Troubleshoot Account Activation for Xbox 360

This article assumes that you are a current member of Xbox Live® who is in the process of activating your account for use with Xbox 360™. If you're having trouble with account activation, please try the possible solutions outlined below.

• Do you have a gamertag? If yes, read on. If not, see Join Xbox Live.
• Do you have a Microsoft Passport Network account? If yes, read on. If no, set one up at www.passport.net.
• Do you know the details (like the associated e-mail address and password) of your Microsoft Passport Network account? If yes, read on. If no, see Collect Your Account Information.
  
  If you're not sure if you have a Microsoft Passport Network account, consider this: You definitely have a Passport account if you have any of the following:
  • A Hotmail account.
  • An MSN account.
  • An Xbox.com account.
• If you have more than one Passport account, choose the account you use with care, as once this process is complete, you will not be able to disassociate your Passport account from your gamertag, nor your gamertag from your Passport account.
• If you or the child for whom you're setting up an account is under 18 (as signified by either the existing Xbox Live account or the Passport account), activation will require two Passport accounts and two valid e-mail addresses (one each for parent and child).
• Finally, for the process to be successful, your account must be in good standing.

If you see any of the following error messages, please try the associated solution:

• Can't verify your original Xbox® billing information. Please make sure you've entered it correctly.
  
  Double-check your information and try entering it again.
  
• The e-mail address you entered is part of a reserved domain and cannot be used. Please choose a different e-mail address.
  
  This tells you that you're attempting to enter a different e-mail address than the one already associated with your Passport Network account. Please enter the original e-mail address or create a new Passport account.
  
• Can't verify your original Xbox billing information. Please make sure you've entered it correctly.
  
  You may have entered information incorrectly in the Xbox 360 console. Use the information from your original Xbox Dashboard, as described in Collect Your Account Information. The details for your name, credit card, phone number, and zip code are all located in the Xbox Dashboard of your original Xbox system. Note that you must enter these details exactly as they appear.
  
• The e-mail address or password you entered is not valid. Please try again.
  
  For more information, see Xbox 360: You cannot recover, migrate, or manage your Xbox Live account: The password that you entered is incorrect.

For errors not listed here, see Xbox 360: How to troubleshoot Passport Network error messages.

Other Resources

If you're still having trouble activating your existing account, call 0800 587 1102 for help.