Okay, so I need some info on how Windows accounts work. Every time I try to get help, it's incredibly vague. Earlier, I had to refresh my PC since an error was preventing it from restarting correctly. Other than being a lengthy process, it was fairly simple. My entire internet history was deleted and my settings were restored to defaults. When I signed up for my Windows account, I had an SBC Global email account. I never changed my email account when we switched providers, since Microsoft disabled the option, so I was out of luck for a while. I tried to verify my account, but it wouldn't let me. I filled out their questionnaire, but I didn't answer enough questions, so they blocked my account until they could verify it was me. I submitted a new questionnaire, which I hope will allow them to verify me. I was prompted to change my password, so I sent them my gmail account. My question is, will I be able to reset my password via gmail, or will it be sent to my old, invalid email address? Am I screwed here?

you HAD to refresh your PC? as in, system restore? you couldn't search for help for that error beforehand? if it wasn't hardware-related i'm 99% certain you didn't have to go to that length... and if it is hardware related it's simply going to happen again. you should really investigate into it. seriously.

anyway, if they haven't already sent you instructions to reset a password via gmail, then call them and you should be able to resolve it there

I'm going to say straight away that you should contact Microsoft's customer service, preferably by phone, explain the situation to them, let them figure out what went wrong, and have them unfuck your account once they confirm your ownership.

You haven't actually said what the problem is, and you're asking a very specific Microsoft policy question that no one here should be able to answer, especially with details missing, without being very familiar with issues like yours.

Since you've mentioned refreshing and implied that e-mail access is somehow important for accessing a Windows (user?) account, I'm going to assume you're using Windows 8 because that's what really introduced those ideas. I'm assuming you can't login to the Windows account that you refreshed because you need access to a non-Microsoft e-mail address (for some reason) that you no longer have access to, which also probably doesn't exist anymore. No, if Microsoft is sending verification/confirmation emails to that address, you won't be able to do anything with those e-mails. I will also say that Microsoft's integrated accounts are a pain in the ass to work with if something goes wrong but you elected to retain anonymity with your backup verification, which is a pain in the ass itself.

I'm confused why a non-Microsoft e-mail address actually matters because I thought Windows 8 only linked usernames/passwords to Microsoft e-mail addresses (e.g., outlook, live, hotmail, msn). I could be wrong. And I have no idea what "I sent them my gmail account" means... You can create a Windows 8 user without linking it to a Microsoft account, but I don't know how that helps in this situation.

If legitimate means don't work, and there's no reason they shouldn't, then I'm sure there's the option of breaking into and fixing your own account from a separate account or operating system. But that's probably too technical and involved to be advisable, nothing I've looked into at least.

abadbird said:
I'm going to say straight away that you should contact Microsoft's customer service, preferably by phone, explain the situation to them, let them figure out what went wrong, and have them unfuck your account once they confirm your ownership.

You haven't actually said what the problem is, and you're asking a very specific Microsoft policy question that no one here should be able to answer, especially with details missing, without being very familiar with issues like yours.

Since you've mentioned refreshing and implied that e-mail access is somehow important for accessing a Windows (user?) account, I'm going to assume you're using Windows 8 because that's what really introduced those ideas. I'm assuming you can't login to the Windows account that you refreshed because you need access to a non-Microsoft e-mail address (for some reason) that you no longer have access to, which also probably doesn't exist anymore. No, if Microsoft is sending verification/confirmation emails to that address, you won't be able to do anything with those e-mails. I will also say that Microsoft's integrated accounts are a pain in the ass to work with if something goes wrong but you elected to retain anonymity with your backup verification, which is a pain in the ass itself.

I'm confused why a non-Microsoft e-mail address actually matters because I thought Windows 8 only linked usernames/passwords to Microsoft e-mail addresses (e.g., outlook, live, hotmail, msn). I could be wrong. And I have no idea what "I sent them my gmail account" means... You can create a Windows 8 user without linking it to a Microsoft account, but I don't know how that helps in this situation.

If legitimate means don't work, and there's no reason they shouldn't, then I'm sure there's the option of breaking into and fixing your own account from a separate account or operating system. But that's probably too technical and involved to be advisable, nothing I've looked into at least.

I was able to sign in to my account, as the block was lifted. I'm going to call Microsoft support and see if I can get the email issue resolved.