Live by the cloud …

.. die by the cloud.  My new mantra after yesterday!

As mentioned many times, this computer dual boots Ubuntu and Windows 10.  Most of the time, I use Ubuntu but it was a rainy morning and I thought I’d spend some time poking around with Small Basic just for the heck of it.

I reboot the computer to get to Windows and go to log in like I’ve done a zillion times.  Only this time, I get this.

Now, I didn’t notice it at first.  When you type your password, you expect to see the computer desktop shortly.  When it doesn’t happen, chances are your fingers are playing games on you and you misspelled the password.

Who reads error messages anyway?

I just whack the enter key and type my password again.

Same message.  Could I have screwed up my password twice?  Caps lock on?  Nope.  Hmmmm.

I do what any rational computer user would do.  I type it again, slower, and with a little more force from my fingers.

Same message.

Next step is the next rational computer user step.  I type it again, this time speaking the letters out loud to reinforce that I’m doing it right.  Thankfully, I was the only person in the room.

Same message.

So, now I’m starting to get a little worried and take a picture.  That error message is a little long to remember.  This would be the perfect time to implement this.  “Microsoft seems to be making a clever change to its dreaded Blue Screen of Death in Windows 10“.  At least, I now have a picture of the error message that I could do a Google, er, Bing search for and get a solution.  But, that would require rebooting the computer to an operating system that works.

Besides, I’m a computer type of guy.  I should be able to figure it out.

For the first time, I read the message.  It contains completely useless advice.  *I* am the Network Administrator!  What good would talking to myself do? 

My mind starts going through the usual bit of trouble shooting steps – Windows users will recognize that Safe Mode or a Recovery Disk would be two options.  They both seem to be a little bit of over reaction for a password problem. 

Then I look around the screen for hints and I stumble on it!  I had followed Microsoft’s advice when I set up Windows 10 and log into the system using my Microsoft account.  In theory, it logs me into the computer and to my live.ca account.  (Which you’ll notice is carefully edited out in the image).

What would happen if there was no internet connection?

I pull the Ethernet cable and switch off the wireless and reboot to Windows 10 again.  It still comes up looking for a login to the Microsoft account so I figure “what the heck?”, type the legitimate password and sit back to watch my computer thrash away on the hard drive.  Eventually, it must have given up looking for the internet connection and plunked me to my desktop.

Yay!  I’m in. 

But, I don’t want to have to do that every time I log in.

Off to the settings I go and there is, indeed, a toggle between using a Microsoft account and a local account.

Windows may be better when things sync but it’s even better when you can log in to get the syncing.  I think I’ll take control and be the administrator of my own computer.  Does that preclude me from using my Microsoft account?  A quick check reveals that I can log in manually and get things.  No harm, no foul.

I log in and out of Windows with no problem so I guess I have my solution.  After the original angst, it actually made sense.

But, what would a real professional do?  Of course, they’d call their Network Administrator if they had one.  Where does a Network Administrator turn?

Somehow, it’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one having this problem as you’ll see from these results. 

Now, I guess if I was part of an Active Directory, I’d want a more comprehensive solution.  For this occasional Windows home user, this is fine.  For consistency, I change the login on my tablet for a local account and I seem to be good to go again.

By sharing my story here, I hope that this helps if you ever run into the same situation.