Xbox360 and Microsoft/Live accounts

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martyyn

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Topic # 165812 21-Feb-2015 14:23

Can someone please explain something to an old gamer used to just switching on and playing !

My wife has a Surface2 and the whole family have a login. I believe my login is associated with my Microsoft account as I tried Xbox music and games on it once.

We now have an Xbox360 and have all set up accounts on here too. I wanted to use my Live account but it tells me the email is associated with another account and it cant be used. Does this mean my email/live account/whatever its called is associated with the account I have on the Surface ? Or have I got this all wrong ?

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richms

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Reply # 1243696 21-Feb-2015 14:38

You just login with that same account. Dont create a new one.

If you have 2 factor then it all works on the console too.

Richard rich.ms

martyyn

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Reply # 1244163 22-Feb-2015 15:04

Thanks for the confirmation.

Seeing as I've already created the additional account on the Xbox is it best for me to create my existing account on the Xbox, delete the new account (which has the gamertag I want) and then to change the gamertag on my existing account ?

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richms

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Reply # 1244164 22-Feb-2015 15:09

I dont think you can do that, there are limits on changing gamer tags.

Best contact microsoft and explain the mix up, they have been quite easy to deal with on other matters for me.

Richard rich.ms

martyyn

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Reply # 1244195 22-Feb-2015 15:47

I just called them but the woman couldn't understand at all what I've done and what I was trying to do. She said the only option was to create a new gamertag on my old account but with a number instead of one of the vowels for example.

I havent bought anything with either profile, I just want to be able to use the new profiles name (which I can change on the console) on my existing Microsoft account.

My other option appears to be to move my live account from the old profile to the new one.

Ragnor

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Reply # 1244729 23-Feb-2015 12:56

So you effectively have Microsoft Account #1 on the Surface and Microsoft Account #2 on the Xbox360 and you want to move the gamertag and profile from #2 to #1

Very important question: Does the #1 have a gamertag already?

If NO:
If the first account does not have a gamertag you can switch your xbox gamertag and profile account from #2 to #1 by following these steps
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/my-account/manage-gamertag-and-profile/switch-gamertag-to-different-microsoft-account

If YES:
If the first already has a gamertag you have to create a 3rd account to move the existing gamertag off account #1 to account #3 then move the gamertag from# 2 onto #1. Note: This involves two moves and there is 30 day cooldown on moving gamertags, so you will have to wait 30 days to do the 2nd move of the gamertag and profile from #2 to #1

Here's the guide for the 2nd scenario
http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_support/xbox_360_support/f/12/p/1381013/4030134.aspx

nathan

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Reply # 1244755 23-Feb-2015 13:11

Yes I think you need to explain more clearly what happened

I've read and reread the OP and I cant actually understand what you did with the MSAs and Xbox. Its difficult to understand which of your accounts on Surface are MSAs vs local accounts etc.

Glassboy

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Reply # 1244795 23-Feb-2015 13:51

Hi there, I've had a very similar conversation with my parents in-law recently (without the gamer tags).

Basically what you need to do is choose one of your Live accounts that is your identity and stick with it across all devices, as this is going to give you OneDrive and other features across all devices. This is also the account you want to use for family safety http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows/set-up-family-safety on the Surface and the Xbox. If you need or want multiple aliases, don't create new Live accounts, add the aliases to your prime Live account.

One of the reasons it's important to keep your identity simple is you're potentially are going to end up with that Live account linked to other networks (and devices). Gaming networks such as Bethesda, Bungie etc. Social media such as Facebook or Linked in, and other email platforms such as gmail.

If however you've created a big ball of mud then you'll find that you start to have problems with bad data on contacts\friend and you won't be able to find out why you always have the wrong number for a friend.

martyyn

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Reply # 1244809 23-Feb-2015 13:57

Fair enough, Ill try again :)

When I bought W8 18 months ago I created a Microsoft Account and associated my Gmail address with it. I then used that when I got a Surface to play with and at some point I received a generic gamertag (I assume it was when I was trying out with Xbox Music/Games). At that time I changed the generic gamertag to a login name I have.

Last month we bought an Xbox360 and my kids set up profiles for each of us with our family nicknames. Yesterday I signed in to my nickname profile to download a demo, it asked to connect to my Live account and so I gave it my Live/Gmail account details but it said the email was used for another account.

So I created a new profile using my Live account which allows me to download the demo just fine.

So I have two profiles now. One with my generic login name which is associated with the Live Account) and another profile with my family nickname.

My question is can I replace the generic login profile name (which has the associated Live account attached to it) with the family nickname profile. Or can I just change the names, I don't care if it costs $12 or whatever and I dont care about any saved game/achievement history.

Does that make sense ?

I called Xbox support yesterday who said I cant, all I can do is change the generic name to a mispelled version of the nickname and pay $12.

Glassboy

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Reply # 1244816 23-Feb-2015 14:04

If I understand what you're saying (and I'm not sure I am) I'd start using your new Live account on all devices and close the account that uses your gmail identity (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows-live/account-close-account). It doesn't sound like that first Live account has any "value". You just have to make sure you copy any data out of the profile on the Surface, into the new profile.

Ragnor

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Reply # 1244914 23-Feb-2015 15:22

martyyn: Fair enough, Ill try again :)

My question is can I replace the generic login profile name (which has the associated Live account attached to it) with the family nickname profile. Or can I just change the names, I don't care if it costs $12 or whatever and I dont care about any saved game/achievement history.

Does that make sense ?

Sounds like it's the 2nd "YES" scenario I mentioned in my earlier post.

Read the 2nd link I posted in the earlier post, that's the only way to do it as far as I know.

martyyn

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Reply # 1244999 23-Feb-2015 16:55

Ragnor:
Sounds like it's the 2nd "YES" scenario I mentioned in my earlier post.

Read the 2nd link I posted in the earlier post, that's the only way to do it as far as I know.

Yep, that looks like me, thanks for that.

Cheers