Author Topic: How to avoid creating/using a Microsoft Account when upgrading to Win 8.1 (Read 22170 times)

tomos · « **on:** October 21, 2013, 04:08 PM »

It seems MS wants us all to use a Microsoft account to upgrade to windows 8.1

Took me a while to find a workaround, so I thought it worth a new thread:

After you install Windows 8.1, you will be asked to sign in to a Microsoft Live account. There will be no apparent way to move past that screen if your intention is to only have a local account. Here is the trick: Click the Create New Account link and then at the bottom of that next screen you will see a link that will let you cancel the process. You will then login using your local account.
Now what

Many users got caught by this poorly implemented log in process and ended up creating and / or using a Microsoft account to log in to their new Windows 8.1 operating system. Since that time, I have had several questions from readers asking if there was a way to reverse the process. There is and it is fairly straightforward.

(techrepublic.com)
http://www.techrepub...count-in-windows-81/

cranioscopical · « **Reply #1 on:** October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.

(I'm on such a slow internet connection that probably it is academic.)

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #2 on:** October 21, 2013, 04:56 PM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)

It's on page 1 of Metro Shopping in Windows 8

(I'm on such a slow internet connection that probably it is academic.)
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)

It's a 2.83Gb download.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #3 on:** October 21, 2013, 05:21 PM »

Laptop has been sitting plugged into AC power overnight at logon prompt. Now by AC power I mean hell no to sleeping, hibernating, or anything other than sitting their with its little digital "eyes" wide open like a coked up hyena waiting for its masters command.

I tap the touch pad to get back to the login prompt to be done with this inane horse shit.

I type my password, hit enter, and the screen goes blank ... It's supposed to be going to that stupid MS account prompt I'm now armed to dispose of.

It stays blank...

It's taking to long...

...Way to long...

So I kill the friggin' thing (hard boot).

It responds by auto-magically booting into restoring your previous operating system "mode". Note this isn't an 'option' ... One isn't given a choice ... it's a straight into the wall, fuck you, I'm leaving kind of response ... To a hard boot.

...Now I realize that a statistical sampling of one isn't supposed to prove shit to anyone...but God Damnit, this shit don't look good!

Hay, I'm back to the desktop of Windows 8.0 already! So I guess - on the plus side - if MS is going to rape someone in the ass with their jacked up delivery system...at least they'll do it quickly.

Shades · « **Reply #4 on:** October 21, 2013, 05:28 PM »

@Stoic Joker:
If that is a problem for you...did you take already a look at the new BIOS'es that nowadays ship?

There is no option to say to ACPI to leave the system off after a power failure. At least on none of the Asus boards that passed through my hands lately I could find that option anymore. The NSA sure wants to be able to read all your stuff at their leisure (and your dime!).

rgdot · « **Reply #5 on:** October 21, 2013, 05:49 PM »

Of course this is not wholly on topic but ... please Linux people fix various Linux wifi issues so that I can dump Windows even more quickly.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #6 on:** October 21, 2013, 05:51 PM »

There is no option to say to ACPI to leave the system off after a power failure.
-Shades (October 21, 2013, 05:28 PM)

That is pretty weird. But I haven't dealt with the latest generation of hardware much, so I'm not real familiar with the idiosyncrasies' of UEFI.

The laptop is currently 'Gathering Info' after having re-downloaded the 8.1 update (thank you fiber connection!). I think it would be best if I go watch TV for a bit ... Because if I stare at this blinking thing much longer...it'll probably have a spontaneous high speed hardware "failure".

cranioscopical · « **Reply #7 on:** October 21, 2013, 07:38 PM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)

It's on page 1 of Metro Shopping in Windows 8
-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 04:56 PM)

Thanks. I haven't even looked at that. The one time I tried to it wanted me to have a MS account.

(I'm on such a slow internet connection that probably it is academic.)
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)

It's a 2.83Gb download.

The next time I have a month to spare... Oh, and is that 64- and 32-bit, I have both here?

It looks as if my only options will be stick with 8 or pay for the upgrade on a physical medium (always assuming that I don't have to pay the full price for the O/S a second time.

Thanks for the info btw

Edvard · « **Reply #8 on:** October 21, 2013, 07:55 PM »

Of course this is not wholly on topic but ... please Linux people fix various Linux wifi issues so that I can dump Windows even more quickly.
-rgdot (October 21, 2013, 05:49 PM)

What's the issues? I and certain of my compatriots would certainly be willing to help troubleshoot, especially if it results in giving Redmond the bird... a nattily dressed flightless aquatic bird, that is.

@Tomos: Thanks for finding that. I think my son already has a Live account, but he'll surely be uninterested in using THAT as his login. Not sure if he will be wanting to upgrade, though. Once bitten...

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #9 on:** October 21, 2013, 08:26 PM »

Okay, it looks like the 3rd time was indeed the charm...as the 2nd time it just fizzled with some lame currently updating error.

The link (for the upgrade) is as mentioned in tomos' article at the bottom just left of center and says "Continue using my other account".

Both my compiler and the Harley engine tuning software are still there...so I suppose the upgrade was a "success". But it sure was damn aggravating having to unnecessarily loop through it 3 freaking times for no intelligent reason.

ewemoa · « **Reply #10 on:** October 21, 2013, 09:24 PM »

Of course this is not wholly on topic but ... please Linux people fix various Linux wifi issues so that I can dump Windows even more quickly.
-rgdot (October 21, 2013, 05:49 PM)

What's the issues?
-Edvard (October 21, 2013, 07:55 PM)

Yes, what are the issues?

rgdot · « **Reply #11 on:** October 22, 2013, 12:02 AM »

Thanks. Some cards (especially RealTek) don't play well. Intermittent, random disconnects. There are 1000s of thread just on linuxmint.com and ubuntuforums.org forums. I have tried some tweaks like wireless card power management, etc.

This is is my unanswered post there posted few months ago http://forums.linuxm...hp?f=53&t=141939

Look at that forum if you want, there are many similar ones, some solved somehow, many not.

If there are any ideas we can split this off to new thread.

ewemoa · « **Reply #12 on:** October 22, 2013, 08:53 PM »

Some cards (especially RealTek) don't play well. Intermittent, random disconnects.

...

If there are any ideas we can split this off to new thread.
-rgdot (October 22, 2013, 12:02 AM)

One idea is to investigate the following:

Wireless section of a page for a Lenovo machine with Realtek RTL8188CE

tomos · « **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2013, 01:53 AM »

mouser (or anyone else with the capability), can you split off the last three posts to a new thread?

Curt · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2013, 02:12 AM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)
It's on page 1 of Metro Shopping in Windows 8
-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 04:56 PM)

is it only visitable via Win 8, or can I have a link, please?

I have a licensed Win 8 installer, but am still running Win 7.

or should I stay away?

Windows 8.1...
-Darwin in "So-called upgrades that ruin good programs" (October 22, 2013, 08:10 PM)

4wd · « **Reply #15 on:** October 23, 2013, 02:26 AM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)

You can also download an ISO with a little slight-of-mouse: How to download the official Microsoft Windows 8.1 ISO

Darwin · « **Reply #16 on:** October 23, 2013, 08:57 AM »

How did you get hold of 8.1 to begin with? I thought one had to have a Microsoft account to obtain the upgrade.
-cranioscopical (October 21, 2013, 04:50 PM)
It's on page 1 of Metro Shopping in Windows 8
-Stoic Joker (October 21, 2013, 04:56 PM)

is it only visitable via Win 8, or can I have a link, please?

I have a licensed Win 8 installer, but am still running Win 7.

or should I stay away?

Windows 8.1...
-Darwin in "So-called upgrades that ruin good programs" (October 22, 2013, 08:10 PM)
-Curt (October 23, 2013, 02:12 AM)

YMMV, Curt, but I say "run away"! Windows 7 is a peach. Windows 8.0 is stable but not really worth the bother of upgrading from 7. Windows 8.1 is an electronic manifestation of hell on your desktop... I'm a bit fecked off at the moment - I just posted a lengthy note about this on the thread you linked to above, followed up by a note about having suffered ANOTHER BSOD. Not happy.

rgdot · « **Reply #17 on:** October 23, 2013, 03:49 PM »

One idea is to investigate the following:

Wireless section of a page for a Lenovo machine with Realtek RTL8188CE

-ewemoa (October 22, 2013, 08:53 PM)

Will try and report back, thanks.

rgdot · « **Reply #18 on:** October 28, 2013, 09:49 PM »

Some cards (especially RealTek) don't play well. Intermittent, random disconnects.

...

If there are any ideas we can split this off to new thread.
-rgdot (October 22, 2013, 12:02 AM)

One idea is to investigate the following:

Wireless section of a page for a Lenovo machine with Realtek RTL8188CE

-ewemoa (October 22, 2013, 08:53 PM)

Probably have to live with the laptop wired and/or install linux on a desktop. Only other possibility is updated Kernel, with Mint 15 or other distro.

ewemoa · « **Reply #19 on:** October 29, 2013, 05:04 AM »

FWIW, though I have no first-hand experience with:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/catalog/wireless-networking-gnulinux

I've heard that some of the hardware options listed have worked for some people.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #20 on:** November 04, 2013, 04:17 AM »

Finally! Today I found time to update Win8 to Win8.1. This after a week when Murphy pitched his tent in our yard.

Everything went smoothly the first time round. Thanks to the advice in this topic I was able to avoid opening accounts that I don't want.
So, thanks to all.

(The 8.1 Start screen is the most garish thing I've seen since the WWW began.)

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #21 on:** November 06, 2013, 06:12 PM »

Wasn't sure where to put this and didn't want to start another thread, so...

Had a client (who was out of town) call today in low grade ballistic mode after apparently their Windows 8 laptop just decided to up and start upgrading itself. Luckily I had stashed a copy of the installer for their cellular broadband card - which the 8.1 upgrade broke - on the laptop so I could get them back online over the phone.

Has anyone else heard of that bizarre behavior?

cranioscopical · « **Reply #22 on:** November 06, 2013, 06:45 PM »

Wasn't sure where to put this and didn't want to start another thread, so...

Had a client (who was out of town) call today in low grade ballistic mode after apparently their Windows 8 laptop just decided to up and start upgrading itself. Luckily I had stashed a copy of the installer for their cellular broadband card - which the 8.1 upgrade broke - on the laptop so I could get them back online over the phone.

Has anyone else heard of that bizarre behavior?
-Stoic Joker (November 06, 2013, 06:12 PM)

Yeah, just last night I wanted to look up something about W8.1 and came across a thread somewhere that was stiff with such complaints. Did your client really do absolutely nothing to start that going?

There's this, too — MS put up a banner across my wife's screen urging her to upgrade. No obvious (to her) way to get out of it, When I saw it I though ti was some sort of scam but, no, in the end it led to the store.

OTOH I've 'upgraded' two machines now with no significant glitches.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #23 on:** November 06, 2013, 06:53 PM »

While they maintain they did "nothing..."

MS put up a banner across my wife's screen urging her to upgrade
-cranioscopical (November 06, 2013, 06:45 PM)

There was something to that effect mumbled in passing.

Still, it's a hell of a bind to put someone in since they were traveling by car when the whole thing kicked off.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #24 on:** November 06, 2013, 07:06 PM »

While they maintain they did "nothing..."
MS put up a banner across my wife's screen urging her to upgrade
-cranioscopical (November 06, 2013, 06:45 PM)

There was something to that effect mumbled in passing.

Still, it's a hell of a bind to put someone in since they were traveling by car when the whole thing kicked off.
-Stoic Joker (November 06, 2013, 06:53 PM)

Yup, when one tells it to move on it just doesn't w8, it gets right into the download without ado — no second chances. Had I not been okay with doing the 'upgrade' I'd have been appalled. As it was I sat there wondering just how many people were going to get screwed by this — it's a really dumb way to do things.