Oh, tell me about it. Have you ever tried removing a payment option? I have an expired credit card attached to my account because I can’t remove it without adding another option first, and I don’t want to do that because I don’t know if I’ll want to renew my account next time (switching off autorenewal is a pain in the arse as well). At least I can still download free stuff on it.

Also, my Live ID is an email address that doesn’t exist any more because they send a confirmation to the address you want to remove, not to any new ones you’ve added. I can change the preferred address, which is something I suppose, but not remove the defunct one.

And Microsoft wonder why people don’t like them. Sony’s no better. CD rootkits, anyone? The next gen is one of those battles you wish both sides could lose.

(By the way, you can log in to Live on the ‘Box without two-factor ID. I do it all the time because, well, what you just said. As far as I remember without the thing in front of me – because it’s basically just bloody-minded button-mashing – you sign in offline, sign in to Live from your account, it signs your account out but leaves Live connected, then you sign back in again. I don’t know whether this is a bug or a deliberate annoyance designed to harrass you into giving them your mobile number. It’s hard to tell with Microsoft. But fuck ’em; it works for now.)