quote:
Originally posted by Squirrell
Yes I started to think if someone sinister has taken my account name when hotmail deleted it because of inactiveness.. How can I know?
http://email.about.com/cs/hotmailtips/qt/et031001.htm
That appears to say that the account will become available for taking if not used for a year. Therefore, if you know you haven't used it at least that long and it exists, someone else has taken the account name.
It's more likely that they just chose it because they wanted it, not because they have "sinister" intentions -- but yeah, if anything for you still gets sent to that account, someone else may receive it. I once purchased a previously registered domain name, which the owner had failed to renew, and kept receiving his email for years afterwards.
For this reason, my recommended email solution for everyone is to choose a domain name they will want to keep -- such as their real name -- register it, and keep it forever. Most domains cost $10 or less per year and hosting can be free (e.g. Google Apps).
