hawkmoon]

Multi-pronged question:

Background -- I was given two Toshiba notebook computers by a friend who managed to screw them up beyond belief, blamed it all on the computers, and migrated to an Apple because that's what his kids use, so they can (supposedly) support him. One of the computers he gave me started off as Windows 8.1, he (apparently partially) upgraded to Windows 10, and to get it working I did a full system recovery and restored it to the OEM out-of-the box Win 8.1 configuration. The older of the two was originally Windows 8, and that's what was on it when he gave it to me. I also did a system recovery/restore on that one, then upgraded it to Windows 8.1.

I have an old Hotmail account, so I used that for my Microsoft account when setting up both of the (now) Windows 8.1 machines.

Problem #1: Since I set them up, something happened to my Hotmail account and I had to change the password. I can't change it back to what it was when I set up the computers because Microsoft won't allow me to use a password I've used previously. I had set up the two Win 8.1 computers to boot directly to the desktop, but now they stop at the log-in screen and tell me the password is incorrect. I enter the current password for the Hotmail account and the computer then proceeds. How can I get rid of that log-in? I would like to not have any password associated with booting up the machine. If there has to be a password, how can I fix it so the password the computer expects is the same as the current Hotmail account password?

Problem #2: The newer of the two freebie notebooks is newer and more powerful than anything I owned, so I'm going to keep that one. The retired pastor from my church needs a computer and I'd like to give him the older of the two freebies. How can I switch it around so he is the primary user? Do I create a user profile for him and then delete me as a user? Can I make it so it skips the password log-in for him, or does there have to be a password associated with each user?

Problem #3: I have a family pack (one license, good for 3 computers) of Microsoft Office 2010, Home & Student Edition. One install is on the computer I want to give to the pastor. I don't want to give away the license, because I'll be setting up a new computer soon and I need the license for myself. I can set the pastor up with Libre Office, and if he wants to buy MS Office he's on his own. How can I deactivate the license on this computer before I uninstall the Office software?

Thanks.

[lee n. field]

I have an old Hotmail account, so I used that for my Microsoft account when setting up both of the (now) Windows 8.1 machines.

I hate that misfeature.  Make a local account.

The retired pastor from my church needs a computer and I'd like to give him the older of the two freebies. How can I switch it around so he is the primary user?

What I would do is factory restore to an out of the box state.

I can set the pastor up with Libre Office, and if he wants to buy MS Office he's on his own. How can I deactivate the license on this computer before I uninstall the Office software?

I think you just uninstall it. 

[Ben]

I hate that misfeature.  Make a local account.

What I would do is factory restore to an out of the box state.

I think you just uninstall it. 

What he said. Especially item #1. I have zero MS accounts on any of my computers.

[Hawkmoon]

The problem with doing another factory restore is that this is the machine that had Windows 8 from the factory, and the restore puts it back to Windows 8. I've done that once, to get rid of all the viruses and malware the original owner had managed to collect. The process of then upgrading from 8 to 8.1 was long, tedious, and painful. I really can't afford the time to go through that again.

How do I do a local account? I don't recall seeing that as an option.

[Ben]

The problem with doing another factory restore is that this is the machine that had Windows 8 from the factory, and the restore puts it back to Windows 8. I've done that once, to get rid of all the viruses and malware the original owner had managed to collect. The process of then upgrading from 8 to 8.1 was long, tedious, and painful. I really can't afford the time to go through that again.

How do I do a local account? I don't recall seeing that as an option.

If I recall correctly, the option is in fine print and text that kind of blends in to the background in the lower right of one of the account creation screens. There should be either a checkbox or a "skip MS account" or "create local account" option.  I can't remember which.

On nuking the one you give your pastor, if you want to make it easy, just reimage to 8.0 and install classic shell for the menu.

[lee n. field]

The g00gle sez: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13951/windows-create-user-account.

Create a local account

    Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
    (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
    Tap or click Accounts, and then tap or click Other accounts.
    Tap or click Add an account, and then tap or click Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended).
    Tap or click Local account.
    Enter a user name for the new account.
    If you want this person to sign in with a password, enter and verify the password, add a password hint, and then tap or click Next.

    If your PC is on a domain, depending on the domain's security settings, you might be able to skip this step and tap or click Next, if you prefer.
    Tap or click Finish.

[lee n. field]

The problem with doing another factory restore is that this is the machine that had Windows 8 from the factory, and the restore puts it back to Windows 8. I've done that once, to get rid of all the viruses and malware the original owner had managed to collect. The process of then upgrading from 8 to 8.1 was long, tedious, and painful. I really can't afford the time to go through that again.

So, give it to him as a Win 8 computer.  Not that much difference between them.

[Ben]

The g00gle sez: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13951/windows-create-user-account.

Oh yeah, sorry -  I was somehow thinking Hawkmoon was asking how to do it from the setup screens on a fresh install.

[Hawkmoon]

So, give it to him as a Win 8 computer.  Not that much difference between them.

Except that Microsoft doesn't support Windows 8. No updates were available until I upgraded it to 8.1. If I wasn't willing to live with it like that, I'm certainly not going to hand it off to someone else like that.


I found how to convert to a local account. Thanks. I like that much better.

Already have Windows Classic Shell on it and running. If not for that I might have taken the thing to the range and used it for target practice.

[lee n. field]

Except that Microsoft doesn't support Windows 8. No updates were available until I upgraded it to 8.1. If I wasn't willing to live with it like that, I'm certainly not going to hand it off to someone else like that.


I found how to convert to a local account. Thanks. I like that much better.

Already have Windows Classic Shell on it and running. If not for that I might have taken the thing to the range and used it for target practice.

The jump from 8 to 8.1 probably won't be that big of a deal, if you start from one that hasn't been all buggered up by end user tinkering.

How I would do it:   factory restore, install Classic Shell, clean up the out of the box consumer junk (trials, game crap, 30 day antivirus, etc.).   Then run Windows Update.

[Hawkmoon]

It was running Windows Update that was the headache. Basically, it wouldn't run. And apparently it's (or was) a known issue when upgrading from Win 8 to Win 8.1, because I found a work-around on the Internet and I was eventually able to get it done -- but it took probably twelve hours or more of actual contact time, spread out over maybe three days of letting the computer run continuously while doing its thing.

I don't want to do that again. I can just delete my personal files and run a DoD wipe utility to make it essentially unrecoverable.

What's driving me nuts now is that I've done everything I can to deactivate the password at start-up, but it still asks for a password when a software install does an automatic restart to finish its routine. That's actually worse than having to enter it every time, because there may be long enough intervals between incidents requiring the password that you forget what it is. Heck, the guy who gave it to me couldn't remember his password -- he had to call his daughter and ask her what it was.

[lee n. field]

I don't want to do that again. I can just delete my personal files and run a DoD wipe utility to make it essentially unrecoverable.

After that, use this:

Download Windows 8.1 Disc Image (ISO File)

If you need to install or reinstall Windows 8.1, you can use the tools on this page to create your own installation media using either a USB flash drive or a DVD.

[Hawkmoon]

Downloading now -- thanks