W10 – This product is licensed to OOPS!

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Since XP died, I have bought or setup 4 W8.1 PC’s, and didn’t have any problems upgrading them to W10.  I retired, and decided to get a laptop for my personal use.  I did not see an option to skip the microsoft account c***, so I gave it the email address that I use as a [decoy]. (see winver output picture)

Imagine my surprise when winver and C:/Users now has SPAM_ in places I have no idea how to correct.  I’ve Googled and searched, but I suspect that I may be using the wrong search argument.  Or, there is no way except to wipe everything and ask how I can avoid a microsoft account when I start over.

Can I fix this without extreme torture?

Thanks,
Steve

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RTEsysadmin

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I dunno.  The picture cut off the bottom, where the address is, even though it has been partially obliterated.  Even if it were complete, it is, as I said, a pit that I lure spam into, only to be erased periodically.  Anyway, I need to change that  little oops before it drives me to distraction.  Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Hi Steve, and welcome!

What I’d do is get an ISO for 1909 from Heidoc (you probably should be updating from 1809, now anyways), for W10 Pro… and do a clean install, off line.

Make a local account by saying you don’t have the required information…

It is easy to do now, since you just got the computer. I’m non-techy, but have done a number of clean installs, and it isn’t difficult (don’t save anything, when given the option)… and not too different than what you’d do to update to the most stable version of W10 right now.

Definitely leave that e-mail and Microsoft account behind you!

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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cmptrgy

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Alternatively, create a new local account – under Accounts > Email & accounts.
Make it admin if required.
Transfer your data to the new user – you probably need to take ownership of the files to / once transferred. You need to be admin to do this.
You will probably have to reinstall some software.
Once everything is working you can delete the old account and data /folders.

Don’t forget to make a full / image backup first.

cheers, Paul

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Ascaris

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Towson_Steve wrote:

Imagine my surprise when winver and C:/Users now has SPAM_ in places I have no idea how to correct. I’ve Googled and searched, but I suspect that I may be using the wrong search argument. Or, there is no way except to wipe everything and ask how I can avoid a microsoft account when I start over. Can I fix this without extreme torture?

Steve – what you describe suggests that you are the victim of one of Microsoft’s endearing little habits, which is to set, without any option, your user name as the first five characters of the eMail address that you used as your MS sign-in for OneDrive and MSLive.

No, I didn’t want that either, and I did succeed in changing it, though not without a fair bit of heartache.  This was not yesterday, so I’m not sure that I could set out the steps that you would need to follow to get a Users <username> that was more to your liking.

Sorry that I can’t be of more help, but it might help if you knew what had happened, and how you arrived where you now are.

Dell E5570 Latitude, Intel Core i5 6440@2.60 GHz, 8.00 GB - Win 10 Pro

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These links may help you out:
Change the Registered Owner Name in Windows 7/8/10

https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/change-the-registered-owner-name-in-windows/

Change “Windows User” Username Displayed in About Windows

https://www.askvg.com/windows-10-tip-change-windows-user-username-displayed-in-about-windows/

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1. Copy/paste the following into Notepad (including the last blank line):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
"RegisteredOrganization"=""
"RegisteredOwner"="make you tear your hair out!"

2. Save the Notepad file as something like registered_owner.reg (not registered_owner.reg.txt).

3. Double-click on the newly-created .REG file and accept the prompts to merge the information into the registry.

4. Run winver again.

Hope this helps…

You can, of course, always change the text for both registered owner… and organization, if you wish.

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rexr, 123rgrosz789, Elly, Philomene123, doriel

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Hey Rick,

Does this change the name of the C:\Users\spam_ folder, or just the winver output?

 

thanks,

Steve

 

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try the “manyme” app. It allows for an unlimited number of disposable emails and has an automatic unsubscribe feature that is helpful when some sites seem to refuse to accept an unsubscribe selection.

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Just to update, I have been unable to return to this problem for the last two weeks – you know how it is, life intrudes.

I am heartened by the response and suggestions, and hope to report back what happens.  I guess I’ll start from  the earliest and work my way through until success rears its head.

I hope everyone is keeping safe.

Steve in Towson, Maryland

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Well I finally started to work on this problem, and I changed the output of winver.  This wasn’t the solution I was really interested in, though.  I want to rename my C:\Users\spam_ folder to C:\Users\Steve  (the 5 characters replacing “spam_”).

I guess it’s going to have to be a wipe and reinstall.

 

Thanks,

Steve

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Towson_Steve wrote:

Hey Rick,

Does this change the name of the C:\Users\spam_ folder, or just the winver output?

 

thanks,

Steve

 

My apologies… I stumbled across your reply by accident (which means that the AskWoody ‘post reply’ email notification service isn’t working as expected).

I’ll be honest… I’ve never ever heard of a ‘C:\Users\spam_ folder’ entity. Your device has an account called ‘spam_ folder’?

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Hey, Rick,

Thanks for replying.

What I’m referring to is, when you first boot the laptop after purchase, you are asked for identifying information.  MS is looking for you to create or use their products and services exclusively by way of creating a MS account.  There used to be a way to refuse them an email/MS account, and rather use a local (?) admin account.  Since I don’t want to get a lot of “spam” from MS (or anyone else), I have been using  a throwaway email address: “spam_eaterxxx@someplacedotcom” – a hypothetical rendition of that address.

W10 used the first 5 letters to create a W10 Users folder for all my future files named, “C:\spam_    .  It was with the intent of changing that folder name that I posted to the Lounge.

It may be a cosmetic thing, but it bugs the c*** out of me.

I expect I’ll have to re-install.  I’m reading up on what to do.  Things have changed so much since my last install.

Steve

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To be able to create a Local ID (instead of a Microsoft ID) on the PC, you have to do the initial setup OFFLINE (disconnected from your network) and select something like a “limited Experience” install. They make it difficult.
They will also ask several times to update in the process of the install, the answer is NO (you are offline). If you allow, you will get the latest (possibly unstable) version of Win10. After you complete the install, you should go through the Settings App THOROUGHLY and make choices about your privacy (particularly pay attention to Windows Update settings) according to your tolerance before you go online.
The computer should activate once you connect to the Internet.

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Ahhh… now I understand. As @PKCano has explained, you need to carry out the Win 10 installation process without connecting to the internet.

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MS will “gitcha” every time!

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Even on Windows 10 Home, you can have multiple user accounts defined. They can all be you, or you can give access to family members or…

The C:\Users\whatever path is based on the “short” username. You could always make a second user account with the short name you want and switch to using that.

This way you wouldn’t have to reinstall applications, redefine printers and whatever… giving the second user account access to your existing files (Documents &c) can be a bit tricky on Windows Home though.

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Well, I feel remiss that I didn’t bring a status back to you guys.  We’re all busy, but it’s no real excuse, really.  Watch one less video and get it done.

I finally did the wipe and reinstall.  The initial setup still demands an email, so I used a straightforward google address, so now my C:\Users folder has a Steve folder for me.  I did what was necessary to make W10 allow a local sign in (Too old to remember what I did – CRS syndrome).  I’m slowly reinstalling various programs ( I refuse to call them apps, dammit, get off my lawn!), so life is returning to normal.

Thanks to all my fellow lounge lizards!

Steve in Towson, Maryland

 

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geekdom

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1. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
2. Click “Reset this PC”. Do not keep your files and settings. Basically, you want to start over again.
3. Disconnect from the internet before beginning the start up configuration. You’ll be offered the option to set up a local account.

 

Group K(ill me now)

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