Transfer of Windows / Office Ownership

Hi, Glspence,

1.
The Gentleman or Lady that sold you the system should have wiped it completely clean prior to turning it over to you.
This way you could have registered the system in your name without any hassle.

2.
You cannot transfer an Office 365 license to a New Owner
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/foru...

3.
Do you have recovery media for the system?
Is there a Recovery Partition on the System that came from the
Manufacturer - In Cortana Search Bar type Recovery.
If the Recovery Partition is still there you should be given an option to Create Recovery Media
This will require a 16 GB USB Flash Drive or 3-5 DVD discs.

If that partition is still there, create the Installation Media and reinstall the Operating System. Select Reformat the drive to wipe it completely clean.
This way you will start from scratch and feel secure in the Knowledge the system does belong to you when you register it for the first time in your name.

4. If the system was upgraded from Windows 7 or 8, 8.1, you will need the Recovery Media from that Operating System for installation purposes once the drive is wiped clean.
Once You install the former Operating System you will then be able to upgrade to Windows 10 again since the Digital License is tied to the Original Operating System through the Bios.

I did see the option to "Generate Recovery Media", but don't know if the system was upgraded from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.

I do have a lot of specialized software on the laptop, with customized settings that I wouldn't want to lose. I guess there would be no way to save these if I decided to wipe the system. Thoughts?

I do have an OEM version of Windows Pro that I never installed, so I'm not sure if that would be of any use.

The messages that I keep getting are saying that there's a Windows account problem. The more I think of it, this may be referring to the Office applications and not the Windows OS itself. Can you confirm that, since I'm not really utilizing the Office applications anyway.

Thanks again,

Gary

The OEM won't be of any use unless it is the Original Disk for the system.
OEM disks are for those building systems.

You can move your files to your OneDrive account using File Explore
Go to OneDrive. On the left menu you will see the amount of storage available.
Open File Explorer > The Folder icon in Taskbar
Select files and drag them to OneDrive. This shows you how to move them using File Explorer.
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Upload...

If you have software you wish to keep, do you have Installation Roms or were they downloaded from the internet. You could reinstall from the Roms or the Internet since files contained within will still be available once you reinstall and log into the software again.

Are you able to log into Windows when you restart the system? Is this when you see there's a problem with the account? Does it have a link saying Fix on the message?
Go to Start > Settings > Accounts to fix it.

Try opening one of the Office Applications > Do you receive the message there is a problem with your account when you do? This may be because the product is licensed to the former owner.

Clear your browser including all passwords and forms. Then log back into your account. Do you see the message about the account appear again?
https://kb.iu.edu/d/ahic#desktop

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

One other question regarding this issue.

I'm not having a problem using this computer or the Office applications that are installed on it (maybe with Outlook though, but I'm not using it). I just continue to get these notifications that I have a Microsoft account problem and need to fix it. When I try, the system asks me to log into my Microsoft account, which I can't do because it's tied to the other email address.

If I go to settings then email and app accounts I see that attention is required, but it only specifies that for Outlook and lists the other persons account. In the section about accounts used by other apps, it lists both my email account plus the other persons account.

With regard to attention required on the other persons email, I have the option to select manage and then the option to delete this account. I hesitate to do this, because I don't want to lose access to other applications including the OS. I really don't care about the Outlook app on this computer, so losing that is no big deal, if that's all that will happen. Can you tell me if it would be safe to delete his account?

Thanks,

Gary

If I acquired a used computer, no matter how I got it or who previously owned it --even if it was  a relative or close friend--the first thing I would do with it would be to reinstall the operating

system cleanly. You have no idea how the computer has been maintained,what has been installed incorrectly, what is missing, what viruses and spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with somebody else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddy p00rn, etc., and I

wouldn't recommend that anyone else do so either.

Your choice of course, but in my view, you're playing with fire if you don't reinstall Windows cleanly.

If you have set up your own account on the system, you may safely delete the other User Account. It won't delete the OS, just the account.

You may also lose the Office 365 account since it is registered in his name.

I'd advise doing a clean install on the Unit by using the Recovery > Reset this PC and Selecting the Option to Keep Nothing then register the system with you're name only.

Right click on Start > Select PowerShell (Admin)
Type Net User then Press Enter
This will list all accounts on the system
Note the User Name of the account you wish to delete.
Ensure you are the Administrator on the System by going to Settings > Accounts.
If you're account is not the administrative account, you will not be able to delete the account. You may easily change your account to the Administrative Account. Follow the steps found here.
https://www.wikihow.com/Find-or-Change-My-Compu...

Once you've taken control, go back to PowerShell (Admin) window and type the following command then press enter. This will delete the other account.

net user (username) /delete

Make sure you put the account's User Name in where you see username above.


Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.