Quick Guide on adding a Mobile Number to your Windows Live account!

Why Should I add my Mobile Number to my Windows Live Account?

Adding a Mobile Number to your Windows Live Account adds an extra level of security to your MSN, making it harder for hackers to gain access to your MSN. Let's face it, no-one wants to wake up in the morning to see their Sythe account banned because their account was hacked and they need to repay Hundreds if not Thousands of dollars back to victums.

Adding a Mobile Number to your Windows Live Security means if you or someone else attempts to recover your MSN, a text message will be sent to the mobile phone number supplied by you. This message will contain a code which is needed to recover the account. Obviously, this provides another level of safety as the hacker cannot obtain access to your phone, because odds are, you live thousands of miles away from them.

This can save you hundreds of dollars and a lot of hassle, and is worth the 5 minutes needed to set it up. N4N0, the Sythe Global Moderator personally uses this security feature and claims multiple times he has received messages asking him for the code, as hackers try to gain access to his account.

How can I add my Mobile Number to my Windows Live Account

Adding a Mobile Number to your Windows Live account can be done easily and only takes a few minutes to do. All you need is a Mobile Phone with a working Prepaid or Post-Paid Sim, and of course, a Windows Live Account.

Please note: It is HIGHLY Recommended you use a Mobile Phone number that you check often, and you ensure that no-one in your real world life can check it, it isn't worth the risk.

Step One

Head over to www.hotmail.com. The Hotmail Sign-In page should open up. Type in your Email and password like done below.


Step Two

The Windows Live account Homepage should open up. Up the top right hand corner of the screen, you should see your Name, and a link to your profile, and an option to sign out. Click your name, or in my case "Hello Sythe." A dropdown menu should appear. Click "Account."


Step Three

An account overview should appear. In the "Account Security" subsection, you should see a "Manage" link. Click it.


Step Four

A page named "Manage your Security Information" will now open. From here, under the Subsection "Mobile" click "Add New." Enter your mobile number in the box that appears. When you're done, hit "Save."



Step 5

Your mobile number will be added, but now you need to confirm it! An email should be sent to the email you entered when you signed up as your backup email for when you need password resets. Open this email and click the link to confirm your mobile number.


Congratulations! You've added a mobile number to your Windows Live Account! You can remove this Mobile Number at any time. Just go back into your "Manage Security Settings" screen and next to the mobile number you entered, hit delete. A text will be sent to the mobile number containing a code . Enter this code on the screen that appears in your Windows Live and you've removed the mobile number. Thanks for reading guys and good luck with your future trading

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I dont have access to my old email, any way to confirm without it?

Thanks, I was gonna find this out myself and write a guide, but I guess someone beat me to it :P
You don't get a confirmation e-mail if you don't have backup e-mail I assume.

Edit:
Unfortunately this method does not really help I don't think.
When recovering a password you can choose to recover by mobile phone, it's not required.

Potential hackers can still use this simple form to gain access to someone elses account:
Enter your own email adress in the first one and a fake in the second box and see how little information you need..

https://account.live.com/acsr?mkt=en...1xEA%3d%3d%3a1

If most of the details match (not everything has to match :\), they will send a link to the e-mail account you entered in the 2nd box to reset your password there. You don't need to know alot of info on someone to recover their windows live account :S

Thanks for the guide Brendan

Done, didn't know you could do this for Windows Live other than Facebook, thanks Brendan!

Thanks, have needed to add greater security to my msn for a long time.

Unfortunately, I don't think you can. You'll need to try and recover your old Email or gain access to it somehow. You could also try contacting Windows Live yourself about it and seeing if theirs anything they can do.

Unfortunately you're right, your account can still be recovered just as easily as before, so adding a Mobile Number isn't completely fullproof. However it does almost entirely knock out the option of resetting the password. Resetting the password is generally much easier, because all the hacker needs to do is gain access to the alternate Email Address, which is possible for them to do, where gaining access to a mobile, which is of course a Physical item that's with you (And they don't know where you live) cancels out the "Reset Password" function altogether.

I know it doesn't provide 100% safety, but MSN hacks have occurred this way in the past, so at least we can almost certainly rule it out. Also, if you try to recover the account, it is a lot harder, because you do need to know a reasonable amount of information.

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Just have your alternate account set to a non windows live account =D

That helps quite a bit ;]

Even then, a Non-Live account could be hacked, but you're right there's probably not that much difference.

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My alternate account is from my dutch internet provider.
Good luck to anyone recovering that lol ^^

Just done it, thanks alot for this guide man!

True, point being though, getting that email recovered is more likely to happen compared to the Hacker actually finding you in real life, and taking your phone to recover your MSN.

Glad to help

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Yeah there's 4 ways to recover even if you have a mobile phone nr set.

- Alternate email adress
- Secret question
- Mobile phone text msg
- Form you have to fill out which takes usually days to get a response

I guess it doesn't hurt to set a mobile phone nr, maybe it'll help you to get your account recovered fast if it's stolen! :]

When I try to get a Password Reset, the only option I have is a Mobile Phone text message.

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Sweet guide, just did it. Thanks Brendan

Glad to have helped

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Still waiting for Windows Live to add authentication apps for phones like Gmail did... Thanks for the guide though Brendan. Hopefully people take note of it.

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Windows Live really does need to take some tips from Gmail, especially considering how much better they are security wise :S And thanks

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Thanks for the guide, helpful and I just used it

Bump!

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