Hotmail / Live account problem: locked out

My hotmail account is my public email, used for many years as a spam catcher. Once gmail anti-spam proved reliable, I didn't really need it for that anymore, but it kept going on inertia, and I like having a public vs private email (though they're really both public). Have I properly justified 'still' having a hotmail account yet?

I was doing something in hotmail and noticed my time zone was still set for California time, so I decide to update. I was promptly locked out of my account because "You need a parent's permission". My account was not a child account, but now suddenly live.com thinks it is. As there was no parent account, there is no way for me to log in and fix this.

Here's the text of the error message (when I tried it in IE):
[window name] Child consent
[url] https://account.live.com/ChildConsent/ChildLanding?ru=https://login.live.com/...
[text] Microsoft account
[text] You need a parent's permission
[text] Before you can sign in to this Microsoft account and use it with Microsoft websites and services, you need a parent's permission. If your parent is available now, ask them to sign in to this PC.
[button] Have a parent sign in
[button] Cancel

Let's try the simplest, and click "Have a parent sign in", but I'll just sign in the same account. Comes back to the first error message "You need a parent's permission".
Cancel
get a new message, variation of the first:
Microsoft account
You still need a parent's permission
Your Microsoft account has been created, but you can't use it without a parent's permission.
You can sign in later to get back to the permission request page.
OK
takes you back to Sign in screen.


Let's try "Can't access your account?"
takes you to "Reset your password". Obviously not what I want, but I did it, and my password did reset, and it works, but I still have the parental permission problem.

Let's try something simple, like logging in with live instead of hotmail, i.e. zbekesi@live.com
nope:
"That Microsoft account doesn't exist. Enter a different email address or get a new account."

All of the above was on Windows 7, using variously Firefox, Chrome, and IE. Let's try the Outlook app on Android. It has a popup "Sign in incorrect" and "Update Account" - of course, the password has changed. I give it "zbekesi@hotmail.com" and the current password. I get the message:
Microsoft account
We were unable to sign you in
Sorry, you must be an adult to do this.
OK
the, a popup:
Authentication failed
Authentication was not successful
Try again

I try "can't access your account", but all it has to offer is visit account.live.com/password/reset, which I've already tried.

Curiously enough, I can still access whatever old email I've already downloaded. I try various things in "Account settings", but nothing seems relevant.

I sent myself some system logs from the app, but there doesn't seem to be anything useful therein.

I've tried everything I could think of, for now, so let's move on to the "Help Center". I follow what seems to be the most logical path of links: "Sign-in and sign-up", "Forgotten password or other problems signing in", "Troubleshoot your sign-in problem", "Run the Microsoft Accounts troubleshooter". IE asks "Do you want to open or save microsoftaccountdiagnostic.diagcab...". I'm not comfortable with this approach, but hey, its Microsoft, right? What could go wrong? Open. I get a popup:
Microsoft Accounts
Find and fix problems...
Next
Detecting problems.

"Sorry, this troubleshooter doesn't work with this version of Windows."
"We disabled this troubleshooter because it won't work on this PC."

Like I said, its Microsoft. I was expecting something like this, so I'm not even mad or disappointed.
Next
"Explore additional options"
takes me to a Control Panel under Troubleshooting, Additional Information, which basically tells you to go search the forums for help. Normally I would have gone to the forums sooner, but I wanted to see what a user might go through.


Let's search for "hotmail parental consent"
At Major Geeks there is a thread with what sounds like this very same problem. Someone recommends going to "accountservices.passport.net", but it can't be displayed. I vaguely remember something about passport, some Microsoft service that came and went, its of no help now. This thread is from 2006, no wonder. Interesting, the person with the problem was challenged with a credit card to prove they are an adult - if this method still exists and I can find it that could be a quick solution. Another person says they will charge or put a hold on $1, but he says contact MSN support, another service which probably doesn't exist. There is a link, but it just takes you to the top of the MSN Support tree. It would be nice to see that old post, checking Google cache, no go, its got robots.txt. Checking other results... actually, this is a dead end. I was hoping this was a specific forum page, but its more like a starting point.

Might as well try that MSN Support page while I'm here. Actually, nothing really here that's revelant, but I'll see if I can log into "My Microsoft Billing Account". I can sign in, but I go straight back to the old "You need a parent's permission" problem. Back to the forums.

Back to the previous spot, they recommend a link on InfoWorld. It's gone. Check cache. It's not in Google cache, but it is in web.archive.org. OK, they had the same problem, but they hacked Passport to resolve it. Not something I could/would do.

Another similar incident on Virtual Dr., in 2005. No solution. Another one on Just Answer, from 3 years ago, recommends logging in with the Parent account, which is the problem in the first place.

Search again for hotmail parental consent, but take the quotation marks off. Ah, finally something on answers.microsoft.com, and its recent. Unfortunately, the person asking for help already has parent and child accounts; they just want to change the child account to non-child. They recommend starting at fss.live.com, so I might as well try that. Nope, it takes me straight to "You need a parent's permission", as I'm still logged in. How about logout then go to fss... nope, same error message. Nothing really relevant here, its mostly about granting permissions for a child account after you log in, and I can't even log in.

Something disturbing on CNET, that when Microsoft complied with some federal law to protect children, some Hotmail users got locked out, and lost there accounts permanently. The article is from 2000.

Another page on Just Answer, someone accidentally set their birthday too low and now can't get back in, that's close enough to my problem. The first recommendation is to password reset - that is not relevant. But the next recommendation is phone numbers:
1-866-672-4551
1-800-386-5550
It might yet come to this, actual interaction with a human, but for a free service I have little hope. There was a time when I paid for Hotmail Plus service, which probably had live human support, but that was back in the mid 2000s. The service is probably gone, and I'm not subscribed to it anyway.
There is a link to a Validation Page, but it doesn't work.

I have Windows Live Mail 2011 installed, might as well try it. Start it up, fails on old passwords (as expected), update to new passwords.

"You need to get permission from an adult before you can sign in here."
OK

and in another popup:
Unable to send or receive messages for the Hotmail (zbekesi) account.
Server Error: 3204
Server: 'https://mail.services.live.com/DeltaSync_v2.0.0/Sync.aspx'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x8DE20003



**
https://account.live.com/acsr
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/search/search?SearchTerm=hotmail+parental+permission&x=0&y=0&CurrentScope.ForumName=windowslive&CurrentScope.Filter=livemail-email&ContentTypeScope=


and sometime later... there's a link for you to verify your age with a cc. problem solved itself.