MSN Hotmail Troubleshooting Information
Part of the Windows Live group, MSN Hotmail is a powerful email service that offers users a secure web-based email account for free. Since its inception in 1996, millions of people have enjoyed a positive experience with Hotmail, but for those who do endure problems, there is troubleshooting advice available for common problems that may arise.
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Signing In
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To test whether it's your computer that's at fault, try to access Hotmail on another computer. This will determine whether your computer settings need changing. For example, your firewall software may be blocking you from accessing the site. Try turning it off temporarily and signing in again. Check that your keyboard's "Caps Lock" isn't on, as this will affect your password's validity.
Forgotten Passwords
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If you've forgotten your password, use the "Forgot your password?" link on the sign-in page. Enter your email address in the "Windows Live ID" field and type in the characters displayed on the Captcha image. You'll then have to select the email address you want to send the password reset instructions to. The "Alternate email" option will send them to your secondary email address. Choosing your Hotmail address will require you to fill in account information, the answer to your secret question and a new password.
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Sending and Receiving Email
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If the email address you have entered isn't spelled correctly, it will result in either delivery failure or the email going to another person's inbox who has the address you entered. Mistakes such as putting ".co.uk" instead of ".com" are easy to make, so double-check that you have the correct email address of your recipient. Any attachments exceeding 10 GB will fail to send.
Browser Settings
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Hotmail requires that third-party cookies are accepted, so check that this is the case in the "Privacy" settings of your browser. Clear your web browser's cache. If you sign in and are faced with a blank page, hold down the "Ctrl" key and press "F5" to force a complete refresh.
Considerations
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If you are using a third-party email client such as Entourage or Outlook, you need to use the correct email settings. Your incoming server should be "pop3.live.com" with Secure Password Authentification (SPA) selected, using mail server port "995." Your outgoing server should be "smtp.live.com," using mail server port "25."
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References
Resources
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