Windows 10 This Microsoft Account does not exist

[Howard Walker]

I have three computers on a network. I also have a common account for Skype that worked on them all until Microsoft bought out Skype. Last Monday while logging in to Skype with my usual frequently used and long held username and password, Skype refused to continue until I had entered my Microsoft account username and password. As a result, I ended up with different usernames and passwords on the three machines, some with correct details, and some with different ones. Each time I logged on with my laptop I got a message like "fix your Microsoft account or apps will not work on your other devices".
I could not fix the problem, so I rang Microsoft help line and had a long conversation with an engineer. He decided it was a network problem and rang off, saying that he was not trained to do networks. That was the end of that conversation - except that I wanted to tell him my email address linked to my account was due to close as I had transferred IT suppliers. It finally closed a day or so back, and anyone now contacting it gets a message to tell them why. (lousy Service by British Telecom)
Result - whenever I now try to use any office tool or microsoft related app, I am told to log in again. When I do I get this.

Now as far as I know I don't have more than one Microsoft Account, but I cannot access it at all. Must I get a new one? If so , what happens to my stored files in their cloud? What happens to my purchases and office licences? How long will it be before Microsoft cuts off my programs and I am left high and dry?

 

[Neemobeer]

You can manage your Microsoft account(s) here Link Removed I'm not sure why you have different accounts on each computer except you created different ones. I would suggest changing the account type on each to "Local Account", then switch it back to a Microsoft account and use the same account on each device. Once that is complete you can move any data to the correct account profile.

 

[Howard Walker]

Only one problem - if you don't know your account name or password then you cannot log in on this page.
Luckily I had previously managed to log in to an account that I did not know existed, made a guess at the password and was able to reset my phone, email and telephone numbers.Just got to go through my other computers and log in to finalize things. Hope that this will not end up in my machines being synced, as they are all used for different purposes, and only one has email access.

Google has it right. Yesterday I picked up a very old and unused for two years tablet and logged in to Google. 5 minutes later I got a phone call to ask if this was me logging in using this unknown device. Now that's what I call great technology.
The Microsoft Account page page could do with some better UX but it does have the info required. Thanks for letting me know Neembeer.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi,
Well, Microsoft bought Skype back in May 2011, over 5 years ago, so that's quite old news. It's unlikely you had problems this recently due to that switchover. It's more likely that you had a problem with using different types of accounts in W10 and that's causing the issue with your MS account. Also, you posted your problem in the W10 forum here, does that mean that all 3 of your computers have W10 on them? Or do you have a mix of computers with different versions of windows, such as 1-W10, 1-W8.1, 1-W7? It would be helpful to know that.

More importantly, you need to understand the difference between a Local Login Account in W10 and a Microsoft Account Login in W10. The main difference is, that with a Local Login, you use whatever account you want to login to W10 with no associated E-mail address. Such as "FRED JONES" and a password. You can still get to your W10 desktop, programs, data, and even to your Internet. HOWEVER, and this is a big however, with a Microsoft Account login which you would have to had associated with an E-mail address and password that's actively working when you setup 1 or more of your computers, this allows access to your computer as the Local Login account does as just described, but in ADDITION, you would then have complete access to the Microsoft Universe, primarily their App Store to purchase or download media content in the Microsoft Apps Store such as music, movies, and Xbox games, etc.

If you had to change the E-mail address on your Microsoft Account login as you described due to an ISP change, you would need to go to the Manage Account option once logged into your Microsoft Account on at least 1 of those 3 computers you have, and preferably using a computer that had W10 on it. This is just as neemobeer suggested to you in his Post above. So, if your old Microsoft account had an E-mail address of [email protected] for example, you would need to CHANGE your primary E-mail account in your Microsoft account seetings to your new ISP E-mail address; for example: [email protected]. Once this is done, you should then be able to login to your Microsoft account with your new Microsoft Account from any of your 3 computers, regardless of which ones or even all 3 of them have W10 on them!

Further, you need to check your new ISP E-mail address and verify that it is working, and you can log into it from a browser on all of your computers. Microsoft will send you a verification E-mail request to that new E-mail address, and you must go into your Microsoft account from one of your computers and click on the verification link. If you do not do this, your new E-mail address will show UNVERIFIED next to it in your Microsoft account settings, and things won't work properly such as syncing between W10 accounts, and NO ability to purchase/download things from the Microsoft store. This will also include the ability to use your Skype account--until you complete this verification process of your new E-mail address. If for any reason you don't have that new E-mail address from your new ISP yet, or you didn't go through the verification process, you'll continue to get error messages on all 3 computers you own, and any other computers you use such as a friend's, co-worker's, library computer, etc. The Microsoft tech you had really didn't know networking nor how W10 Accounts work, he probably assumed you already knew it, or simply couldn't explain it to you. This entire Local Account vs. Microsoft Account thing is COMPLETELY NEW TO W10! Most folks don't understand it unless you have experience working in a corporate business network where they have you use a network Domain login to access corporate resources on their network--the W10 account login paradigm is very similar.

Now that you understand the difference between Local Accounts and Microsoft Accounts in W10--this will be easier for you to fix. At this point, when you switch back to Local Accounts on all your W10 computers as neem suggests, and you've verified your Microsoft Account works with a browser to login manually to your account on at least 1 of your W10 computers, you MUST then switch over any other W10 computers you have. If you have 2-W10 computers for example, you have to switch both of them to Local Logins and access the Internet with them and verify you can do this. If you have all 3 of your computers that are W10; you must do this with all 3 computers. Quite simple, really. Once you have done that, you then simply choose your W10 computer, or one of your W10 computers if you have more than 1; and login into it using the local login as you would need to create on all your W10 computers as above; for example, the FREDJONES account example above. You then go into W10 settings and switch your login type back to Microsoft Account login, it will reboot your W10 PC and you can then use your browser to confirm your Internet connection, and even go into the Microsoft store. At that point, I would immediately go to the MS App Store and purchase a low-cost item like an old music album or movie say $10 or less. Make sure it processes your credit card, download the media and play it. If it works, everything including your new E-mail address on your Microsoft Account Login is now working and you're good to go on any and all other W10 computers!

Here comes the difficult part; if you have any of the other 2 computers also running W10, you'll have to repeat the process I described in the paragraph above--which is a more detailed explanation of what neem suggested you do in his Post. If either or both of your other 2 computers fail to work as the first W10 computer did then those W10 computers are borked and must be repaired or replaced! Most likely, they have become corrupted, or infected by a virus/malware, or suffered a hardware failure such as bad RAM stick(s) or faulty Hard Drive. You will need to apply Hardware testing to each of them, and probably do W10 Clean Installs on them or reinstall completely using Factory Recovery Media (DVD or USB). If you don't have W10 install media, you can download the free MCT tool from Microsoft here: Link Removed
If you can't get that to work, and you don't have or can't create factory Recovery Media for your computer(s), you can buy it directly from the computer maker for $29-$99 US and then reinstall your W10 on your computer(s).

P.S. When you are testing your first W10 on your newly verified Microsoft Account Login, it would be a good idea for you to test your Skype Account to see if it still works or not on that first W10 computer. If it does, you're good to go with Skype. Remember, to test Skype on each of your other W10 computers as well to make sure it works on those too. If it doesn't, there is probably something borked on that other computer(s) and they may have to be rebuilt as above.

Finally, if you don't have experience rebuilding computers from scratch and reinstalling W10 OS, you might want to consider taking them to your local licensed Computer Pro and paying him to do it for you.

Best of luck,
Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions.

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[Howard Walker]

Hi,
Well, Microsoft bought Skype back in May 2011, over 5 years ago, so that's quite old news. It's unlikely you had problems this recently due to that switchover. It's more likely that you had a problem with using different types of accounts in W10 and that's causing the issue with your MS account. Also, you posted your problem in the W10 forum here, does that mean that all 3 of your computers have W10 on them? Or do you have a mix of computers with different versions of windows, such as 1-W10, 1-W8.1, 1-W7? It would be helpful to know that.

More importantly, you need to understand the difference between a Local Login Account in W10 and a Microsoft Account Login in W10. The main difference is, that with a Local Login, you use whatever account you want to login to W10 with no associated E-mail address. Such as "FRED JONES" and a password. You can still get to your W10 desktop, programs, data, and even to your Internet. HOWEVER, and this is a big however, with a Microsoft Account login which you would have to had associated with an E-mail address and password that's actively working when you setup 1 or more of your computers, this allows access to your computer as the Local Login account does as just described, but in ADDITION, you would then have complete access to the Microsoft Universe, primarily their App Store to purchase or download media content in the Microsoft Apps Store such as music, movies, and Xbox games, etc.

If you had to change the E-mail address on your Microsoft Account login as you described due to an ISP change, you would need to go to the Manage Account option once logged into your Microsoft Account on at least 1 of those 3 computers you have, and preferably using a computer that had W10 on it. This is just as neemobeer suggested to you in his Post above. So, if your old Microsoft account had an E-mail address of [email protected] for example, you would need to CHANGE your primary E-mail account in your Microsoft account seetings to your new ISP E-mail address; for example: [email protected]. Once this is done, you should then be able to login to your Microsoft account with your new Microsoft Account from any of your 3 computers, regardless of which ones or even all 3 of them have W10 on them!

Further, you need to check your new ISP E-mail address and verify that it is working, and you can log into it from a browser on all of your computers. Microsoft will send you a verification E-mail request to that new E-mail address, and you must go into your Microsoft account from one of your computers and click on the verification link. If you do not do this, your new E-mail address will show UNVERIFIED next to it in your Microsoft account settings, and things won't work properly such as syncing between W10 accounts, and NO ability to purchase/download things from the Microsoft store. This will also include the ability to use your Skype account--until you complete this verification process of your new E-mail address. If for any reason you don't have that new E-mail address from your new ISP yet, or you didn't go through the verification process, you'll continue to get error messages on all 3 computers you own, and any other computers you use such as a friend's, co-worker's, library computer, etc. The Microsoft tech you had really didn't know networking nor how W10 Accounts work, he probably assumed you already knew it, or simply couldn't explain it to you. This entire Local Account vs. Microsoft Account thing is COMPLETELY NEW TO W10! Most folks don't understand it unless you have experience working in a corporate business network where they have you use a network Domain login to access corporate resources on their network--the W10 account login paradigm is very similar.

Now that you understand the difference between Local Accounts and Microsoft Accounts in W10--this will be easier for you to fix. At this point, when you switch back to Local Accounts on all your W10 computers as neem suggests, and you've verified your Microsoft Account works with a browser to login manually to your account on at least 1 of your W10 computers, you MUST then switch over any other W10 computers you have. If you have 2-W10 computers for example, you have to switch both of them to Local Logins and access the Internet with them and verify you can do this. If you have all 3 of your computers that are W10; you must do this with all 3 computers. Quite simple, really. Once you have done that, you then simply choose your W10 computer, or one of your W10 computers if you have more than 1; and login into it using the local login as you would need to create on all your W10 computers as above; for example, the FREDJONES account example above. You then go into W10 settings and switch your login type back to Microsoft Account login, it will reboot your W10 PC and you can then use your browser to confirm your Internet connection, and even go into the Microsoft store. At that point, I would immediately go to the MS App Store and purchase a low-cost item like an old music album or movie say $10 or less. Make sure it processes your credit card, download the media and play it. If it works, everything including your new E-mail address on your Microsoft Account Login is now working and you're good to go on any and all other W10 computers!

Here comes the difficult part; if you have any of the other 2 computers also running W10, you'll have to repeat the process I described in the paragraph above--which is a more detailed explanation of what neem suggested you do in his Post. If either or both of your other 2 computers fail to work as the first W10 computer did then those W10 computers are borked and must be repaired or replaced! Most likely, they have become corrupted, or infected by a virus/malware, or suffered a hardware failure such as bad RAM stick(s) or faulty Hard Drive. You will need to apply Hardware testing to each of them, and probably do W10 Clean Installs on them or reinstall completely using Factory Recovery Media (DVD or USB). If you don't have W10 install media, you can download the free MCT tool from Microsoft here: Link Removed
If you can't get that to work, and you don't have or can't create factory Recovery Media for your computer(s), you can buy it directly from the computer maker for $29-$99 US and then reinstall your W10 on your computer(s).

P.S. When you are testing your first W10 on your newly verified Microsoft Account Login, it would be a good idea for you to test your Skype Account to see if it still works or not on that first W10 computer. If it does, you're good to go with Skype. Remember, to test Skype on each of your other W10 computers as well to make sure it works on those too. If it doesn't, there is probably something borked on that other computer(s) and they may have to be rebuilt as above.

Finally, if you don't have experience rebuilding computers from scratch and reinstalling W10 OS, you might want to consider taking them to your local licensed Computer Pro and paying him to do it for you.

Best of luck,
Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions.

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

Well that's nice to know and thanks for telling me! Bet 99% of the world does not know that very important fact. Seems to be the typical approach these days. If you bought it you could do what you liked with it, but if you rent it then you may as well forget about using it how you like. Get a free OS and pay for everything else.

Now as suggested I tried to log in to Skype on my freshly refreshed number 1 computer (by the way, they all run windows 10, all the same version and update is automatic (or was), 2 under local accounts and one under Microsoft ones).

Skype? What happens? Skype is not working. Windows will try to work out why and will let you know if a solution is available. Then nothing.
I never bought anything on the windows store as I don't trust the net with my credit card since my email was hacked a couple of years ago.

Back to the story - its getting deeper still. When I tried to log into Skype a second time, it would not accept my Microsoft account password, so I tried a reset. The code that I got back was not associated with my primary account email, or even with my newly activated one, but with my telephone's email address.

As far as I knew, never the twain should meet.

It asked me if I wanted to remove my new email address from my phone's G mail account. I had removed the Microsoft account from my phone some weeks back as I was getting lots of adverts coming through it. Its an android phone and why should that need a Microsoft account? Its all too complicated for me to follow, despite the instructions given above, and I am not surprised that the Microsoft call center gent gave up trying.

So now I have three different email addresses associated with my account. the proper one, the old none working one, and a G mail account that no longer has access to Microsoft.

I need to start over, and would have thought that Microsoft would have been able to sort it out for me, but they either cannot or will not.
They refuse to tell me how to ditch my original email address from their system, even though it no longer works. There must be hundreds of people with changed or non-functional email accounts changing every day, yet there is nothing about this on the manage accounts page. Could it be that Microsoft thinks that people never change their email providers?

Despite the explanation above, I still do not appreciate the difference between a Microsoft account and a local account, nor do I see why Microsoft think that email on a computer is compulsory. I use my other machines for important work that never needs email, nor the viruses that are inevitably associated with email accounts. One wide open door is enough. I know that from experience.

Prior to inventing such concepts, and then insisting everyone in the world should have to use and understand them, it would have been better to explain all this in words that the common man can understand. I have been programming computers and web sites since 1977, when Microsoft was just a concept, and I could ring them up and ask a question about MS dos, and they had no call center. Nowadays they seem to be getting too big and don't care anymore. Thanks for your help guys. Much appreciated. Will study it in depth in the hope that the whole sorry mess can be sorted - though I doubt it will. Back to Linux?

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I'm a little confused, I have 4 devices, two Windows 10, one Apple, and one that is Androd.

They all have Skype installed, and I can log into Skype on any of them using my Windows account email address and password.

It doesn't seem to matter what I'm logged in as on any of them, just open Skype, enter my email and password and it connects, I don't think it has to do with any account or password on the individual device, it just enters your detail to the Skype server.

If I was to go to my friends house and log into Skype on his computer using my email and password, it is my account that would open, with my addresses in the contacts list etc.

You should only see one Skype account for all your devices.

Is it possible that you have multiple Micosoft accounts on your devices and set up a different Skype account on each of them instead of just logging into your existing account?

I have a pay Skype account so I only want to use one account.

Mike

 

[Howard Walker]

You are not the only one Mike. It would seem that as my old email address, which was the base one for my Microsoft account, is now defunct, and I added a new one to my profile, two computers and my phone are using the old email as an account and the other (my main one) is using the new account email. I can log in using the new email on any machine, but the profile info showing is different on one to another. I have put in a support request to Microsoft and they say an engineer will be talking to me soon. Let you know the solution.