Is My XBOX Live GamerTag Lost Forever?

Photics - XBOX Live GamerTag - ThumbnailNow that the winter months have approached, I’m realizing that I’m not exercising as much. I need to play to stay healthy. But in late December, it’s so cold outside… and the dark nights are longer. I think a good video game is the answer to this problem. Yet, my Wii and PlayStation 3 are just collecting dust. What about the XBOX 360? Well, I don’t have one. Here’s the main reason why. I can’t log into my Windows Live / XBOX Live account.

I decided to contact XBOX support. Here’s an edited version of my message…

I was thinking about getting an XBOX 360, but I realized that I am unable to access to my GamerTag. Years ago, I reserved “Photics” by creating a Windows Live Account on my desktop computer. Apparently, my account is still active, but unused…

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/Profile?Gamertag=Photics

I don’t know how to prove that this is my account, as my email addresses don’t seem to be working for a password reset. I’m thinking that this account was created late 2007, as I put the GamerCard on my website. Here’s a web archive link…

http://web.archive.org/web/20071028093647/http://photics.com/about-photics/

(Web Archive is a website that shows how web pages looked in the past. Currently, my about page on Photics.com is now http://photics.com/about …without the GamerCard. I had forgotten about getting an XBOX, but now the Kinect looks pretty cool.)

Is this GamerTag lost? Was my account closed because of inactivity? (I used my Windows Live account very rarely, mostly for testing out the XNA software. I haven’t tried to login for years.)

Michael Garofalo

Playing XBOX with Photics123 floating over my avatar just doesn’t seem as entertaining. That’s when I start to rethink the idea. Do I really want to drop another $300 on a game console? All I have to do is look at the Wii Balance Board. That huge surface area is extremely proficient at dust gathering, but it hasn’t been that much fun lately.

Yet, the Kinect looks like a lot of fun. Instead of a boring treadmill or other exercise machine, I can improve my health without feeling like a hamster. Instead of just giving up, I decided to contact Microsoft. I suspect that my account has been deactivated because of inactivity.