How to convert regular windows 10 account to an active directory account?

Question

I run a Windows 10 Enterprise computer, which I used before I (setup and) joined a domain.

Now that I have joined the computer to a domain, I want to use my domain account on my computer but still have all my previous settins and files and all. How can I do this?

Solution

Your domain account will create a completely new profile (new SID) on the computer so you will have to backup your old profile (Microsoft's User State Migration Tool (USMT) can help you do this - the proper way! - or, as Ramhound points out, you can do it the other way by taking ownership of the old profile and copying the files to a shared location - this is often what most people resort to doing but, be careful, if you need settings transferred then this won't do them (unless the settings are in files)) and then restore your files and settings to the new profile.

USMT can do the export and the import for you, given the right commands. It's a big beast so please do your research before diving in: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824873.aspx

Comments

[Ramhound]

Take ownership of the old profile as an local admin on the machine, transfer data to a common location the domain user has access to, as the new domain user transfer the data into your profile