Got forced into MS 365

[mikestock]

My Windows laptop lost all its colors. Turns out I had to reset the entire laptop in order to correct the problem. I had to buy Microsoft 365 for $99.99/year. I lost Microsoft Live Mail as a result and have been unable to get get my second Gmail or my wife's Gmail account within their mail setup. Everything comes to the one account that I set up as my Google account. Can anyone find a way to circumvent this trap that Microsoft has put me into?

[mikestock]

"$99 per year will about buy a new Apple with the software included."

Not arguing that I may not be better off with Apple but I don't have the patience to start over. My 2 sons and their families are Apple users and I don't care to go through the conversion. My wife, who is almost as old as I am, jumped over a cliff and got an I phone after years of Android. I don't think she will ever catch up. I would be in the same situation with an Apple. I, after the last week, am suffering through the Windows 11 process and will do anything not to have to go through another. Life is more than spending all my time with computers.

[time2roll]

mikestock wrote:
I had to buy Microsoft 365 for $99.99/year.

$99 per year will about buy a new Apple with the software included.

I had no idea MS was moving to subscriptions when I recently switched to Apple. I am happy every day knowing I avoided this. Although the Apple/MAC world is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. Best of luck.

[1492]

It's rare one should have to do a fresh re-install of WinOS, and should be a last resort. Try repair routes first.

Personally, when I get a new laptop or install a fresh copy of WinOS, install my base software and apply latest system/app updates, I make a full (base) image backup. This makes it much easier to restore your system if you have a serious failure, and saves a huge amount of time. Pays to do periodic updates to the image file

It has taken me roughly 20-30 min to reinstall a PC image. The only time necessary when experienced HD failure.

[Tom_M1]

Let's get real here. Most computers are Windows based and that is what most people are familiar with. The vast number of users do not want to mess with Linux. It seems like any time someone has problems with Windows someone will suggest switching to Linux. That is just not going to happen. People also suggest doing a clean install of Windows by downloading it and creating a bootable USB drive. The average user will have no clue on how to do this. If your computer is really messed up, about the only option is to do a reset. If possible, prior to doing this, copy off all your documents, photos, and videos. Also save all your bookmarks for your internet browser and all your login passwords. Doing a reset will put your computer back to a condition when you first purchased it which includes all the required drivers.

[theoldwizard1]

Re-install Windows AGAIN ! First download Windows from Microsoft and put it on a USB thumb drive.

Turn off your WiFi. When it asks you to register your license just say you will do it later.

Your best re-install option is NOT to use the built in recovery partition. Use the "retail" version you put on the thumb drive.

Go through and uninstall all of the Microsoft apps you do not want. Now turn on your WiFi and connect.

[1492]

I use both WinOS/MacOS systems daily, and RedHat Linux (RHEL) at work as a development platform. Unless you consider yourself somewhat tech savvy, Linux will likely be somewhat daunting to use. It may not support the standalone apps you normally use, unless just using it for web browsing and email. Also, Linux is no longer invulnerable ( always a myth) to hacker attacks, so important to keep it patched with security updates.

It pays to have a familiarity with Linux command-line if diving into Linux OS. I don't use GUI interface, as work mostly with JavaScript libraries and frameworks which are all text based.

[1492]

I think if you did some research, you would find other email client options available for free. I still use WIN 10 built-in Mail app for my personal Outlook.com email accounts. Though use the full version of Outlook client exclusively for work emails, as I get the full version of Office suite free for personal use.

I've used Mozilla Thunderbird for 20 years with multiple GMAIL/AOL email accounts. You can also configure Thunderbird for Microsoft email accounts though prefer using it for older accounts subject to spam, or been compromised by website breaches.

Check your email account at haveibeenpwned.com, run as a service by a Microsoft Regional Director. If have had your email accounts for a long time, don't be surprised if hackers have your email details - common these days.

You may also want to look at the free Vivaldi browser which has a built-in Mail client. It's Chromium based such as Chrome, MS Edge, Brave, etc. and can utilize Chrome plugins. Has privacy and ad blocking features built-in, and is cross platform supported on WIN/MAC/Linux Android/iOS. I've not tried the Mail client feature yet, though will do so in the near future.

[dedmiston]

Danger Don wrote:
Microsoft did not force anyone into anything.

Hmmm.

I see this is your first post. Welcome aboard?

[mikestock]

I got a message that I couldn't load Microsoft 365, which I paid for. It says one probable cause is lack of space. That's not right since it says I have 270 Gb free out of 475 Gb. I would go back to Windows 10 if I knew how. I had a retired version of Office, which I purchased in 2007 and was fine with.
Resetting my laptop made me think I needed to buy the $99.99/year subscription to MS365. This did not come with a training class and my computer says I don't have room.
I would like to revert to Windows 10, if possible. Earlier Windows versions would have suited me just fine but that's not how MS makes money. Now my year old laptop with solid state hard drive is almost a brick.
Can anyone tell me how to revert to Windows 10?

[mikestock]

Danger Don wrote:
Microsoft did not force anyone into anything.

You are correct. I should just quit. Maybe I can get all the money I have spent on MS products refunded.

I am afraid I'm not techie enough. If you make it to 80 years you may find changes harder and harder to follow. I feel lucky to get my colors back. I did find a solution.

[stickdog]

My windows lost all colors as well I had to return to original factory setup but it kept the files I had transferred from previous laptop. It did remove Apps I had added but they were saved in a folder as removed Apps.

[rk911]

another option is to install the stand alone version of MS Outlook 2019. no subscription.

[Danger_Don]

Microsoft did not force anyone into anything.

Windows Live Mail went by the wayside over 10 years ago when they stopped providing support for it, for good reason. Do you still have a 25" CRT TV that you use? That said it can still be found and used, why is beyond me. If you want it, it can still be downloaded at File Hippo.

[wa8yxm]

That sound like a 1st class argument for LINUX. (I'm kind of not all that happy witn Windoze either but alas.. Some software not on Linux yet.