Cannot add an email address as an alias that I used previously in a now deactivated account

I have had several Microsoft accounts through the years. The current one I am now using will not let me add my gmail address as an alias, because it says it is already in use. I have logged in to all my old accounts (3 now no longer used), made sure that email address is out of there, and closed the one account that I could. The other 2 say I need to close all services first to close the account, though I cannot figure out what services it means or how to do that. Is there any way someone at Microsoft could correct this for me so I can add my gmail account (used for all my email with friends) to my outlook account (used for xbox, skydrive, messenger, everything else)? And while we are at it, maybe help me close those other 2 accounts? Thanks!