Cannot log in: local account replaced with MS account and MS account inaccesable

Shawn,

I was able to access the machine by means of booting Linux from a USB and using 'Parted Magic'.

On a Linux level I was able to reset the password with the command:

chntpw -u User1 SAM **** in directory  /Windows/System32/config

Unfortunately this did not do the trick because as I have described above the problem is not that I had lost the password to 'User1', but that the Outlook Account has "replaced" the local account in the login interface.

With the command showing all the users available in the system

chntpw -l SAM

I noticed hat there were four accounts (Administrator, Guest, User1 and one more that I cannot recal now) listed as existing. The strange thing (to me) is that the Outlook account is NOT listed.

Question: is there away from within Linux to modify Windows 8.1 to revert back to using my local account instead of the Outllok account???

Also some good news: by means of the Linux access I can now at least backup the data on the hard drive.

Hi Paul,

If you go to your PC Settings > Accounts, what does it show?

1. Connected to the old (deleted) Microsoft Account email address
2. Connected to the new (existing) MS Live accout
3. Not connected to any account (no email address or disconnect option is showing at all)

If you are connected to the old account, are you able to disconnect?

This fellow wasn't locked out because he took his laptop out to the lake and lost his connection ...

I assume, Shawn, you're referring to the originator of this thread and not to me. And, I apologize if this is the wrong thread for me to be seeking help. But, despite the fact it has a different cause, my problem does seem to be similar:

I created a local Windows account using the same email as my MS Live account.

I deleted the MS Live account, not realizing it would have local implications.

I still can log on locally. But, when I attempt to connect to my Skydrive or change some local settings, the machine asks me to verify an account that no longer exists.

Among the things my machine will no longer let me do (even though I AM able to sign on locally as an administrator):

• Change the user name on my local Windows account.
• Associate my local Windows account with the MS Live account that does exist.
• Change the user name associated with my Skydrive so that I may access it.
• Create a second admin account.

I need somehow to convince my local machine that I have the authority to make the changes that will restore access to my machine.

Is this something you (or any other visitor to this thread) know how to do?

I appreciate your attention to this.

That's completely untrue; you aren't required to check in or sign in with an online account, or have an internet connection. You don't have to use an online account at all, doing so is just an option that provides services just like LastPass systems do for browsers and apps (and I don't see anyone spreading lies about LastPass).

This fellow wasn't locked out because he took his laptop out to the lake and lost his connection, he was locked out because he intentionally created a fake account and doesn't know the password or even the secret question answered to reset it. And it's complicated by the fact that he cannot use the Administrator account because (most likely his OEM) disabled it.

I found this thread while searching for whether Microsoft will lock me out of my new Windows 8.1 laptop when I take it with me to the lake, where I do not have any internet service due to the location being as rural as the USA gets, for watching PVRed shows or DVDs.

It sounds like Microsoft will actually lock me out of my own laptop if it can't talk to them about me.

This whole Windows 8 account scenario is very disturbing, enough so that I may just return this Windows laptop back to Costco for a refund and go with something else that won't tell me "sorry you cannot use me today because i can't talk to Microsoft about it" and/or "Sorry but Microsoft felt like you needed to do something differently with your accounts, so now the account you set up no longer works and you need internet service and a lot of luck to get it working again, and by the way... surprise!"