Linking Windows 10 to Microsoft Account Without Giving Up Local Account on Machine

K

kippur

I'm trying to link my windows 10 product key to my microsoft account without transforming my machine's local login account to a microsoft account. In the Microsoft doc on "Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change," it gives steps for linking product key as:


"1. Select the Start button, select Settings > Update & security > Activation > and then select Add an account. You must be signed in as an administrator to add your Microsoft account; for more information, see Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10.​

2. Enter your Microsoft account and password, and then select Sign in. You’ll also need to enter the password for your local account if the Microsoft account you entered isn’t a connected account.​

3. After you add your Microsoft account, you’ll see Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account on the Activation page."​


Nowhere in this list do the instructions indicate that following these steps will convert the local account into a microsoft login account. Yet when I go to do the "Add a Microsoft Account" step, after logging in with my microsoft account creds, it displays a warning that:


"From here on out, you'll unlock this device using either the password for your Microsoft account or, if you've set one up, your PIN..."​

Uh... no thanks?


So I went through the rigamarole of creating a separate user account, this time using the microsoft account as username from the get-go. Login as that new user, and sure enough, under "Activation" Windows 10 shows up as registered to the microsoft account. Then I go in and change the password to a local one, instead of the same password as the microsoft account, and now the windows 10 activation page no longer says it's linked to the microsoft account.


How do I get the Windows 10 license registered/linked to my microsoft account without allowing my microsoft account credentials to login to the computer? And if that's not possible -- whatever happened to the good ol' security principle of not re-using passwords?

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