Approx. Feb. of 2012 I closed my Windows Live account, *** Email address is removed for privacy ***. Before closing the account, I removed all information from the account such as existing emails, my contacts, folders that I created, my profile picture, and my personal information. I
also changed the required account information such as my account name, my date of birth, my security question, etc. in the event that the account would not be closed right away and I did not want my personal information remaining on the account during this
time. The only thing that I left as is was the password I used to sign into the account. I received a message when closing the account that it would be reserved for approx. 9 months and that if I did not sign in during that time period, then the account
would be closed and deleted.
It has now been 21 months since I closed the account and I checked this week to see if the account has been deleted. To my surprise, I was actually able to log in to the account, albeit with restricted functionality. Seeing how the account was never
actually deleted, I have now decided I want this account back. However, because it has been approx. 21 months since I have signed into this account, I am now prompted to verify my identity to prove I am the owner of the account. It asks me for my security
question and my year of birth, both of which I had changed to some random value prior to closing the account some 21 months before. Of course, 21 months later and I cannot remember the answer, if any, that I changed the security question to nor can I remember
the random value I used for the year of birth.
I was then prompted to start the recovery process by filling out a questionnaire form that might help Microsoft Support identify me as the owner of the account. I had to answer questions about my personal information, folders that I created, email addresses/people
that I have received email from or sent email to recently, the subject of emails that I have received or sent recently, and XBox membership information. As I said before, when closing the account 21 months before, I deleted all my emails, deleted all my contacts,
and deleted all folders that I created. So there are no emails, contacts, or folders for which Microsoft can compare an answer to. There is no actual name on the account to compare an answer to. Furthermore, I have never had an XBox membership. So, I tried
providing some of the information that I remember using before I closed the account some 21 months before. I provided the names of some of the folders that I created and some of the people's email addresses that I received email from and sent email to. I
submitted the account recovery request and I received a reply from Microsoft Support stating, "Unfortunately, we were unable to verify your ownership of this account using the information you provided."
I have the account recovery request number if Microsoft Support should need it to investigate further. Seeing how this account was never actually closed like it should have been, I have now decided I want it back and I would appreciate Microsoft Support
in assisting me in recovering this old account. Consequently, I had to create a new Microsoft account just so i could post this question. Thank you.
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