Author: Vasudev Gurumurthy

Now there’s a new way to sign-in to your Windows Live ID. Windows Live ID has added Beta support for Information Cards with Windows CardSpace. It’s a new way to sign in more securely and conveniently into websites. Now you don’t need passwords to sign-in, thus reducing the risk of phishing attacks and keyloggers. You just have to send your Information Card to Live ID to identify you and get signed into Hotmail, Windows Live Spaces or any other site that accepts Windows Live ID.

If you are using Vista, you are ready to use CardSpace. If you want to use it in Windows XP or Windows 2003, then you’ll need IE7.0 and .NET3.0 else you will see these kinds of errors:

Or may be this, as it says ‘you are not running NTFS file system’

Now let us see how to add an Information Card to your Live ID account step by step.

Just follow this link (https://login.live.com/beta/managecards.srf) to get started. It is the Windows Live ID Information Card management page. You can use the same link to change or remove your Information Card also if you want, once it is associated with your Live ID.

As said earlier this reduces phishing attacks by using certificates to verify the identity of websites and which you can see this here as address bar in IE7 turns green.

Sign in with your password.

After that, it’ll again ask for password to verify it to add Information Card to your account. So again type your password.

Now Windows CardSpace will open and you can review the site information as its Owned and operated by Microsoft and verified by VeriSign.

Click on “Choose a card to send” which will open up this,

Now click on “Add a card” and Send to get the type of card as per its use as Personal card or Managed card with its description as shown

I have chosen Personal card, as Windows Live ID currently supports it. You have to enter whatever details you want to provide and a photograph to associate with it, if you want to. You can preview the card before sending it and it also shows Recent card History to know where it has been used.

And after sending it you’ll get a message informing us that you have successfully updated Information card for your account.

Click on finish to complete the sign in process.

Now you have associated an Information card to your account. Now close the browser and let us try to use this. So let us check our Windows Live Hotmail which requires a Windows Live ID. So when you go to its login page you will have an option to sign in using password or Information Card.

Choose Information card and sign in.

You’ll get a Windows CardSpace window to choose the card,

Select the card which you had created earlier and press 'send' and there you are successfully logged in checking your mail, without using password but using Information Card.