How to delete your MSN account ?

A simple procedure for discontinuing your Hotmail / Live mail account..

Wandering around at some PC forums , i saw that many people are concerned about how to delete MSN Hotmail accounts (now Live Mail).

A few caveats before you decide to delete your Live mail account:

1. The MSN account is also commonly used as a Microsoft Passport, which grant you access to Live Messenger, MSDN (if you are a developer), newsgroups and communities etc'.
2. If you close your account, someone can potentially open a new account with the same name, thus actually taking over your email identity.
3. Before you go on and delete your MSN account, grab your list of contacts and update them that your MSN email address won’t be active any more (remember, mail might reach your MSN account without you be able to read them). Don't forget to update them about your new email address.

There are two ways to terminate your account:

1. Delete the MSN account:
   • Click Help on any Hotmail page.
   • Type Close Account in the keyword search section of the Help screen.
   • Click the Close Your Hotmail Account tip within the Help screen.
   • Click the Close Account link that is highlighted in blue.
   • Click Close Account 
2. Inactivate your MSN account: In this case all you need to do is stop using Hotmail. After 30 days your MSN account becomes inactive, and after 90 days the MSN or Live passport becomes inactive as well.

My recommendation to you is to choose the second way, that is not to drop or close the MSN account for good, but just to inactivate it. I believe that the potential risk of having someone taking over your account and ruining your online reputation is too high to overlook.