MSN contact list wiped out

[dighn]

I just logged into my MSN after a long time and it seems all my contacts got deleted. also my display name was changed to "anonymous" but then it said somebody added me to their list so now I only have 1 person on my contact list.

i tried deleting my local cache under %appdata%/microsoft/msn messenger and checked under options->privacy and i don't see the contacts there.

does it matter that my hotmail account was frozen due to inactivity?

anybody knoe what happened here?

 

[Slugbait]

Yes, Hotmail matters.

Your contacts are stored in your address book, which is part of Hotmail.

After 30 days of inactivity, Hotmail automatically deletes your email (unless you are a paid subscriber). After 90 days of inactivity, Hotmail automatically deletes your email account (unless you are a paid subscriber).

Your address book is deleted when your account is deleted. Therefore, your contact list is deleted.

To avoid losing your Messenger buddies in the future, click Contacts->Save Contact List. When you lose them again, you can simply import them. You can even share the resulting saved file with other people so that everyone has the same or similar list of buddies.