Inactive or deactivated?

Is it "inactive contacts", or "deactivated contacts"? My teacher told me that using "inactive contacts" is incorrect, and I should use "deactivated contacts" instead for the contacts who don't seem to be active in BBM (Blackberry Messenger). But which one do you think sounds better?

Solution 1:

Inactive & Deactivate have a different meaning concerning the cause of such inactivity which is the common effect : no present activity.

Deactivate implies a deactivation from an outside operator. So it's impossible to become active again without a previous exterior intervention on purpose to allow a mutation.

Inactive is the simple inactivity that proceeds from the element itself which is no active (never or for a while) ; but it could become active without (detected) exogenous/alien influence.

As we put it, it's a question of degree or level more than nature because all depend of the type of the intervention ; IE. what could seem a proprio motu change in the cell at first sight could be indeed the product of an exterior enzyme.