Wow. This is really stupid from MS.

[Daniel Rubino]

I'm trying to install apps. I got a warranty replacement for my 1020, and started getting this error. I contacted MS Support and they first suggested I delete every phone from my account, and do a hard reset on my phone. Guess what that meant? Deleting all the phones from my profile deletes all associated backups, and I have a 1020 that I can only use to make calls since I can't install any apps.

Someone is getting confused here on MS's end. For adding/removing phones from your Windows Phone account, there are no waiting periods at all. There is only a 5-device limit. Before I jumped in this thread, I deleted 2 phones and added one new one (which was giving me the "limit" error). I didn't even have to soft reset the phone, it just started downloading my apps. Hard resets are never required or needed (unless you're changing your Live ID, of course). I do this a few times a month with no issues. Always have.

For Xbox Music, there is 30 day limit with only 2 devices being swapped out. THAT is what it sounds like they are talking about, erroneously, in this situation. It's also true that they can't bypass it. They used to be able to on Windows Phone 7.x days, but once Zune became Xbox Music, they lost that functionality. Even I can't get them to bypass that, (but the new Xbox Music app works around this, somehow).

Regarding your specific situation, honestly I have no idea. Something is wrong with your provisioned account or Microsoft ID. There is no waiting period for adding phones to your WP account. And unless you had 5 other Windows Phones registered and you wanted to add a sixth, there should be no limit/error messages at all. Yet you only had the 1020, 928 and 925 on there (three devices), which means you should never have hit that wall in the first place.

So something is very wrong here. Frankly, I don't know what will even happen past 30 days as that should not be a factor at all in this situation. You are using just one primary login for Live/Microsoft ID, right?

 

[explosive0]

Someone is getting confused here on MS's end. For adding/removing phones from your Windows Phone account, there are no waiting periods at all. There is only a 5-device limit. Before I jumped in this thread, I deleted 2 phones and added one new one (which was giving me the "limit" error). I didn't even have to soft reset the phone, it just started downloading my apps. Hard resets are never required or needed (unless you're changing your Live ID, of course). I do this a few times a month with no issues. Always have.

For Xbox Music, there is 30 day limit with only 2 devices being swapped out. THAT is what it sounds like they are talking about, erroneously, in this situation. It's also true that they can't bypass it. They used to be able to on Windows Phone 7.x days, but once Zune became Xbox Music, they lost that functionality. Even I can't get them to bypass that, (but the new Xbox Music app works around this, somehow).

Regarding your specific situation, honestly I have no idea. Something is wrong with your provisioned account or Microsoft ID. There is no waiting period for adding phones to your WP account. And unless you had 5 other Windows Phones registered and you wanted to add a sixth, there should be no limit/error messages at all. Yet you only had the 1020, 928 and 925 on there (three devices), which means you should never have hit that wall in the first place.

So something is very wrong here. Frankly, I don't know what will even happen past 30 days as that should not be a factor at all in this situation. You are using just one primary login for Live/Microsoft ID, right?

Yes, I'm using just one Live/Microsoft ID. I tried explaining to the reps I contacted but they all seemed to respond with the 30 day wait. It's just really frustrating. O well...

 

[Daniel Rubino]

Yes, I'm using just one Live/Microsoft ID. I tried explaining to the reps I contacted but they all seemed to respond with the 30 day wait. It's just really frustrating. O well...

One last, admittedly dumb question: did you put a SIM in and set the time/date correctly? Because that can cause lots of Account errors too.

 

[Loco5150]

This happened to me few times in the beginning when messing around with WP7 devices. If the sim-card is not in, it cant get correct time/date from the network. I didnt think about that and tried to setup my device but couldnt log in, only getting an error. This also seems to confuse people from time to time, they come and say that you need to have a card in to activate your device. Thats not true, you can setup any WP device just using wlan without a sim-card, just make sure you have set the corect time and date.

 

[thinkdan]

Hmm this is weird, but for some reason I can't seem to find the option to remove a device anymore.

Update: Never mind, found it under "Account Settings".