The local account tax

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There is a term often used when buying a computer called the “Apple tax.” It means that once you move into the Apple ecosystem, things are more expens
[See the full post at: The local account tax]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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katiedid, jburk07, windbg, Cybertooth, PL1, WSRobF228, Kathy Stevens

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“setup to Setup for work or school…”

“Then click on Domain join instead..”

Maybe I’m just behind the times.  It would never occur to me to do anything regarding joining a domain with respect to a standalone system!

Its hard not to believe that this misleading procedure from Microsoft isn’t intended to push users into a Microsoft Account.

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lmacri

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It’s not. This is just the “legacy” setup flow.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Pro is worth every penny over Home for this and many other reasons too many to count.

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PerthMike

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I have never used Pro in my business or at home and have never needed it. I used Enterprise all the time professionally.

cheers, Paul

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What is the difference in term of price for a new computer with Win 11 Home vs the same computer with Win 11 Pro ?

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It’s hard to quantify because machines with Pro tend to be higher spec. If you were buying retail it would be $60 – $100.

cheers, Paul

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Maybe a strange question but does enabling Domain use turn on any other services or internals that I would be forced to leave on that I might otherwise normally disable for extra security or when I use the Decrapifier script on new installs.

Or once I have my local account I’m back to my same total control anyway without any fuss from Microsoft Account hooks.

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Maybe this approach is useful for some people.  I have three PCs and all are linked to Microsoft accounts.  If a system needs an upgrade or a fresh install of Windows, there is never any problem as the Windows key is linked to the account.  Although, none of the systems use Bitlocker, it’s important to note that if you link to a Microsoft account, you don’t have to worry about a lost Bitlocker key.

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b

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This approach is for anyone who must have a local account and no password. It’s easy peasy to have your setup with a pro sku.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Why does anybody told us about this before !

I’m on Windows 10 planning to buy a new computer and I’ve been reading and taking notes

of all the hacks and methods to have a Win11 local account !!

Thank’s Suzan.

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I’ve always used Pro, I’ve never used a Microsoft user account (although I do use OneDrive, it signs on online), and I’ve never found a reason to avoid using a PIN to log in, or to bypass the login process. It ain’t that big a deal.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

I’ve always used Pro, I’ve never used a Microsoft user account (although I do use OneDrive, it signs on online), and I’ve never found a reason to avoid using a PIN to log in, or to bypass the login process. It ain’t that big a deal.

Some people have another security measure that requires entry before any boot process, making Windows protection redundant. Not to mention, Windows login has always been easily cracked. Personally, I use https://www.exlade.com/en/disk-password-protection/

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PL1 wrote:

Some people have another security measure that requires entry before any boot process, making Windows protection redundant.

In 2001 I had a HDD password set in BIOS on my Dell Latitude D800. Worked fine until my keyboard crapped out with the weird effect of sticking keys (kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…) without the keys actually sticking. Took me a minute to get past that one. I wound up holding down the backspace key while typing in the password. Took several tries.

Secure Boot is a bit more user-friendly, but I’ll stick with logging into Windows with my PIN. I also disable Bitlocker in services. We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don’t need anyone’s approval, and we don’t all have to do the same things.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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n0ads

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bbearren wrote:

In 2001 I had a HDD password set in BIOS on my Dell Latitude D800.

It’s just that it is easy to take the drive out and boot it on another machine. That’s why I don’t see a BIOS PW as being very secure.

bbearren wrote:

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don’t need anyone’s approval, and we don’t all have to do the same things.

Absolutely! Just pointing some weaknesses if you are trying to protect from bad actors.

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PL1 wrote:

Just pointing some weaknesses if you are trying to protect from bad actors.

What are the weaknesses if “bad actors” (in my case) have unfettered access to my home and my PC? What’s the point of extra protection? There are no guarantees for any security system.

I feel reasonably safe and secure in my home. I feel reasonably certain that no one is going to steal my laptop, because I’m either using it, it’s in its case slung over my shoulder, or it’s at home. Again, We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don’t need anyone’s approval, and we don’t all have to do the same things.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

I feel reasonably certain that no one is going to steal my laptop, because I’m either using it, it’s in its case slung over my shoulder, or it’s at home.

You never drive or fly with it then?

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b wrote:

You never drive or fly with it then?

Last time I flew was 1967. I vary rarely take my laptop anywhere, but I drive with the doors locked and the A/C on. If I’m driving with my laptop, it’s a particular drive, which means the laptop is not gonna be left in the car; I’ll be using it.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Tom in Az, b

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Just recently set up a new Lenovo with Win 11 24H2 Home on it.  Didn’t have any trouble setting up with local no-password account following instructions online everywhere.  It does have a problem that it won’t let me browse any public folders on other Win computers on my lan without a local password on the account, though I have some regedit fix that I haven’t applied yet that’s supposed to work around this.

 

I did have (I think after the latest monthly update) an issue where my wifi connection to my lan was flipped from “private” to “public”.  Was wondering why MS firewall was popping up on installed apps but didn’t realize until I couldn’t access the public folders on this machine from other ones on the lan what had happened.   I don’t know that the update did it, but can’t think of anything else.

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