Microsoft Account conflicts

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

Hi there,
I'm signing in to my new laptop with a Microsoft account & there is only 1 account visible on my login screen. .. However when I look in explorer C Drive/Users
I can see 2 accounts "gebau" & "gordon".

This may have occurred because I have a cloned SSD in the laptop???

I was having issues with One Drive & Microsoft 365 conflicts so did a repair install of Windows 11? I've also removed Microsoft 365 & was about to remove One Drive completely & start again.

Questions
Q1 I think the c:/users/gebaus is the microsoft account because this is the same & only account on my Desktop PC.
How can I confirm this is the case?

c:/users/gebarb has a One Drive folder which has about 30 files in it - if "gebaus" is the current account II'm not sure whats happenned with gebaus/OneDrive data

my One Drive cloud icon (Gordon-Personal) in Explorer is currently pointing to C:/Users/Gordon
The One Drive folder here has 116Gb data showing

I'm totally confused? so any help much appreciated

I'm happy to remove One Drive & start again with Microsoft 365 & One Drive

If necessary - I'm happy to start from scratch & do a new clean install

FreeBooter · Jun 23, 2024

Please open the Command Prompt and execute net users command to view list of all user account on Windows 11 if you can post the screenshot of the Command Prompt at your next post for us.

glasskuter · Jun 23, 2024

Welcome to the forum.
1. So you have 3 accounts in C:\users: Gordon, gebarb, and gebaus. IS THAT CORRECT? If so it appears you have 2 MS accounts and one local account.

2. Are all 3 users your accounts or does some belong to other family members.?

3. Which MS account, gebarb or gebaus did you use to purchase 365?

4. Do you want all 3 users to have access to 365? If so did you share your subscription by sending the other users an invitation to join your 365 membership? (Everyone's files will be jumbled together otherwise)

All this information is pertinent to how it must be handled .Depending on what you've done, everyone's files may well be going into one Onedrive account.
Those questions must be answered before we can tell you how to straighten it out.

Spunk · Jun 23, 2024

To know what Profile you are logged into, click the Start Button, in the lower area below the apps, it will show you the login name.
When logged into a Microsoft Profile, it takes the first 6 letters of the Email address you logged in with to Windows and/or Office 365.
If no other users are using the computer, you can remove the unwanted profile.

As asked previously, do you have 2 separate Microsoft Account (Email Addresses) you used to login to Windows and to get Office 365?

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

FreeBooter said:
Please open the Command Prompt and execute net users command to view list of all user account on Windows 11 if you can post the screenshot of the Command Prompt at your next post for us.

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

glasskuter said:
Welcome to the forum.
1. So you have 3 accounts in C:\users: Gordon, gebarb, and gebaus. IS THAT CORRECT? If so it appears you have 2 MS accounts and one local account.

2. Are all 3 users your accounts or does some belong to other family members.?

3. Which MS account, gebarb or gebaus did you use to purchase 365?

4. Do you want all 3 users to have access to 365? If so did you share your subscription by sending the other users an invitation to join your 365 membership? (Everyone's files will be jumbled together otherwise)

All this information is pertinent to how it must be handled .Depending on what you've done, everyone's files may well be going into one Onedrive account.
Those questions must be answered before we can tell you how to straighten it out.

1. 2 accounts in users (not 3 sorry) 1. "Gordon" & 2. "gebaus" (which is the 5 letter truncation of the email I used to purchase 365) + Public, Administrator & Default accts
2. Both these accounts are mine ie laptop is not shared with other family members
3. gebaus@
4. no- ultimately just want 1 user (the correct 1) to access 365 (& One Drive). I have shared my subscription but that is to 2 other family members on 2 totally seperate laptops

hope this helps ..many thanks for getting back to me

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

Spunk said:
To know what Profile you are logged into, click the Start Button, in the lower area below the apps, it will show you the login name.
When logged into a Microsoft Profile, it takes the first 6 letters of the Email address you logged in with to Windows and/or Office 365.
If no other users are using the computer, you can remove the unwanted profile.

settings/system/accounts shows Gordon B then my email that I purchased Microsoft 365 with (gebaus@....) & Administrator

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

Spunk said:
As asked previously, do you have 2 separate Microsoft Account (Email Addresses) you used to login to Windows and to get Office 365?

Not that I'm aware of ie the current Microsoft 365 Acct is gebaus@.

glasskuter · Jun 23, 2024

1. OK, first clear me up on the account named gebarb you mentioned in your first post? You stated that account had 30 files in its Onedrive folder. Then you said you had only 2 accounts in C:\users. Where exactly do you see these 30 files for gebarb?
Go to C:\users\Is or is there not an account in the Users folder named gebarb? If YES, Let me know this before going to step 2. (I have the suspicion that you are using this gebarb@xxx account to sync all the files in the Gordon account to Onedrive.)

2. Since you already have gebaus@xxx set up as an an account, this is the account tied to 365, and this is the account you want to use, the most straightforward way to deal with this is to move all the files from Gordon account to new debaus@xxx user account. If you follow these steps you can do that. It will take a while to move 116gb of data. Once you do, that 116 gb of data will be synced to Onedrive with gebaus@xxx

DO THIS WHILE LOGGED INTO GORDON ACCOUNT

A. Using an external drive create folders named desktop, documents, pictures, videos, downloads, music.
Open the Gordon user folders and Copy and paste all the files and secondary folders from Gordon account into these newly created folders on the external drive. .
Note: It is very important to use COPY so you can avoid any permission problems on these files

B. Export all your browser bookmarks to a file and save to external drive. Make note of your browser extensions. The bookmarks can be imported into the browser in your new account and browser extensions reinstalled. If you don’t have record of passwords saved in your browser, you’ll need to make a note of those too. If you don’t know how to find them in your browser, tell us what browser you use and we can help you.

C. (Windows HOME) Turn off device encryption if it is currently on. Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 11 Tutorial
(Windows PRO) turn off standard Bitlocker. Turn Off BitLocker for Drive in Windows 11 Tutorial

D. Go to Settings>Users>other users make sure that the gebaus@xxxx account is an Administrator Account. If it's not change it to Administrator. (very important)
To the right of the gbaus user name click down arrow. Select Change account type.
Click arrow to right of standard user and select Administrator.

E . Restart computer. Log in the the gebaus@xxx account

DO THIS FROM GEBAUS@xxx ACCOUNT

F. If this is the first time you've logged into that account, your desktop will be created.
COPY and PASTE the files you saved to the external media into the personal folders of this new account. These files will be uploaded to Onedrive .
Import browser bookmarks and reinstall extensions.
All settings in the new account will have to be set up new.

G. Once everything is correct in new account, delete the old Gordon account. Settings>Accounts>Other Users>Click the down arrow next to your old account name and click Remove.

H. This new gebaus account should be automatically synced to Onedrive. You can verify that by right clicking on one of the user folders>select properties>location tab. Only documents, desktop, pictures, and videos default to Onedrive.

I. If indeed your old Gordon account was synced to Onedrive using a MS account named gebarb, those are the files you copied. They will also be saved in the cloud using that gebarb account until you login to Onedrive on the web using that gebarb@xxx account and delete them.

J. You can now turn on Bitlocker Drive Encryption (or Bitlocker) if you wish and it will be registered to this new debaus account. Use tutorials in step C. Make note of new bitlocker key and keep it in a safe place.

I hope I haven't overlooked anything. Let me know if you have any questions. I know it is a lot of steps but to keep everything tied to this new MS account, it's the only way I know to do it.

gearloose · Jun 23, 2024

ok thanks for getting back to me again.

My mistake glasskuter
confirming there is NO "gebarb" Acct.
that sentence should have read "c:/users/gebau has a One Drive folder which has about 30 files in it"
Thus there are 2 accts only "gebau" & "Gordon"

hopefully this makes the solution easier
Apols again

gearloose · Jun 24, 2024

gearloose said:
ok thanks for getting back to me again.

My mistake glasskuter
confirming there is NO "gebarb" Acct.
that sentence should have read "c:/users/gebau has a One Drive folder which has about 30 files in it"
Thus there are 2 accts only "gebau" & "Gordon"

hopefully this makes the solution easier
Apols again

PS On my existing Desktop PC (NOT the new notebook that I'm having the issues with) - I have 1 account only ie C:/Users/Gebau/OneDrive. This is my everyday computer & the account has ALL my files in it (116GB & 45,958 files). This is effectively what I need to replicate on the notebook.

Am I best to start from scratch ie a total new Win 11 install on the notebook using Microsoft Acct ie gebaus@...., add Microsoft 365, set up OneDrive again? I've probably only got 10 extra programs to install + Printer etc?

glasskuter · Jun 24, 2024

.

gearloose said:
PS On my existing Desktop PC (NOT the new notebook that I'm having the issues with) - I have 1 account only ie C:/Users/Gebau/OneDrive. This is my everyday computer & the account has ALL my files in it (116GB & 45,958 files). This is effectively what I need to replicate on the notebook.

Am I best to start from scratch ie a total new Win 11 install on the notebook using Microsoft Acct ie gebaus@...., add Microsoft 365, set up OneDrive again? I've probably only got 10 extra programs to install + Printer etc?

This changes everything. I was not aware you were using this gebaus account on another computer and syncing to onedrive. You won't have to copy any files. Here would be my revised instructions:

Login to Gordon account.
Only if you are not syncing your browser settings, Export all your browser bookmarks to a file and save to external drive. Make note of your browser extensions. The bookmarks can be imported into the browser in your new account and browser extensions reinstalled. If you don’t have record of passwords saved in your browser, you’ll need to make a note of those too. If you don’t know how to find them in your browser, tell us what browser you use and we can help you.

Turn off bitlocker.
(Windows HOME) Turn off device encryption if it is currently on. Turn On or Off Device Encryption in Windows 11 Tutorial
(Windows PRO) turn off standard Bitlocker. Turn Off BitLocker for Drive in Windows 11 Tutorial

Go to Settings>Users>other users make sure that the gebaus@xxxx account is an Administrator Account. If it's not change it to Administrator. (very important)
To the right of the gebaus user name click down arrow. Select Change account type.
Click arrow to right of standard user and select Administrator.

Unlink Gordon account and PC from Onedrive Unlink Account and PC from OneDrive in Windows 11 Tutorial

Restart and login to gebaus account.

Link gebaus account and PC to Onedrive if it's not linked already (same tutorial as above except you're linking instead of unlinking)

Turn on onedrive backup folder syncing if it's not already turned on
Turn On or Off OneDrive Folder Backup Syncing Across Windows 11 Devices Tutorial
The files you are syncing from your desktop should automatically sync to the laptop. You won't have to move any files.

delete the old Gordon account. Settings>Accounts>Other Users>Click the down arrow next to your old account name and click Remove.

You can now turn back on Bitlocker Drive Encryption (or Bitlocker) if you wish and it will be registered to this new debaus account. Use tutorials above. Make note of new bitlocker key and keep it in a safe place.
That should be it.

gearloose · Jun 24, 2024

Many thanks glasskuter - I will give this a shot & work through these steps later tonight.
I have a few initial comments/questions though.

1. I'm not synching browser settings atm - so am happy to leave this 1st step out. I assume that browser settings will get picked up when everything is resynched?

2. I don't see a settings/Users/other Users? that you mention above

In my Windows 11 settings - I can go to /Accounts/Your info/Account Settings... but then I only see 1 Account?
This account has the following info
"Gordon"
"gebaus@......" &
"Administrator"

There are no other accounts. however I have an option to "sign in with a local account"

If I follow through the steps for this its asking me to set up a new local account (Name/password etc) or sign in with local user account (which I don't believe I have?)

gearloose · Jun 24, 2024

Hi again g
As I work through the solution I seem to still have 20+ questions/unknowns with this duplicate accounts issue.
To be honest it just shouldn't be this difficult (for home users).

If I go down the total clean re-install Windows 11 track, 1) can you point me to the correct installer/instructions & 2) how do I find my existing Windows key? Will the new install pick it automatically or do I need to run something like Belarc advisor?

thks again in advance

Spunk · Jun 24, 2024

Modern Computers use UEFI Bios, this stores the Microsoft key in the Bios, so, when you reinstall, you do not need to type in the product key.

Browse to C:\Users\Gordon. Open each of the folders (ie) Documents, Desktop, Downloads and OneDrive. If there are any of those files you want to keep, move them from those respected folders and paste them into gebaus perspective folders (ie) Documents to Documents etc.

You can leave the Gordon account there if you like, or you can remove it.
go to Search and type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. Go to the Advanced tab.
Under User Profiles click the Settings button
Select Gordon profile and press the Delete button. Press OK You will not be able to delete the profile you are logged into.
Restart the computer.

Personally, I would disable OneDrive of uninstall it all together. It seems to cause more issues.

glasskuter · Jun 24, 2024

Spunk said:
Browse to C:\Users\Gordon. Open each of the folders (ie) Documents, Desktop, Downloads and OneDrive. If there are any of those files you want to keep, move them from those respected folders and paste them into gebaus perspective folders (ie) Documents to Documents etc.

Sorry, but that is incorrect. First of all you can not move files from one account to the other. Second of all, even if you could, it would get you in a world of hurt with permissions.
When getting files from one account to another they first have to be copied to external media.

Spunk · Jun 24, 2024

If you are logged in as an Administrator. When you click on another users profile you will get the message "You Do not have permission to access this folder" If you click OK it will open the users profile.
You then can copy and paste the files to the profile you are logged into or to an External Drive and then to your User Profile.

glasskuter · Jun 24, 2024

gearloose said:
f I go down the total clean re-install Windows 11 track, 1) can you point me to the correct installer/instructions & 2) how do I find my existing Windows key? Will the new install pick it automatically or do I need to run something like Belarc advisor?

You do not need a windows key. In your case, it is a new laptop so the installation process reads the oem key stored in UEFI and installs the appropriate version of Windows.
Another option to clean install is reset and remove everything. In your case, I believe it is the better option. It starts you over from square one. Asus had a really good tutorial about that.

[Windows 11/10] How to Reset (Reinstall) the Operating System | Official Support | ASUS USA

clean install- Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

.

gearloose · Jun 24, 2024

Spunk said:
Modern Computers use UEFI Bios, this stores the Microsoft key in the Bios, so, when you reinstall, you do not need to type in the product key.

Browse to C:\Users\Gordon. Open each of the folders (ie) Documents, Desktop, Downloads and OneDrive. If there are any of those files you want to keep, move them from those respected folders and paste them into gebaus perspective folders (ie) Documents to Documents etc.

You can leave the Gordon account there if you like, or you can remove it.
go to Search and type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. Go to the Advanced tab.
Under User Profiles click the Settings button
Select Gordon profile and press the Delete button. Press OK You will not be able to delete the profile you are logged into.
Restart the computer.

Personally, I would disable OneDrive of uninstall it all together. It seems to cause more issues.

HI there
thanks for getting back to me

I think I've progressed...a little! I disabled OneDrive & then re-enabled(on the laptop). During the set up I was able to select my OneDrive folder. It was defaulting to c:\Users\Gordon\OneDrive But I was able to change it to C\Users\Gebau\OneDrive.

Thats definitely a win! BUT...as it starts to sign in I get error message. "there was a problem signing you in try again in a few minutes". Unfortunately I've done this a dozen times & get the same message. This must be because of the 2 conflicting Profiles?

Note -when I log into OneDrive.live.com on my PC- all files are there inc a couple of test files I saved yesterday So one drive on the cloud is fine. Can I uninstall OneDrive from the laptop all together? (I understand its part of Windows 11) & if yes is there a particular way to uninstall it OR can I just use Revo Uninstaller?

Then can I remove the Gordon Profile as per your instructions above -I'm assuming this to be a Windows profile as opposed to just a OneDrive Account? so will this process delete the c:\Users\Gordon\OneDrive folder as well?

then can I re-install OneDrive from scratch?

gearloose · Jun 24, 2024

Also in relation to your advice:-
"Browse to C:\Users\Gordon. Open each of the folders (ie) Documents, Desktop, Downloads and OneDrive. If there are any of those files you want to keep, move them from those respected folders and paste them into gebaus perspective folders (ie) Documents to Documents etc."

These files seem to be everything that is on my OneDrive.live.com account so in theory I shouldn't have to copy them across to C\Users\Gebau\OneDrive\Documents etc is that correct?

ie they would all re-synch from the cloud (OneDrive.live.com) once I re-install OneDrive & point it to Gebau\OneDrive folder? Yes?