Are Microsoft/Windows accounts synced between devices?

Question

Here's the situation: I have an old computer with a hard drive with some files I wish to transfer to my new computer later. I used the old computer with my Microsoft account with which I'll use the new one, too. Should I connect the old hard drive to the new computer, would I get access to all it's folders and files since the account is the same (but in different computers), will I need to re-enter my old password or will the old hard drive treat my new computer's account as a completely different user? I've had a problem before with an old hard drive which had Windows XP installed which wouldn't let me access the files and I had to do lots of "hacking" to get through it.

Answer 1

If they are synced is feature that can be enabled or disabled. With syncing meaning sharing settings wallpapers etc...

You can connect your old harddrive to the new computer but I guess the account on the old computer is seen as a different account because it has a different SID (Security IDentifier) so you may have to give yourself access rights on the HD of the old computer.

Answer 2

Believe it or not .. that is a great question

as a OS: M. Windows does have a "sync" feature .. which you manually can enable/disable via settings

*you can even select which setting , saved passwords , apps and many more you would like to sync "or just a generic on or off"

*in your case you would absolutely need to be signed in your own M. account / along with a full verification - if that still does not allow "full access" - you can log into your online M. account and attempt that direction

I wish you the best of luck !

*please do remember M. Window's 10 requires that you are fully verified and ensures that it is in fact you that is attempting this information gather #blessing/Curse *Microsoft as a whole has a very strict identity verification and validation system along a very hard driven policy to ensure privacy and user confidence

Answer 3

Unless you were additionally using a service like OneDrive, using the same Microsoft account will do nothing more than transfer some personal settings. Files will not be transferred.

To address the original question, using a Microsoft account actually doesn’t affect anything in this configuration. Nor will it make life any easier.

You will need to plug in the old hard drive to the new computer through an external drive bay/adapter or by using a spare SATA port in the computer. The next step is always to gain access to the drive by taking ownership of the files and folders. That has been discussed many times with multiple explanations: You dont currently have permission to access this folder error

Then you will be able to drag and drop files as required.