unofficial microsoft.public.money FAQ and A
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How to do things in Money

Q) What if I don't want to use Money with Passport authentication?

A) When you install Money or create a new data file in versions prior to M05, you can "just say no" when it asks you to sign up for Passport. If you do this the first several times you start the application or open the file, it will give up asking.

M05 stopped trying to nag you into adding Passport authentication to your file. If you are determined to Just Say No, you won't get nagged. On the other hand, if you are new to Money and setting up a file for the first time, the new process would make you believe that not authenticating access to your Money file with a Passport (or a file password at least) is unnatural and immoral. It's neither.

Here's how to avoid the Passport/file password "requirement" in M05:

After File|New:

- Page: Thank you for using… (click Next)
- Page: Help protect your online Privacy and Security. (It says this in BIG TYPE--and who could argue with that? If you don't use a Passport, your data will be public and unsecured it seems to imply.) Passport has all kinds of issues not the least of which is we ship your data off to our servers. (It says this in little type in a scroll box that doesn't mention the problems you can have accessing your own data if Microsoft has a problem with the Money Passport servers) (click Decline)
- Dialog Box: Are you sure you really want to do such a stupid thing (click Yes)
- Page: A file password is a good thing (BIG TYPE again) don't forget it (little type) (click the I don't want check box, then Next)
- Page: To setup accounts you'll need the name of your primary bank and your online sign-in information from your bank (here you can click Skip Account Setup unless you want more of the hand-holding) (By the way, this isn't true, either. You can just select "not in list" as the financial institution and nothing bad will happen and Money will be highly functional and will work the way some of us have happily used it for a decade.)

If you already setup to use Passport authentication and have now changed your mind, see "I setup a Passport for access to my file because I thought I needed to, now I realize Passport is evil. How do I get rid of it?"

See "Why do I have to use Passport authentication with Money?" for more information on the good, bad, and ugly of Passport as an access authentication scheme for Money.

Please see this disclaimer if you are using Money 2005 or this comment if you are using Money 2006.

If this kind of stuff is important to you: