Forgot Microsoft Account Name - How to Find?

BruceH

New Member
Messages
8
Hello,

I am helping my brother with his HP laptop that has Windows 8.1 installed with current updates. The laptop is set up to start up with a local account name.

I assume that a Microsoft account was created when the machine was first set up in order to access the Microsoft Windows Store. The problem is that he can not remember the name. Is the Microsoft Acount name stored somewhere on the machine so it can be displayed and I can find out what it is?

I noticed when looking at the installed apps (not Windows programs), I saw one for AccuWeather, Samsung Printer Experience and Fox News. I doubt all of those were included with the machine by HP. That makes me think these apps were downloaded from the Windows Store, which requires a Microsoft Account.

On the other hand, when bringing up the Windows Store app, it does not show any updates available in the upper right corner. That indicates to me that the Store app is not associated with a Microsoft Account.

I would like to get to the Microsoft Account name in order to update existing apps and download new ones. Second, he just got a new HP laptop with Windows 10 and it would be desirable to have both use the same Microsoft Account.

If I can not recover the Microsoft Account name (assuming there is one), I am thinking the best alternative is to just create a new Microsoft Account.

Thanks for any help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Home 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770
    Motherboard
    Biostar TZ77B
    Memory
    Team 4 X 4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    None
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black 1TB
    PSU
    Sea Sonic 650 Watts Modular
    Case
    Enermax Staray
    Cooling
    Intel standard fan
    Browser
    IE 10
    Antivirus
    Norton
Thanks for the reply.

The User Accounts section under Control Panel only shows the one Local User account (admin status) defined to the system and the Guest account. It does not list Microsoft Accounts.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Home 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770
    Motherboard
    Biostar TZ77B
    Memory
    Team 4 X 4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    None
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black 1TB
    PSU
    Sea Sonic 650 Watts Modular
    Case
    Enermax Staray
    Cooling
    Intel standard fan
    Browser
    IE 10
    Antivirus
    Norton
Thanks for the reply.

The User Accounts section under Control Panel only shows the one Local User account (admin status) defined to the system and the Guest account. It does not list Microsoft Accounts.

Mine does list the Microsoft Account but it is a Windows 10 upgrade from Windows 8.1. I thought yours might be the same.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C75D-B7260
Samuria .... Thanks for the suggestion. The command displayed accounts for administrator, guest and the one local account but no Microsoft account.

I did some experimenting with my desktop machine which also has Windows 8.1 running under a local user account but is associated with a Microsoft account for the Microsoft Store. I found that by bringing up the Store app, clicking on My Account, then starting to sign in separately, it does display my Microsoft Account name. When I tried this on my brothers laptop, no Microsoft Account name is displayed. I take this to mean that there is currently no Microsoft Account associated with his laptop.

The plan is to create a new Microsoft Account for him and go forward using it.

As a side note, I tried the Net Users command from the Command Prompt screen on my desktop machine which is associated with a Microsoft Account, but the command only displayed the accounts for Administrator, Guest and the one local user account. It did not display the Microsoft Account.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Home 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770
    Motherboard
    Biostar TZ77B
    Memory
    Team 4 X 4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    None
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black 1TB
    PSU
    Sea Sonic 650 Watts Modular
    Case
    Enermax Staray
    Cooling
    Intel standard fan
    Browser
    IE 10
    Antivirus
    Norton
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