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How Do I Resolve My MSN Hotmail Sign-in Problems?

How do I resolve my MSN Hotmail sign in problems?

I continue to receive reports of people having trouble with MSN Hotmail sign in. The problems are as varied as the symptoms. But there is one thing that’s consistent …

… the frustration.

I’ve collected a number of ideas try to resolve the assorted problems you may be experiencing with your MSN Hotmail email.

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Spyware and Other Malware

Scan your machine: I’ll start with the obvious stuff that I would hope you’re doing already. MSN Hotmail can be affected in many different ways by both viruses and spyware. It’s important that you run an up to date virus scan and spyware scan regularly.

Check your hosts: A common target of malware is the “hosts” file, C:WindowsSystem32Driversetchosts. Open it in Notepad. If you see “hotmail.com” or “passport.com”, then the file has probably been compromised by malware. If that’s the case, rename the file to something else. You can read more about the hosts file here: “Is there a way to block certain URL’s in IE?“.

IE

Though many might argue the point, Internet Explorer is itselfnot a problem. However some have reported a couple of things that helped them:

Reinstall or repair IE: On Windows XP, you can run the System File Checker. On all versions of Windows, the best “repair” might just be a reinstall. Visit Microsoft’s Internet Explorer site for the latest version.

Switch browsers: Some have reported that switching to Firefox or Netscape resolved their issues with MSN Hotmail.

Lower Security: I don’t really recommend it, but some have reported that reducing the security on their internet zone in Internet Explorer to medium-low resolves some issues. IE itself makes this difficult on purpose, as you are increasing the risk of viruses and other malware. Click Tools, Internet OptionsSecurity, Custom Level, Reset to, and set Medium-low.

HTTP Version: Some have reported that altering the version of HTML that IE uses helps resolve their MSN Hotmail issue. In IE: Tools, Internet Options Advanced, locate the entry HTTP 1.1 settings and uncheck Use HTTP 1.1. Exit and restart IE for the change to take effect.

TLS: Some have reported that enabling the TLS 1.0 protocol in IE uses helps resolve their MSN Hotmail issue. In IE: Tools, Internet Options Advanced, locate the entry Use TLS 1.0 and make sure it’s checked. Exit and restart IE for the change to take effect.

Cookies

Cookies must be enabled: MSN Hotmail requires cookies in order to get past the “match the picture” security check. So:

  • In IE, click Tools, Internet Options Privacy, and press Default.
  • Clear the cookies, in case an existing cookie is causing problems. In IE, go to Tools, Internet Options General, and press Delete Cookies.
  • Clear the cache, in case a page is not being correctly refreshed. In IE, go to Tools, Internet Options, General, and press Delete Files, and be sure to check Delete all offline content prior to clicking OK.

Open your firewall: It’s important that your firewall not block cookies, and some do. Refer to the documentation for your firewall, but several folks have reported that resolving this allows them to progress past the “match the picture” stage. This probably does not apply if you’re using a router for your firewall, or if you are using the Windows XP embedded firewall. A quick test would be to turn off your firewall and try accessing MSN Hotmail, but do not leave your firewall turned off.

Network Issues

Sometimes networks get confused and block, or misroute, access to sites.

Reboot All: You’ve probably already rebooted your PC, but make sure to reboot your modem (power off and back on again) and/or your router. I know my own router has entered a state where its behavior was erratic, and a reboot resolved several issues.

Flush DNS: A reboot does this, but a quicker way to make sure that you’re using the most current DNS information is to open a command shell, and enter the following:

ipconfig /flushdns

This might not be available on all Windows versions in which case you still may want to do that reboot.

The problems are as varied as the symptoms.

Alter Network Settings: A number of discussion groups have mentioned this one. It involves altering an obscure network setting called “MTU” or “MaxMTU”. This is deep in the registry, but fortunately there are tools out there to make this setting a little easier to tweak. I’ve used TCP Optimizer from SpeedGuide.net. Using that utility, these changes are reported to help:

  • Click on the appropriate connection type (Dialup, DSL, DSL (PPPoE), or Cable Modem)
  • Click on Custom Settings
  • Change MaxMTU to 1220
  • Change and MTU Discovery from ‘Yes’ to ‘Default’
  • Click on Apply Changes, and then Exit

This type of change does require a reboot to take effect. (The theory is that MSN Hotmail made a change involving this to prevent Denial of Service attacks. Sadly it seems many users were denied service as a result.)

MSN Hotmail Itself

Try again later: Sometimes MSN Hotmail is the problem. We’ve seen periods of time where it was simply not working. While their notification of such events is lacking (as in, it’s pretty much non-existent), widespread outages are evident to them quite quickly, and you can be certain that they are working on issue(s) even though you might not hear about it. How long to wait? I typically give it a day.

Play with numbers: Exactly how MSN Hotmail’s load is distributed across the hundreds, if not thousands, of servers is a mystery. If you’re able to log in you’ll see addresses like this in your address bar:

http://by18fd.bay18.hotmail.msn.com

The numbers, 18 in this case, vary as MSN Hotmail distributes the load by assigning your session to specific servers.

In perhaps one of the most obscure ideas I’ve ever seen, one reader reports that changing the number (a 2, in his case, to a 23) resolved an issue after sign in. We have no way of knowing exactly what this does or why it might work, so it’s difficult to recommend, but you might give it a try if you are able to sign in. Edit the url in the address bar, changing both numbers, and press enter. Who knows? It could work.

Outlook Express

MSN Hotmail support in Outlook Express is being phased out, so that might be the problem if you’re using OE. This Microsoft Knowledgebase Article explains that to continue using your MSN Hotmail account in OE you need to purchase an MSN Hotmail Plus account.

MSN Hotmail’s web interface remains free.

Your PC

Watch the clock: the date and time on your computer must be correct. Several aspects of connections to secure sites like MSN Hotmail rely on your clock being accurate.

Use the clock synchronization facility in Windows XP. Right click on the clock in your taskbar, select Adjust Date/Time, click on the Time Zone tab and ensure that the time zone is set correctly. Then click on the Internet Time tab, check the Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server. Click Update Now to update the time immediately.

Theft

There are two more scenarios that can lead to not being able to log in to your own MSN Hotmail account: phishing and theft.

Phishing: If you’ve received an email from MSN Hotmail asking you to visit a web site to “re-verify” your account, you may have fallen victim to a phishing scam. The email was almost certainly not legitimate, and the website was almost certainly not MSN Hotmail. Even if it looked like it, it was probably a hacker attempting to get your personal information. The article Phishing? What’s Phishing? has more.

Theft: Is your password easy to guess? Did you let a friend use your account? Have you accessed your MSN Hotmail in an internet cafe or other public venue? Then it’s possible that your MSN Hotmail account has been hijacked or stolen. Someone saw, got or guessed your password, and then went off and changed it.

The bad news is that you may be Severely Out of Luck. There are few, if any, resources to help you recover your password, or the contents of your address book or mailbox. The only real solution is to start over and take steps so that it doesn’t happen again.

A special Thank You to all the readers of prior articles here on Ask Leo! who’ve contributed ideas and solutions for others to experiment and work with, and to everyone who reported back on their success and/or failure. Your ideas and comments are helping everyone.

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242 comments on “How Do I Resolve My MSN Hotmail Sign-in Problems?”

  1. please could help me recover my msn which have been hacked by someone and who managed perhaps to change his secret question. My msn account is jenane19@hotmail.com.
    the country is Morocco, and it happened in a cybercafee which is public.
    kind regards

    Reply
    • i also lost the {removed}@hotmail.com id since i was using from more than 20-25 years, nowadays iam using in office pc’s and my i-phone, unfortunatly i don’t remember the security question, i really can’t remember the question,,,

      Reply
  2. I have a free msn email account. I cant sign in when I try to it tells me to type in the characters then sign in which I do. It keeps telling me to type in the characters. Wont let me sign in. What do I do and have I lost that email account? How can I get it back or sign back on? Help

    Reply
  3. The article lists many things that might be responsible for that behaviour. Be sure to try the steps suggested … especially relating to cookies.

    Reply
  4. Ahmed: I’m sorry, but I don’t understand your question. It could mean many things. Please post the specific scenario and error message.

    Reply
  5. I had a hotmail acounts a feww years ago. But one day I tried to account with my old user but i can not.
    What can i do to resolve my problem and get back my old account?

    Reply
  6. how do i change the time or the time zone i made it wrong i need to change it and i want to kno wen the time is when i receved my e-mails! thank you much! later

    Reply
  7. Right click on the clock in the Windows XP task bar, click on Adjust Date/Time, click on the Time Zone tab, and select the appropriate timezone.

    Reply
  8. Hi Leo,

    Somebody has hacked my account and changed all my credentials. My account has some important official mails, which I usually kept with me for reference purpose. I know this has been done by someone who is very close to me, and that person is mis-using that information.

    If you can help me, by giving me guidance on how to recover/block my account I would be grateful to you.

    My Hotmail Id was dheerajkapoor77@hotmail.com

    Reply
  9. EVERYONE PLEASE: read the article you’re commenting on. It has a BUNCH of ideas and things to try to address exactly all the questions you’re asking.

    Reply
  10. ya mrs leo or who ever this is u havent helped me out one bit i am tryin to get on a s/n and i cannot remember the answer to the question i asked and i wanna change my question for it and nuthin is helpin me so thanks for not helpin me

    Reply
  11. erm a few days ago my msn account got hacked they have changed my password and i didnt not save my password on my hotmail account so i cant find a way to acess my msn account again please hepl me my email is Humetomcat12@aol.com please as soon as you find a way to help me email me please thankyou

    Reply
  12. I had this exact issue, and biy, it is *WAY* frustrating. But I went out on a limb and tried the old ‘change the bay server’ trick (for me from 110 to 109) and whaddya’know, something so simple let me in and there I was staying up to after 3am on Friday and Saturday night trying to get this to work. Hey, it’s only just past 1am now too!

    Thanks for you hints, they helped me out.

    STeve.

    Reply
  13. I know I’m properly connected to the internet and there aren’t any problems there however everytime I try to log in to my hotmail account an error page shows up saying this page cannot be displayed. No matter how many times I try to log in the error page always comes up. As for my messenger, it says that I am currently NOT connected to the .NET Messenging service. I assume it’s because it can’t detect my default connection and I don’t have a proxy server. How can I connected to my messenger and hotmail account? please help me chloe

    Reply
  14. Chloe: 9 times out of 10 what you describe happens if your firewall is blocking access to messenger. Make sure that it’s configured to allow it.

    Reply
  15. now when i try to check my email i cnat because i have to keep typing in this 8 code thing but still it does not allow me in it, but it allows me in my msn but just not email. It sucks because i’ve tried getting a new accout and now it does it to my new one to. Well if you can help please reply. Thanks

    Reply
  16. There are several suggestions in the article that probably apply. Firewalls and cookies are the most likely. Please read the article.

    Reply
  17. I have aol, but also just got a hotmail account, but when I log on, and put in hotmail as my key word, I can’t seem to find out how to get to the hotmail sign in screen, what do I do? and how do I get a hotmail icon on my desktop? I appreciate your help.

    Reply
  18. I clicked on one link a friend sent me in a chat in MSN Messenger. My computer froze and upon reboot I have not been able to use MSN or Yahoo Messenger, Hotmail, and some other sites including online banking that I use. When I try to sign in on MSN is says I do not have internet connectivity, when in fact I do. I can use many other websites on my computer, just not the ones I mentioned. Anything you can suggest that could help me would be appreciated.

    Reply
  19. Is it possile to change your MSN address (i.e 123@hotmail.com). I have managed to “aquire” a load of constant trash email and want to change the address so that it has nowhere to go. Also, my MSN hotmail is quite long, and can never seem to remember it.

    Thanks and much appreciated

    Sav

    Reply
  20. everytime i log in to read my email it takes me to the passport it tells me to enter my email address and password when i do it takes me right back to the beginning of the passport i want to know how to read my mail.

    Reply
  21. My msn/hotmail will still not let me sign on when I’m using my own comp. On any other comp I can sign in no problem…what’s the deal?

    Reply
  22. Hi Leo, I really need ur help. With one of my hotmail addresses anytime I sign in, they ask me to identify some letters in a box, I do it and then the same keeps happening and I never get to sign in. I’d like to know why and if u can PLEASE help me resolve it.
    THANX

    Reply
  23. With your help, I have managed to resolve my Hotmail sign in problem. I have a Dell, running Windows XP and Norton Internet Security, and my problem first occurred immediately after I switched from dial-up service to DSL.

    After trying several of the solutions in your article with no success, I turned off my Norton firewall, as you suggested, and I was able to access my Hotmail account. As soon as I accessed Hotmail, I turned the Norton firewall on, and I was able to use all of the functions of my Hotmail account.

    I discovered that my Norton Internet Security firewall had been configured to block access to secure sites. Since I could access secure sites on my old dial-up service, I am assuming that the installation of DSL had something to do with my firewall being reconfigured.

    This is how I resolved the problem: enter Norton Internet Security, then click on Personal Firewall, then Advanced, then General. Scroll down until you see “Block Access to Secure Sites”. If this is blocked, click on the icon, then Modify, then Permit.

    I had the same sign in problem with eHarmony, again immediately after installing DSL, and now I can access both eHarmony and Hotmail with no problems.

    I hope this information may be of use. Thank you for creating this most helpful site, I’ll be buying you a beer soon!

    Reply
  24. All was fine with my hotmail account until when i started to type in my account name and password and it kept taking me to a search engine site. (obviously some sort of virus) I used anti virus to delete this site but now when i try to get into my account it just takes me to a blank, server not responding, page. All my other webpages are fine and its not a problem geting to other URLs but whenever i try to get onto my hotmail account the server is not responding ..PLease Help Also it is worth saying that i cant download any spyware monitor as it takes me to another blank, server not responding, page. please email me on scottheinemann@hotmail.com

    Reply
  25. Try this, worked fine for me, using a Copperjet ADSL modem and XP:

    start
    run
    regedit

    hkey_local_machine
    system
    currentcontrolset
    services
    tcpip
    parameters
    interfaces

    under any entry that you find there, all are between accoladades {….}, find the MTU entry. Change the data (double-click MTU) to 514 (hexadecimal).

    If there IS no MTU entry, right-click in the righ-hand window, click NEW, click Dword value, and name it MTU. Then doubleclick on the newly made entry and change it to 514.

    Good luck

    Norman

    Reply
  26. Dear Sir,

    My Same id of an hotmail account sign in problem password is missing problem please give me some best idea how to get my hotmail account mir_mohsin77@hotmail.com my old password is iloveuerum I don’t what happened.

    Please replay as soon as possible.

    Mohsin

    Reply
  27. “Sorry, we were unable to sign you in to the Msn Messenger at this time. Please Try again later. 80072efd” I can’t seem to find a way to fix this problem. I’ve sorted out my firewall, and everything else is up to date and working fine. Why can’t I sign into Msn? What can you do to help me? please email me and help me with this annoying problem of frustration!!!!!!!!!!!!11

    Reply
  28. GET RID OF NORTON!!!
    After some research, I discovered that recent updates to Norton Internet Security has caused the Hotmail (and other access) problems.
    Go to Symantec’s website and find “Removing your Norton program using SymNRT”.
    I followed the instructions and it worked like a dream! I can now access my Hotmail, etc.
    I will not use Norton again…any suggestions for security software?

    Reply
  29. those having problems with msn and norton should just try updating norton, after wasting several hours trying to fix msn i discovered that simply downloading norton updates had everything running smoothly again.

    Reply
  30. Hotmail no longer accepts it’s email to be downloaded into Outlook/Outlook Express unless you have a paid account- it doesn’t allow the messages to be dowloaded and used in these programs unless you have a paid acct.

    Hope that may help some of you.
    Di

    Reply
  31. ave forgot ma msn password and ma secret question ,it keeps telling me to go to credentials ( but ave no idea where it is ,nothing on the link a click from the help pages says credentials)would appreciate your help

    Reply
  32. today i tried a little experiment…with two accounts….

    after hearing on irc that my msn was showing me online to half the people on my contact list i registered my gmail account and loaded my contact list..which i ran in windows messenger simultaniously along side my hotmail account in msn messenger (7.5)

    now…msn said the hotmail account was online..i could see people online….i was showing as offline to some people but i could still converse with some of them

    but the gmail account said thta the hotmail account was offline.

    i could only communicate with certain people in each account.

    its almost like an old style server split…and its a giant pain.

    i was also having big time connection issues…but the two accounts never seem to be affected at the same time.

    telling me that its not a computer or a isp issue.
    its definatly an msn server issue
    however if you check server status on the msn website it states that everything is sunshine and roses (what else is new)

    i a really interested in whats going on here
    so if anyone has any idea i’d really like to hear it….
    since msn is flakey feel free to send me an email.

    i probably wont get your msn message
    and i tend to ignore requests for adds from people i dont know

    foursilver_stars@hotmail.com

    Reply
  33. Hiya,

    I’m also getting the strange problem of my msn showing me as offline to few of my contacts yet i can still chat to them and every other activity.

    I have performed uninstalls and fresh installs of msn and my firewall as well as deleting all entries from the reg, so thats ruled that out.

    Also have added an advanced rule to firewall to ensure ports msn using are not being blocked (although doubt this is problem as never used to happen).

    This problem is happening on my home computer (blueyonder connection) and my work computer (e7even broadband connection) so everything has been ruled out.

    Believe it to be a problem with the hotmail account in general and suppose we will just have to wait untill msn fix this bug (although could be a lifetime).

    If anyone gets any info please send me email or add me to msn.

    Cheers

    Dean

    Reply
  34. I have been in touch with microsoft with trying to resolve the issue of opening hotmail, and getting into some of my favorites in internet explorer.
    Microsoft has also reccomended that I visit your site.
    We have tried most of the solutions you have mentioned, but we did not try the “flush dns” fix. I have no idea what a command shell is. Can you help?

    Thanks,

    Maxwell Tidwell

    Reply
  35. Microsoft pointed you here? I’d love to find out more specifics on how that’s happening :-).

    Anyway, a command shell is an item a level or two down your start menu. Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt

    A reboot will accomplish the same thing as the flushdns.

    Reply
  36. if they want you to flush dns (which i already tried) you need to go into your command promprt and enter the below command:

    ipconfig /flushdns

    My msn doesnt seem to be doing the problem today although i had trouble sending messages earlier

    Reply
  37. unless you were sent the official invitation link to the download for beta which is registered with your msn passport you wont be able to log in as the beta is only allowed for registered logins i do believe.

    Reply
  38. i have downloaded msn 8.0 and when i sign in it keeps coming up with THIS ID USED TO SIGN IN IS NOT ALLOWED TO ACCESS TO THIS BTEA VERSION OF MESSENGER can you please help me ?

    Reply
  39. No, probably not. 8.0 has not been released yet, and the copy you have is obviously a private beta for which you have not yet been authorized. Wait for the official release before proceding.

    Reply
  40. hana, have you tried removing the program from the regedit?

    Might want to try running anti spyware as well as a lot of msn add ons have these. Hitman Pro 2 is good antispyware encorporates multiple spyware programs into one macro program.

    Reply
  41. Robyn have you tried uninstalling msn and performing fresh install?

    Kool dude there could be a problem with your msn passport which msn are the only people who can help with. May have to create a new hotmail account.

    James have you got multiple log in accounts on your computer?

    Reply
  42. earlier today, while i was checking my mail on gmail the google home page logo appeared along with the question, do you want to use google as your home page., i didnt think it would cause any problem so i clicked the yes button. since then ive been unable to receive or send emails with both google or msn hotmail, what can i do to fix this problem, i still want to be able to use both gmail & msn hotmail. can i cancel just the google home page and retain my gmail & hotmail so it will be as it was before i clicked on the google home page logo. thank -don cannell

    Reply
  43. I’m very suspicious of that message “just popping up” from somewhere offering to change your homepage. It feels like spyware. My very first inclination would be to run an up to date spyware scan.

    Reply
  44. The Microsoft Passport Network is unavailable from this site for one of the following reasons:

    This site may be experiencing a problem.
    The site may not be a member of the Passport Network.

    You can:

    You can sign in or sign up at other sites on the Passport Network, or try again later at this site.

    Reply
  45. Thanks for the tips. When my new pc did the match the picture loop on the second day of using a new hotmail account, the following day I was able to get in due to something in this series: 1/ used my husband’s pc on same router, cable (not networked)(had to do one match the picture); 2/ shut down wired router and cable before restarting my pc (new IP); 3/ chance that it was a hotmail issue and was already resolved by then. But since the first step of using another pc worked, it may help someone else.

    Reply
  46. Dear Sir,
    This is Nadia ,i am having a problem regarding my email id that is lazycat2@hotmail.com and the password is blessed ..i am trying to put my password but its not going its giving wrong password ..Sir please i need your help as i need my password back my important emails are in there plz plz sir i would be thankful to you..waiting for your reply take care sir…..
    I already had communicated with several people thorugh email to Microsoft Support and then guided me but unfortunatly it was not going and couldn

    Reply
  47. I selected the option to save my address and password. I want to
    change my option to save my address only. How can I get back to the
    option select page I need?

    Reply
  48. Signing out will force you to return to the sign in screen in order to use the service again. On that signin screen are the options to save/remember and so on, which you can then make sure are set the way you want.

    Reply
  49. I don’t want it when I sign in it automatically has my address and my password…I want to be able to type in my password each time I sign in how to I adjust this.

    Reply
  50. I cant sign in because i think someone has hacked into my email address box, how can i sign in if she has changed the password?

    Reply
  51. After 2 days of not being able to access my MSN email acct I found this page and have now downloaded Firefox. It got me in and all Microsoft has to say is “Whoops”. Literally . . . top of the page “Whoops”. I’d say so!

    Thanks a ton!

    Reply
  52. i have one problem using with microsoft outlook.

    Nature of Problem:” winmail.dat this file is attached automatically and always i received this file as attachment ” when i attach any file it will convet automatically as a “winmail.dat”.. how to resolve it..

    Reply
  53. Send your email as “plain text” or “html” format. NOT “Rich Text”. That’s all on the format menu when you create your message.

    Reply
  54. Recently I changed to ISP – PEOPLEPC and since have been unable to read my hotmail. The login page launches and I can then see my emails and then I get reassigned to a peoplepc page that says: The web site you entered could not be found and it keeps opening this page: http://peoplepc-help.com/?d=error_peoplepc&q=http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/error.peoplepc.dart/error_overture_sky;sz=120×600;ptile=2;ord=PLACE_RANDOM_EIGHTDIGIT_NUMBER_HERE?

    Help me please. I have not problem with hotmail on a different PC using peoplepc (friends machine) so it has to be some setting- just unsure of which one to start trying.

    Thank you. J

    Reply
  55. I recently selected “remeber my address and password” and my hotmail account opens up. How do I reset to keep co-workers from reading my e-mails?

    Reply
  56. I too am totally blocked out of my hotmail. It was a new account, had cards & stationary printed. I can not get into it says my password is wrong, then my pet’s name is wrong, the customer service said I don’t match up to their information. It’s bolonga. Now I feel like a criminal.
    Katy

    Reply
  57. With regards to the server thing …

    I’m a microsoft certified professional and use this kind of technology all the time.

    It’s simple really …

    When you ask the server for a connection by trying to sign in your msn client program goes to the same loction as every other server but everyone in the world cant be hooked up to the same server so it checks on your location by doing a sort of ip lookup to get your ip subnet (nearest exchange)

    from there it diverts you to the nearest / fastest server to suit you.

    the urls are clever because the numbers dont actually relate to the numbered server but an id for what microsoft calls an endpoint to a service.

    this is like a virtual gateway, theres no more servers running the msn chat network than your average irc network.

    its an interesting approach though :)

    Reply
  58. oh and the problem you guys are having its most likely what your isp calls a “stale session” when you come offline your typical home router doesnt, most people leave them running 24/7 switching it off for about 1 minute then powering it back up again should fix the problem.

    if you are not using a router then it could be a memory leak which a restart usually solves.

    reinstalling msn is also another obvious that many should try.

    take everything about msn completely off your computer then set it up again and it should fire up fine ;)

    feel free to message me if ya wanna know more about this kinda thing guys ward_144@hotmail.com

    dont bother emailing this address though its too full of spam for me to ever bother reading it ;)

    Reply
  59. guys what does this mean.it wont let me get into my hotmail acc.

    ERROR

    Due to an internal error your request cannot be processed. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please try again later.
    If you are attempting to reactivate your Hotmail account, we’re sorry but your request cannot be processed at this time.
    Please do the following:

    Close all web browser windows.
    Restart your web browser.
    Return to http://www.hotmail.com to sign in.

    Reply
  60. About a week ago my internet stopped working so I hit a button on the rauder, since that usually helps. I tried signing into windows live messenger after, and this is what it says;

    Sorry, we were unable to sign you into Windows Live Messenger at this time. Please try again later.

    Windows Live Messenger has made several failed attempts to sign you in. Your firewall may be blocking Windows Live Messenger from connecting to the service. Please review your firewall settings. See the retailer’s intructions for more information.

    Reply
  61. Thanks Leo

    I have been fiddeling around with MSN Hotmail Support, to get an answer why only one of our accounts (2)at Hotmail – using Outlook Express to retrieve – was refused access yesterday. is
    They just tell me to sign up for money.

    You have just solved my problem with this article, explaining that OE is phasing out the DAV support. WHY did MSN not tell me this.

    Thanks again Leo – now I am going to use some other e-mail provider.

    Reply
  62. November 5, 2006.
    Dear Leo,
    Signing in to Hotmail was impossible because of an endless loop of confirming password requests. After trying most of your suggestions I tried again setting the privacy on internet explorer(IE) to Medium, by IE, Properties, Privacy, Default, Apply, OK. Then I went IE, Properties, Privacy, Sites, and a window comes up with a list of Managed Web sites. Find msm.com in the list and double click it. msn.com then appears in the Address of Web site box. Click Allow and you will find that the msn.com line in the list changes the Setting from Always Block to Always Allow. OK. OK. I was then able to log into Hotmail. Hope this is of some help to someone else.

    Reply
  63. Thanks to Rob Stewart!! (Nov 4 2006)

    Re: Signing in to Hotmail was impossible because of an ENDLESS LOOP OF CONFIRMING PASSWORD REQUESTS.

    Your advice worked- thanks mate!!!!

    ” …setting the privacy on internet explorer(IE) to Medium, by IE, Properties, Privacy, Default, Apply, OK. Then I went IE, Properties, Privacy, Sites, and a window comes up with a list of Managed Web sites. Find msm.com in the list and double click it. msn.com then appears in the Address of Web site box. Click Allow and you will find that the msn.com line in the list changes the Setting from Always Block to Always Allow.”

    Reply
  64. Every time i start my computer, it warns me of an inactive firewall and that my computer is at risk…but wont let me enter the fire wall settings, is there a way around this?

    Reply
  65. Hi. I’ve been having this problem for about a month now, I cannot sign into msn on any computer in my house. I run on a wireless linksys router. The error code I get is 81000306. Thank you.

    Reply
  66. I am suddenly not able to sign in to my main email account (not the one above). I last accessed it three days ago but it now tells me that my password is incorrect – which it isn’t. If I try to reset my password my answer to my secret question – also correct is regarded as incorrect. It has now locked me out completely and I am unable to persue any reset options. I have tried a few of the measures above but they haven’t altered the locked status. I have never signed into this account in a public domain so I would hope its not a theft issue. My CAPS lock is definitely off. Help!

    Reply
  67. RE: Nicola’s post; Dec 23.

    I have just experienced the same problem. Intermittent inability to sign in, then total inability to sign into my MSN Hotmail. I communicated with MSN Hotmail support, they allowed me to re-set my password, and when I logged in ALL my stored folders and emails were gone! MSN Support claim my email was “deliberately deleted” and they don’t have a backup, but they don’t seem interested in determing how my account was compromised! Is it likely my account was compromised ? How? I don’t use public computers. Thanks.

    Reply
  68. I hardly couldn’t read my hotmail too.
    By accident my computer crashed so I had to buy new hard disks. The shop owner adviced me to upgrade from windows 2000 to windows XP. I still experienced problems but after upgrading to Internet Explorer 7 http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx
    it works maybe even beter then the old version.

    Hope this helps someone out.

    cheers,
    Jeroen Haan
    http://www.haan.net
    e-Business and Multimedia Solutions

    Reply
  69. In my case, i was getting the outlook express socket error and my msn messenger werent working. I reset the winsock and that solved it. There is a command that i used to do it, but for most of u, u can download tcp/ip repair from xpsmoker or WinsockXPFix.exe (google either one). once ran, i rebooted. problem solved. I didnt have time to investigate what caused it originally. I was in a hurry and had to use that. I found this board later while looking to see if there was a simpler way.

    Reply
  70. Just wanted to let you all know my experience: Starting April 21st I could not log into my MSN account. I kept getting the 80048823 msg. Funny thing is that on my home pc I had it set to remember me so that I wouldn’t have to enter the email and PW each time I signed in. If it was the same info, how could it not be correct? The only explanation I could come up with was that I left myself logged in at school or someone hacked into my email. I followed the instructions on resetting my password but when I entered my secret answer to my secret question it said it was wrong! When I got locked out of the options because of entering wrong information too many times, I contacted MSN. They were very quick to respond (next day) and gave me an automated solution. It was what I’d already done so I sent them another email and then “Dennis” replied asking to verify some information, which I did and “Mel” replied with a msg that had a link to reset my PW! I really was surprised at how quick they responded and that they even helped me. Anyway, I have access to my account again but I noticed that my folders were missing and that several emails were missing as well. I guess there is no way of knowing what really happened.
    I went to Microsoft Customer Support & this is the link: http://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlid&page=wlsupport_home_options_form_byemail&ct=eformts

    Reply
  71. Just wanted to let you all know my experience: Starting April 21st I could not log into my MSN account. I kept getting the 80048823 msg. Funny thing is that on my home pc I had it set to remember me so that I wouldn’t have to enter the email and PW each time I signed in. If it was the same info, how could it not be correct? The only explanation I could come up with was that I left myself logged in at school or someone hacked into my email. I followed the instructions on resetting my password but when I entered my secret answer to my secret question it said it was wrong! When I got locked out of the options because of entering wrong information too many times, I contacted MSN. They were very quick to respond (next day) and gave me an automated solution. It was what I’d already done so I sent them another email and then “Dennis” replied asking to verify some information, which I did and “Mel” replied with a msg that had a link to reset my PW! I really was surprised at how quick they responded and that they even helped me. Anyway, I have access to my account again but I noticed that my folders were missing and that several emails were missing as well. I guess there is no way of knowing what really happened.
    I went to Microsoft Customer Support & this is the link: http://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlid&page=wlsupport_home_options_form_byemail&ct=eformts

    Posted by: Maria at May 4, 2007 01:07 AM

    Reply
  72. I found one solution to the problem of not being able to sign in, and it is specifically targeted at those who use Norton Internet Security. Due to many frustrating attempts to log in to Hotmail unsuccessfully, I ADDED Hotmail to “Web Content Options” in NIS and granted it FULL access rights. It did not work! Much to my amazement, I deleted the rule in NIS, and miraculously Hotmail became accessible again. If you are using NIS, under Global Settings, you have to allow everything except Flash. It would be easier to post a screenshot for those not that familiar with NIS, but perhaps this will help a few people.

    Reply
  73. When I try to log in, it brings up a security box where I have to type in characters and numbers. After doing so, it brings the log in page back up but I end up going in a circle between the two pages. Any body know how to fix it e-mail me at a different address [Email Address Removed]. Thanks

    Reply
  74. It is my understanding the Micro Soft wants you to sign up for Hotmail Plus at $25. My Outlook Express no longer works. It keeps asking for a pass word. I type it in and it asks again. I guess I will switch to G-Mail if they want to keep blocking me. I understand G-Mail will work with Outlook Express.

    Reply
  75. try to turn off windows firewall and windows defender if you have them. They cause a lot of silly problems. Even if you have the exceptions listed, its not absolute. I had so many ping problems and default gateway problems, but with both of them turned off, NO MORE PROBLEMS

    Reply
  76. I am also haveing a problem with the sign-in page attempting to use an established hotmail accout. The web page displays giant lettering so it is vurtually impossible to read. The associated pages display accurately and can be adjusted with the View command in the toolbar

    Reply
  77. Like others I also liked the old hotmail, but I like reading my mail even more. I tried the switch to firefox and I can now access my account! thanks Leo! I just did this so I don’t know if it is a perfect fix, but if you are like me and resistant to change. take the plunge your friends are trying to contact you!

    Reply
  78. I, like Geri above (sept 15th) am also having giant lettering appear on the Hotmail sign-in page. I have tried most things – including clicking on ‘VIEW’ in the toolbar and selecting ‘Text Size’ Smallest, but each letter is still incredibly huge and takes up many times this windows space.
    Helpppppppp!! (lol).

    Reply
  79. I just remembered you cant respond to my specific question if you dont have a working email address to send it to Leo…thus i inserted my alternative email address at Yahoo.
    As i said in a previous post, when i try and log into Hotmail, the font size is MANY thousands of times larger than regular font. I have clicked on the VIEW option and TEXT SIZE > SMALLEST above, but unfortunately that does not fix the problem either.
    Someone else also posted that they too are having the same problem as myself, and i can only hope that someone with your computer experience can nut the problem out as it is wayyyyy beyond my limited knowledge.
    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  80. Mac user here, (G4) OS X 10.4.10 using Safari. Cannot get to log-in page, URL keeps changing every second or so; screen remains blank. Clearing cookies solves problem for a day or two, then problem returns. I Have MS Messenger for Mac, and problem came shortly after upgrading to Version 6.0.3 — Messenger signs in no problem; tells me about new mail in inbox, but can’t get to hotmail.
    Same thing happens no matter how I try to get to sign-in page, even with google search for Hotmail Sign-In. I need to have cookies enabled. if I knew which one to delete, I could live with that. As I said, I am not the only one with this OS using Safari with this problem. Question asked by someone else at Yahoo answers, but no answer.
    Help Please……..

    Reply
  81. Ditch Internet Explorer. It sucks. Trust Micro$oft to make a browser that’s incompatible with its own sites. But then again, many of us know that’s nothing new about Micro$oft right? Use Avant Browser. It is absolutely free. And it will get rid of your frustrations of not being able to log into Hotmail or Live.com, hopefully forever.

    Doggy

    Reply
  82. I use hotmail on a shared laptop but want to delete messenger for security reasons. Is it possible to do this? It automatically appears and give automatic sign in to my Hotmail account. I don’t use messanger so just want to get rid of it.

    Reply
  83. Every time I try to log in through Safari, I get the following message in the log-in box (see below). Very frustrating, as I have even paid for the Hotmail Plus service, and my outlook no longer works. Anyone know how to get around this? (could it be a Mac/Microsoft incompatibility issue?)

    Windows Live ID is unavailable from this site for one of the following reasons:
    This site may be experiencing a problem.
    The site may not be a member of Windows Live ID.
    You can:

    You can sign in or sign up at other Windows Live ID sites and services, or try again later at this site.

    Reply
  84. hello. I was having the same problem. here’s what I did to fix it from Norton Firewall.
    Norton Antivirus > Email & Messaging > Privacy Control > Configure Privacy Control > Advanced

    From the advanced menu, you’ll see a list of internet websites. Click the website that you aren’t able to access fully, then click on the tab (Second one for me). Under , select Permit. Do that for all websites that relate to the one you aren’t able to access. for example, I was having problems accessingl hotmail. i could only get to the main sign-in page but it would return to the same one after I try to login.
    So I selected “permit” for live.com and hotmail.com. I had to manually add http://www.hotmail.com in the list and permit it afterwards.

    Hope it works.

    Reply
  85. Everytime I log onto my account my daughters hotmail automatically logs in even though she has her own account. How do I stop it happening (ie get rid of hotmail which I dont use) from my account without deleting it from hers?

    Reply
  86. —–BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE—–
    Hash: SHA1

    Hotmail isn’t something you “get rid of”, it’s just a web site. So the short
    answer is don’t go to hotmail.com and it shouldn’t log you in. If it does, log
    out. To prevent it from logging you in automatically, after logging out attempt
    to login and make sure that “remember me” is NOT checked. You shouldn’t have to
    complete the login, just make sure that option isn’t checked.

    Good luck!

    Leo

    —–BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE—–
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)

    iD8DBQFHcAZyCMEe9B/8oqERAs4OAJsE5QFY9V/GlcFViJQ7U7PCT2QbDwCffj+i
    TVWo9iVt/Pe0ZhRYDbPIPWw=
    =Brq4
    —–END PGP SIGNATURE—–

    Reply
  87. I resolved my issue by changing the MTU size which was set to 1496, to 1220 as stated on this page. Worked straight away.

    Previously I could not sign into MSN Live via IE or Firefox. Could also not log into MSN Messenger or Trillian MSN accounts.

    Even tried disabling Firewalls and the like, all to no avail, until I changed th MTU size.

    Many thanks, it had been bugging me for months.

    Cheers

    Reply
  88. Hi Leo, I’m hoping you may be able to help me. I think someone may have sent me some sort of virus through my msn messenger recently. I have run a virus scan with my zone alarm software, but ever since then i have been repeatedly getting the following error: A runtime error has occurred. Do you wish to debug? Line: 567 Error:

    Reply
  89. have set up an email address for my wife and has put the address in my favourites. when I click on this it opens up my mail also all my list of contacts are listed as her contacts as well. How can I set it so that when her address on my favourites valer-ann@hotmail is clicked it opens up to her account. can I get rid of the contacts list showing on her contacts I tried ticking all the boxes the delete but it wiped out my list only good job I had a printed list to be able to add (tedious job)them all back into my contacts

    Reply
  90. It used to be a simple matter to sign in anywhere any time on any computor. I would just type in hotmail.com and the home page came up, yes, other choices came up too but the home page was always at the top, now there are pages and pages to wade through and when I eventually find the home page I can’t sign on! Clicking on ‘sign on’ doesn’t take me anywhere I can type in my address. I am frustrated by everyone in the industry’s inability to leave well enough alone. Someone always thinks they’ll upgrade and improve the system and it only complicates.

    Reply
  91. I agonized over my inability to sign in for 3 days! I can be technologically challenged, but I kept doing everything I was advised here and on msn. Today, I look down at a toolbar and see “protected mode:off.” *lightbulb moment* Went back to options, security, checked “enable protected mode” and problem was solved. I have NO IDEA how it came unchecked b/c I didn’t do it myself. Hotmail was working fine on Wed, not on Thurs. However, the issue with [incorrect email or password] went away and I am back in hotmail. Maybe it was a stupid oversight but no one specifically told me to look for it. Just a suggestion for those still struggling.

    Reply
  92. okay right now i have read a large majority of comments and am finding that not very many of them have been answerd with any helpful advice so im going to try and explain short and simple some problems that may occur and how to fix them.
    okay so here goes all list problems using number as to not confuse anyone with long paragraphs.
    1)msn dosent open – not much you do except try downloading a more recent version of MSN.
    2)MSN opens and signs in on start up – now then at the top of the msn window click tools,options,general then untick the option that sais automatically run windows live messenger when i log onto windows.
    3)you sign out of msn but then it signs you back in again later without you clicking anything – okay main cause of problem sounds to me like u have a virus please dont not accept any zipped folders from anyone via msn a zipped foler looks like a folder with a zip on it its most likely a virus hidden in there and by the way your mate isnt doing this to pee you off its his pc doing it without him realising it wont even come up on his screen that hes sending anything basically you need to unistall msn messenger then scan your pc with an antivirus software dont do a quick scan you need a full system scan to root out the virus then reinstall msn messenger ie download it again and run it.
    4)MSN wont sign into your account on your pc but other email work on your pc – sounds to me like msn has deleted your account for beeing inactive for to long ie not singing into this account for ages there is nothing you do apart from create a new account or use another working existing account.
    5)MSN troubleshooter sais something about firewall setting or proxy settings – okay bear with me this is a long one okay basically this can be windows firewall or it can be a software firewall such as nortons antivirus /avg antivirus and so on right now i cant talk you through this its a simple process but with every version of windows its different so please go onto google and type the following with the quote marks “how to turn windows firewall off …..here add your verison ie 2000,xp,vista” this will give you a step by step guide on how to do so. okay so say u have tried that and it still dosent work okay then so we need to try proxy settings – these things when trying to describe are complicated just think of them as a bouncer at a gate leading to an internet basically there saying msn isnt allowed through because its trying to go through the wrong gate. okay so what u need to do is open up your explorer weather it be internet explorer or fire fox or what ever it is still should work all the same click tools,internet options,connections,lan settings then if the tick box saying “use a proxy server for you lan” is ticked untick it click okay then try signing bk into msn if it is unticked try ticking it then try signing into msn PLEASE NOTE THAT IF THIS DOSENT WORK PLEASE GO BK TO THESE SETTING AND PUT IT THE WAY IT WAS.
    Umm atm i cnt think of much more for msn but all pop bk on the site in a day or two is someone adresses me personally that would be easier then i know whos asking me what and who isnt
    thanks luke ps any problems that the above has cause tell me and i should be able to sort the new problem evern if it has nothing to do with msn

    Reply
  93. I recently upgraded to a MacBook, ever since then when I tr to access my msn email account I have to always type my password twice to get in. The first time always says my password or email is wrong even though it correct and then I type again and I get in without hesitation. sometimes it takes me to an error screen with safari but then i arrow back and boom theres my email . how can i fix this. i have safari and downloaded netscape an firefox and it does it on both browsers…HELP!!!! MY MAC IS KILLING ME!!!!!!

    Reply
  94. I have long away given up Windows98 Second Edition but was a big fan of it anyway. Another tip regarding hotmail configuration in Outloook Express using Windows 98.

    I once suffered a lot to configure my Hotamil Account in Outlook Express which kept on asking for my username & password again & again even though they were right. I verified them by logging on to the hotmail site successfully. Anyway, it was a peculiar default setting in Internet Options which had to be changed. My Comupter >> Control Panel >> Internet Options >> Security >> Internet Icon Selected >> Custom Level >> User Authentication (Last Option in the Security Settings Box) >> Select anything other than Anonymous Logon.

    Ravi.

    Reply
  95. If you get a ” sign-in or password invalid” try the same password a second time. Mine is broken (has been for half a year) and even though I have a “premium” account, they can’t fix it. This is a MSN problem, as other accounts work OK on my PC, and this account fails consistently on any machine with this account. So much for MSN!!

    Reply
  96. I used to have all kinds of problems signing into hotmail, msn, etc. (this started only after the windows live) Until I followed Leo’s advice and downloaded the DRTCP and changed my settings. Haven’t had a problem since. It’s in the article about pages not loading. Hope it helps.

    Reply
  97. hi,
    I have the solution when in hotmail and not being able to read my mail that STUPID message on the bottom left hand corner~”Working on your request”.
    IS FINALLY GONE !
    If I select “Try the full version” on the bottom of the Classic Hotmail window
    the problem goes away.

    Reply
  98. Thank you leo, error code 8100036 had been driving me mad for weeks, i simply changed the mtu code from 1400 to 1220 on my router and im back on msn,

    again thank you

    Reply
  99. Hi Leo – Don’t know if you’ve read the recent blog on Hotmail’s site regarding the new interface, where many users unable to access their existing emails. They can bring up the new interface, but all the folders including ‘InBox’ are -empty- . We all want a clean and simple interface, but this one is a bit TOO clean!

    Appreciate if you can comment on this problem and possibly offer some solutions on your website. It is a subject of ‘great interest’ at the moment :) Many thanks. Ron

    My opinion’s been fairly clear for some time: never use HotMail for anything important. It seems to have a history of this kind of stuff happening periodically, along with account theft, data loss and generally inaccessible customer service. But is it free! :-)

    My free solution would be move to GMail, my not-free solution would be to get use a “real” email account from a paid provider with customer service. If those aren’t possible then the only solution I know of at this point is to wait, keep reading those forums, and hope for a solution.

    – Leo
    06-Oct-2008
    Reply
  100. I was having this same problem. I was able to get to my hotmail account by going to msn.com and signing in. After I got signed in I clicked on the link to hotmail and it brought my email up.

    Reply
  101. Clearing the cache was the way to go for me when I had the blank page and “done” at the bottom left. I really appreciated finding this!

    Reply
  102. My answer to the problem of possibly losing my email done with hotmail is fairly easy, provided you have had your hotmail account long enough.

    While I prefer the online interface for hotmail, I can “archive” my hotmail on Outlook Express. Outlook can retrieve hotmail if you were using hotmail prior to some date (I don’t recall when). So, I synchronize my hotmail folders on Outlook Express and then I can dump them all into Local Folders in Outlook Express. That lets me keep them on my machine and gives me incremental backups in case I were to lose everything on hotmail.

    Reply
  103. I had this problem a while ago where all my contacts werre told I was in Africa stranded and needed money sent so I could get home, luckily for me my contacts all know I’m disabled and not allowed to travel exorbitant distances, but I lost my email and folders, I got in touch with hotmail through the adresses provided on here by Leo, and as I could remember two messages I had in one folder and the names of my other folders I got all my email contacts and folders back, if you can dio this hotmail will tell you how to reaccess your account. Hope this helps anyone with the same problem as me. John

    Reply
  104. Hi Leo, I created a account with hot mail and I can’t remember username or password. What can I do? The help info just talks about password not user ID

    Create a new account and start over.

    – Leo
    02-Nov-2008
    Reply
  105. If you can login to hotmail but the account apears ‘frozen’ and you cannot access emails send emails etc try setting the ‘away on holiday’gizmo. I had issues; set this to divert my regular mailers to another account – and the account worked as normal. Took the message off and the account froze again. This was on a company network – the account worked fine outside work – so some real wierd coding issues here.

    Reply
  106. At some time in the past I Checked the box on hotmail to remember my password. Now I have roommates that use my computer. How can I go back to needing a password to open hotmail?
    Lois

    Logout. Then login again but this time make sure that the check box isn’t checked.

    – Leo
    14-Nov-2008
    Reply
  107. Congratulations. I have visited many sites but no one could give a solution for hotmail. Because by the grace of God I am a genius , Hahhaha, I have found a solution. I have recently installed K-Meleon Browser kmeleon.sourceforge.net/, And volla I have successfully logged on my hotmail as well as my yahoo account where as couldn’t login in firefox. Install this browser and you are good to guy. There is no problem with hotmail and I was cursing the poor guys previously wrongly.

    Reply
  108. MSN Hotmail has locked me out completely! They said it has to do with their terms. I have not done anything and have had this account for 5+yrs. My ex has gone into my email and created all this mess and MSNHOTMAIL will not work with me. I use my e-mail for my business and really need my e-mails and contacts.Is there anything I can do. NEVER EVER give your password out I have learned the hardway!

    “Is there anything I can do.” -> Yes. Never ever use a free email service with little to no support for important purposes like business.

    – Leo
    11-Jan-2009
    Reply
  109. I have been logging onto hotmail with this computer for years, and suddenly I get this error message for the past couple of days:
    Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

    Most likely causes:
    You are not connected to the Internet.
    The website is encountering problems.
    There might be a typing error in the address.

    What you can try:
    Check your Internet connection. Try visiting another website to make sure you are connected.

    Retype the address.

    Go back to the previous page.

    More information
    This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:
    Internet connectivity has been lost.
    The website is temporarily unavailable.
    The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
    The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the website’s domain.
    If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

    I am connected to the internet.
    I can go to hotmail.com, but this comes up when I click “sign in”
    I have cleared the cache and all cookies, reset all ie settings to original, checked to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section, tried another service provider, still the same error.

    Reply
  110. An unauthorized person has accessed by account by sending an email from MSN Hotmail asking me to visit a web site to “re-verify” my account. I have found out the email was almost certainly not legitimate, and the website was almost certainly not MSN Hotmail. Even if it looked like it, it was probably a hacker attempting to get my personal information. Now I cannot access my MSN Hotmail account at all and have no solutions. Can anyone suggest what I should do?

    If you followed the instructions in that fraudulent email, then you likely gave your account away. I know of no way to reliably recover, though I occasionally hear from people who claim to have contacted Hotmail’s customer service and recovered. I have no idea who they contacted. The vast amount of reports are that the account is lost forever.

    – Leo
    22-Jan-2009
    Reply
  111. I can’t get into my messages. It says something to the effect that this object or report is not observered. I can’t delete messages and I can’t read them. What’s going on. I can’t seem to get help. Is there a phone number I can call.

    I’ve not heard of an error message such as you describe. I’d clear my browser cache and try again. No, there is no phone number – it’s a free service and you’re getting exactly what you’ve paid for. It’s one of the reasons I so strongly and often recommend against using Hotmail (or any free service) as the sole repository for anything important.

    – Leo
    11-Feb-2009
    Reply
  112. Is it possible that these Hotmail problems are happening because we are using Google Chrome as our browser. I was going nuts with some anomalies in my Hotmail account, got out of Chrome, logged in through IE and – voila! – all was solved. Nasty tricks on the part of Microsoft, perhaps?

    Reply
  113. When I sign in it goes right to my inbox, without allowing me to put my password in, so anyone can get into my e-mails???

    That’s why you should always Sign Out of Hotmail when you are done, and make sure that “Remember Password” is not checked when you sign in.

    – Leo
    23-Feb-2009
    Reply
  114. When i log in to windows live messenger, i change my status to online, but to others it says im offline. Ive tryed resetting my Computer three days in a row and it still wont work. What could it be?

    Reply
  115. Many times i have written and still, i have no resolve. When i go to email my brother Dirk, using the “contact” list, his email address stays in the “to” space but only until i hit the “send” when INSTANTLY Dirks address and name is replace by my nieces and email address.

    Furthermore, i can no longer touch each name to send a mass mail letter to my family and friends about my other brothers cancer or his state of health. I used to be able to simply hit their names on my contact list that shows when i access a ‘new’ page to write a letter on. Now, it is an insanity to try to get all the names on CC type email because the contact page only provides a ‘note’ type page. If you folks continually keep this up without correction, – KNOW – i will gladly relinquish my hotmail and get another service provider. Be sure you realize – that before you applied the new format for hotmail, I had absolutely no problem with my older format. Now, i am so sick and tired of this new one, that soon i will change providers in the event you do not fix the error or simply allow me to use the old format until you fix your programme.

    sincerely
    m sepers

    I am not Hotmail. I can’t change or alter Hotmail, or even communicate your complaints to them.

    – Leo
    03-Mar-2009
    Reply
  116. Dear Leo,
    When I forward an e-mail and I want to edit it,
    all I see is a VERY SMALL part of the e-mail.
    I have to scoll up & down and side to side to read and edit the text.
    How can I enlarge the viewing area of the messege so that I see more than I do?
    Thanks for your help.

    Reply
  117. A new version of MSN is here… you must install the new versionin ordre to contiue! choose ” yes” or ” no”>>>>>>>>>>> then when i choose ” no” as a reply………it doesnot work and insists on asking me again and agian the same message………….plz i NEED UR HELP!!!! As soon as possible Suzie

    Reply
  118. Hello Leo.
    can not open my mail directly from the inbox page, small note is displayed in the bottom left hand corner saying error on page.
    i can open them if i go through home page but can not delete anything.
    can you help

    thank you

    Reply
  119. hello leo.
    i am having trouble accessing my hotmail email account on my parents computer.i can access my email at work and my girlfriends but not my parents.i keep geting a http 400 bad request error page will not come upi was wondering if you can help on this one.

    thank you

    Reply
  120. On the ‘new’ format under the ‘connect’ box it asked something like do not show this again. I clicked on it and have not been able to access e-mail since. I have clicked ‘refresh’ a time or two and could get in.

    Reply
  121. I have been really having a hard time with my hotmail lately. I cant get into the other 2 hotmail accounts along with my work gmail, but the password is correct as I got a program to tell me all my passwords. The gmail account says its been disabled? owner did this?? the other 2 accounts have been at one point tied into that account? could it be possible that his programmer did something to those accounts? Therre is info on all those accounts re the owner

    Reply
  122. I automatically sign in to msn and it goes to my open email account. How do I stop that. If I sign out and goback in to hotmail it still automatically signs me in. ICan not log out nor can anyone else sign in on my computer

    Reply
  123. I can not get to my Hotmail emails I’ve had for years at: [email address removed] @hotmail…. have hotmail cleared this problem up yet…can my emails be transfered to my [email address removed] @live account???

    I know of no way to transfer emails from account to account. I’m not at all hopeful, but you might read this: How do I contact Windows Live Hotmail customer service?

    – Leo
    08-Apr-2009
    Reply
  124. I have tried logging in several times and it keeps directing me to a page that says “You don’t have an inbox….yet”. My only option is to sign up for a new Windows Live account (which I already have). The only thing I can access is my contact list…but no email, or anything else?!!?

    Reply
  125. I am having the exact problem Will mentioned. I have noticed Hotmail down a very few times, but never with this message and problem.

    Reply
  126. YOU ARE AWESOME! your approach on helping by listing all possible solutions has allowed me to overcome my frustrations with MSN hotmail login. Thank u thank u thank u!

    Reply
  127. I am having the same problem as many others above! My hotmail says, you do not have an inbox yet and I have used the account for 13 years. It also asks for a @live.com account whereas I have always used an @hotmail.com address. What is going on?? I have so much to do and no way to do it??

    Reply
  128. My signing in prob. is different..
    it keeps coming up saying cookies not enabled..we have tried everything to no avail.
    I did get an msn message sying that i needed to get a new e-mail addy etc. due to something or other they were doing..now that’s fine..but i couldn’t even get in to read what it was about..
    So:
    i have.cleaned my cache
    defragged
    disc cleaned cc cleaner
    spyware check..
    cleaned cookies
    history and temps..what else can i do..?/..thanks gail

    Reply
  129. Most helpful! Two days ago I couldn’t get in to my Hotmail account. Since your advice mentioned that at times Hotmail itself may be broken, I thought I’d try again this morning. Did so, and accessed the account without any trouble at all. Many thanks.

    Reply
  130. I use the pc with my daughter when i want to sign in i cannot because her email address is there and it woun’t allow me to sign in even when she has log out even if i put my email address in the space it tells me wrong email address.

    Reply
  131. i have some problem trying to sign in my msn.. it shows “windows live messenger has made several failed attempts to sign you in.your firewall may be blocking windows live messenger from connecting to the service.please review your firewall settings.see the retailer’s instructions for more information” when signing in.. is this really because of my firewall setting? pls help..

    Reply
  132. Account has been disabled and am completely blocked from everything in it – have submitted everything that I am supposed to with no reply!

    Reply
  133. When I try to enter hotmail.com the computer say that the there are error, the website’s security certificade has a problem. and I can not to access.Cuold you let me know what can I do for resolve this problem?. Thank
    And how can I contact you for information.

    Reply
  134. when i sign in to MSN, it will allow me to talk to people while appearing offline but when i change it to online it says “msn has encoutered a problem, “send error report” or “dont send”, which ever one i press in signs me out. this usually happens when i change it to “online” and sometimes it will work for a while but then shut me out again. please help :)

    Reply
  135. when I sign in it kicks me offline….it tells me I have signed on another computer, and to click here and sign in again. and does not resolve…what is the problem?

    Reply
  136. I still cannot sign off from hotmail.What step am I missing If i do’nt sign off will i loose my account

    Reply
  137. i am having a problem when i’ve already logged in2 hotmail, the format of how my page and inbox is displayed is very different, my messages do not even open up. Everything is to the left of the screen, in blue font and the pop ups are blocked. However if i google another website, it works prfectly, What’s up wid my hotmail account?

    Reply
  138. 80191002 i m having this error while signing in.please try to assist me as soon as possible.i urgently need to check this out.thanx

    Reply
  139. i cannot access my old email account it staes as invalid login or something like that so what do i do and how do i access it as i something of importance in my imbox please help.

    Reply
  140. I can access all websites that I have tried so far except http://www.msn.com or the windows live hotmail site. Iget the following message.
    “Internet Explorer cannot display the web page.”
    I’ve used the diagnose connection problems and followed the instructions in more information. Still no go. any ideas?
    Thanks.

    Reply
  141. I’ve solved the problem. Switched to Google! MSN was too unresponsive. Problems kept getting worse. Last straw – Server is too busy.
    Google wasn’t, hasn’t been, and don’t think it will be too busy to provide solid service and great features including larger attachment capability.

    Reply
  142. when i sign in, everything works except the space where the contacts are suppoesd to be is completely gone. it’s white. and i can’t see who’se signed in or not…

    Reply
  143. Hi I accidentally ticked the box to Remember mt Password, have tried every which way to find how and where to take this off but have not had any luck, am getting frustrated, as anyone can see my account. I would appreciate the help. Thanks.Colleen

    Reply
  144. The problem is:

    I can access all websites. I can open msn messanger and chat with people, I can see when an e-mail comes in on messenger, but I cannot go to my inbox. The message I get is : “Internet Explorer cannot display the web page.” or ‘oops this link appears to be broken’.
    Internet is functioning fine, except hotmail and facebook.

    Read the article, tried many things, but no solution found so far. No clue what I could try next….

    Reply
  145. i am having trouble to sign in on msn for 2 wks now and my troubleshoot says its the key ports error. what should i do?

    Reply
  146. I cannot get on to my hotmail page.
    I sign in and get,
    [Secure Connection Failed
    login.live.com uses an invalid security certificate.

    The certificate expired on 21/07/2009 00:59.

    (Error code: sec_error_expired_certificate)]

    Reply
  147. Access denied/account closed. then it gives you an option of clicking below & following certain procedures. There is nowhere to click below. How do I contact them. Tried e-mailing from another address & all they do is thank me for alerting them to a spam problem. Don’t know how you can answer this since I can’t get in there. Also tried importing to another e-mail address & they blocked that.

    Reply
  148. When i sign on to MSN i can see all of my contacts online or offline. Yet i can never see (one person, un-named) and I’d really like to talk to them! They can see me online, but I can’t see them (When they talk to me, we can talk absolutely fine,but they’re status is ‘offline’). I have never blocked them and there status seems to be ‘offline’ all the time as there address is always in my contacts. I just don’t know why I can never see them when they’re online. It’s really frustrating! Any ideas? Or ways I could stop this?

    They need to allow you to see their on-line status, and I’m guessing the haven’t.

    – Leo
    19-Jul-2009

    Reply
  149. When I want sign in msn…it show that my contact list is not available, please try again later.and the error code is 81000378.Why it become like this leh!!!hw can overcome this problem??please let me know the solution to overcome this…thank you so much!!!

    Reply
  150. every time i have tried to click on the icon it says before anything comes up Windows Live Messenger is not responding

    It did this to me a few times and all i did was change to a older version but then it worked and when they brought out a patch after i emailed them for help they emailed me back saying that it had been changed so i got the new version and it worked for about a month and it just isnt working now i have had to use Ebuddy for the past 2-3 months
    PLLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEE I AM BEGGING YOU CAN YOU HELP

    PS one of my friends had the same problem and all he did was clear evrything off his laptop so it was like new and then got it bak and it started working but i dont want to do tht until the last reort because my future business plans are on here and i can’t back them up and cant afford to buy a external hard drive.
    I read the arcticle and it didnt help nothing worked i have also tried to reinstall MSN about 20 times and then gave up

    I hope you can help

    Thank you in advance
    Sam

    I don’t have an answer for your messenger problem. However your statement “I can’t back them up” is a serious, serious problem. You are risking losing everything if your hard drive fails or some other problem arrises. FIND A WAY TO BACK UP. NOW.

    Then, yes, reinstalling Windows from scratch sounds like a fine idea.

    – Leo
    24-Jul-2009

    Reply
  151. When I goto msn.com the page opens up to msn, then it continues to open up multipe times….within 30 seconds it was upto 117 open pages of msn…..i finally just rebooted and tried msn.com again. Same problem just keeps open and opening msn.com Had to change my default home page to yahoo. Have not been able to access msn.com for over a week. Please advise

    Reply
  152. everytime i sign in as ‘available’ on messenger it automatically takes it of available and put it on ‘away’ please can you help me to solve this problem as i have tried everything!! and there is nothing in the article about it.

    Reply
  153. I have a hotmail account that I have never been able to sign in with since I created it. The problem is, I put a capital letter at the first of it and every time I click to sign in, the capital goes away.

    Reply
  154. I have not been able to log into my HOTMAIL account all day today. When I try i get the following:
    ogin.live.com uses an invalid security certificate.

    The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate has expired.
    The certificate will not be valid until 6/15/2009 5:00 PM.

    (Error code: sec_error_expired_issuer_certificate)

    What is wrong and what can or should I do? I can access all my other favorites etc.

    Reply
  155. cannot login to my hotmail acct….username and password has remained the same for years…i get the message “tried to access too many times with incorrect username or password”….please help…the acct is [email address removed].

    Reply
  156. i havent been on my msn for like 3 weeks now, and it just keeps saying that its unavalible and try again later, i have been trying 3 [edited] weeks and still dosent work, i like defo need help plz someone HELP!

    Reply
  157. Here is the solution: GO TO TOOLS, CLICK ON INTERNET OPTIONS, THEN CLICK ON ADVANCED TAB , SCROLL DOWN SETTINGS UNTIL U SEE SECURITY THEN UNTICK THE BOX THAT SAYS: “CHECK FOR SERVER CERTIFICATE REVOCATION”, RESTART YOUR PC, SIGN IN HAPPILLY NOW!! :O)

    Reply
  158. Hi. I have a problem loging in on msn. I have a mac. And have had this problems for 2 weeks. I have delited all trackes of msn and downloaded it again. but nothing works. Help????!!!

    Reply
  159. Effective 01 SEP 2009, Microsoft discontinued DAV support for their Hotmail, MSN.com and Live email account users. Neither the HTTPMail or IMAP protocols are supported.

    Your choices are either web browser based access to your email account or via POP3 with your favorite email client such as Thunderbird, Eudora, Evolution, Apple Mail, Entourage, Outlook, etc..

    Workarounds & more info here:
    http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/dav/archive/2009/05/04/accessing-hotmail-on-outlook-outlook-express-or-entourage.aspx

    Hope this helps:

    Charles H. Root, III
    Oculente, Ltd.

    Reply
  160. My problem is mixed: SOMEHOW my son has put Google as my home page and I CANNOT get it off!Consequently, getting to my msn sign in to access my Hotmail is so FRUSTRATING that I stay off the computer for days! I am NOT a whiz.still,I have tried everything that I know to remedy this and cannot!

    I’m a tad confused. Are you saying that your attempts to set the home page don’t stick (often caused by spyware, or anti-spyware tools), or are you asking how to set it back? As for your frustration about getting to hotmail or msn, just type hotmail.com or msn.com (or my.msn.com) into the address bar and press Enter.

    Leo
    10-Sep-2009

    Reply
  161. Everytime I try to access my mails through my account, I get an overprotective message.
    My son use to use the same password as me, now he has his own account. I follow the steps, by using offering an alternative mail address, but then it asks for a code, which I haven’t got. I also answer the the question that asks if I can verify this account, which I cannot.
    I cannot access my mails untill this problem has been resolved.

    Reply
    • Unfortunately, the way security works is that your recovery options have to be set before you need to recover the account. Your only solution is to go through the steps that MSN gives you for recovery.

      Reply
  162. Fantastic, Thanks you very much. I was frustrated with IE login and outlook login for a week now. After attempting everything I could think of, I tried two of the possible solutions you posted and vavoom it works. I really have no idea what I did, but follow as you posted and it looks good for now. This is the first site that kept it simple short and easy to do, dam thanks so much. I hope I won’t need you again but I know where I will look the next time some problem occurs.

    Reply
  163. I cannot access my emails since the new format……..it is no good sending me anything to inbox because there is none…….why did it go????

    Reply
  164. DIDN’T FIND AN UNDERSTANDABLE ANSWER TO MY PROBLEM !! WHEN I SIGN INTO ” BING/MSN TO CHECK EMAILS, THEN ATTEMPT TO SIGN OUT, I FIND I MUST RESTART ME COMPUTER TO DO SO, SIGN OUT, MERELY CLICKING SIGN OUT DOESN’T WORK ???

    Reply
  165. I have been trying to get into my Hotmail acct., but they ask for my phone # and the one I have now is different. They need to send me a code. I do not have another e-mail acct. What do I do?

    Reply
  166. I am not able to log in my Hotmail account {removed}@hotmail.com. does not allow to type password. after clicking
    on NEXT ,it does not open the password slot.

    Reply
  167. Periodically MSN sends an UPDATE notice. I chose just before bedtime to choose “UPDATE & TURN OFF PC”. 7 hours later when I turn my PC on there is a message that says 6% complete (wait). 7 hours to update and it still takes another hour and 15 minutes? What can I do about this? Thank You Dwain

    Reply
    • That has nothing to do with MSN. It’s a Microsoft Windows update. 7 hours sounds like an upgrade, for example, in this case, it might have been the installation of the Fall Creator’s update. Unfortunately, the only thing I can suggest is to turn on the computer immediately after each update shutdown so it will do the updating when, hopefully, you’re not using the machine. Fortunately, the long updates don’t happen often. Another option might be to manually any upgrade updates manually at your convenience when you hear of them. That’s what I did with the Fall Creator’s update.

      Reply

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