Need help: email problems- hotmail/outlook

[Vash01]

I have been unable to log into my Hotmail/outlook account since Friday. I tried various ways- first was my bookmark, then google and try to open the outlook link, but it wouldn't open. Today I found this:

Microsoft announced on Thursday that it has successfully transferred all Hotmail.com users to Outlook.com, marking the end of the once-mighty free email service. Thanks to the migration, which took about six weeks to finish, Outlook.com now has more than 400 million active users, Microsoft said in a blog post.

Once again, I went to google and tried to access outlook sign in, but the link wouldn't open. I looked up the info about trouble shooting but none of those options apply to me.

Clearly, Microsoft didn't transfer me successfully to Outlook.com

I am still able to access my email on my cell phone but for how long? Tomorrow I will find out at work if I can access my Hotmail/outlook account. If not, it's going to be extremely difficult to inform all my contacts of my gmail address. I don't even have those listed on my gmail except for my immediately family (not even close friends). I rarely use gmail but the account is there.

I would like to get back what I had on my Hotmail account though.

I did find a phone number on line to get outlook support.

866-291-9533. I will try to call them tonight and see if they can fix the problems.

I also found another phone number 877-675-0617

Has anyone had similar issues? Did either phone number work to get support?

 

[AxelAnnie]

Good luck. . Sounds like a mess. . And you had no notice? Do you have your contacts on your phone? I'd be migrating those someplace.

 

[Simone411]

I've signed into my e-mail at Outlook.com for about 3 or 4 years now with no problem. It's also free. It has some really good features, and it's always put what little spam mail I receive into the Junk Mail folder.

If you are having trouble signing in, definitely call the Outlook support number. They should be able to help you with it.

 

[Vash01]

I've signed into my e-mail at Outlook.com for about 3 or 4 years now with no problem. It's also free. It has some really good features, and it's always put what little spam mail I receive into the Junk Mail folder.

If you are having trouble signing in, definitely call the Outlook support number. They should be able to help you with it.

I too had no trouble all these years. This seems like the result of their recent transfer (Thurs) to outlook and closing of Hotmail entirely.

 

[Vash01]

Good luck. . Sounds like a mess. . And you had no notice? Do you have your contacts on your phone? I'd be migrating those someplace.

I have some but not all.

 

[Jay42]

Have you tried going to live.com? I tried going to outlook and it didn't work for me but I typed in live.com and it worked.

 

[Deleted member 1204]

And you had no notice?

took about six weeks to finish

 

[Simone411]

Have you tried going to live.com? I tried going to outlook and it didn't work for me but I typed in live.com and it worked.

I forgot about that. I have the link called "Sign In" on my favorites bar. It used to take me directly to Outlook where I would sign in. Now when I click it, it takes me to login.live.com.

 

[Vash01]

I forgot about that. I have the link called "Sign In" on my favorites bar. It used to take me directly to Outlook where I would sign in. Now when I click it, it takes me to login.live.com.

It was in my bookmarks. When I clicked on it, it took me nowhere.

However, I will try live.com as suggested here.

I am hoping to wait until tomorrow to see how my work computer responds before calling support.

 

[Vash01]

I don't understand your quote.

I never received a notice.

It took Microsoft 6 weeks to complete the transfer. I didn't know there was a transfer in progress, and if I knew about it, I would have trusted Microsoft to do it correctly. Clearly something went wrong.

 

[Jay42]

It's really weird because the Outlook link works on my laptop, I even used it last week to get my email on my iPad because I was away from my computer for a week, but the Outlook link won't open on my iPad anymore, only the Live link works.

 

[rjblue]

I looked at the "down detector" sites where people report outages on services like xbox live,netflix, etc, and it seems like a number of people are reporting issues with Outlook/hotmail. Most of them are a variation of "it works on this device but not that one". But there are also people reporting erratic delivery of mail, and email to hotmail addresses being undeliverable.

Looks like Microsoft has lots of bugs to sort out with this transfer.

 

[Vash01]

I tried to open live.com but it didn't work.

 

[Vash01]

I looked at the "down detector" sites where people report outages on services like xbox live,netflix, etc, and it seems like a number of people are reporting issues with Outlook/hotmail. Most of them are a variation of "it works on this device but not that one". But there are also people reporting erratic delivery of mail, and email to hotmail addresses being undeliverable.

Looks like Microsoft has lots of bugs to sort out with this transfer.

Do you have a link to these sites? Good to know that others are having problems with this transfer. Apparently not everyone is having a problem.

 

[rjblue]

http://downdetector.com/status/outlook

There are a bunch of sites like this. If you google down detector outlook you can find more. Good luck! Problems like this are why I've never used a Web mail service for anything important. I pay $5 a month, but the mail is all on my computer, and backed up.

 

[misskarne]

If you type in "hotmail.com" it still takes you to outlook.com and I have had no problems (except for getting stuck in a login loop which was a Chrome issue and resolved). I never noticed any kind of glitch on my phone email.

 

[Aceon6]

It may be a cookie issue. Anytime I have trouble logging in to a site, I delete that site's cookies and try again. It usually works.

 

[Simone411]

It's really weird because the Outlook link works on my laptop, I even used it last week to get my email on my iPad because I was away from my computer for a week, but the Outlook link won't open on my iPad anymore, only the Live link works.

That's what I happened with me about 3 months ago. I only use my laptop and don't have an iPad or tablet, etc. I had added the link to my favorites bar in IE 11 where all I would have to do was click on it and it would take me directly to the sign in page at Outlook.com.

The link on my favorites bar says "Sign In". I clicked on it about three months ago, and instead of taking me to Outlook.com, it took me to login.live.com/login. It still says "Sign In" at the top of the page and I believe this happened around the time upgraded to Windows 10 which was in February. It will tell you to sign in using your Microsoft account which includes your e-mail address and password.

Once you sign in, you are in Outlook.com (your e-mail).

 

[Vash01]

It works from my work computer and from the cell phone. Just doesn't work from my home computer.

 

[Vash01]

That's what I happened with me about 3 months ago. I only use my laptop and don't have an iPad or tablet, etc. I had added the link to my favorites bar in IE 11 where all I would have to do was click on it and it would take me directly to the sign in page at Outlook.com.

The link on my favorites bar says "Sign In". I clicked on it about three months ago, and instead of taking me to Outlook.com, it took me to login.live.com/login. It still says "Sign In" at the top of the page and I believe this happened around the time upgraded to Windows 10 which was in February. It will tell you to sign in using your Microsoft account which includes your e-mail address and password.

Once you sign in, you are in Outlook.com (your e-mail).

That has not worked for me. Sorry. Already tried before I even started this thread.

 

[Vash01]

It may be a cookie issue. Anytime I have trouble logging in to a site, I delete that site's cookies and try again. It usually works.

I will give it a try though I didn't think there were any cookies on my home computer. Windows 10 is no fun at all.

 

[Aceon6]

I will give it a try though I didn't think there were any cookies on my home computer. Windows 10 is no fun at all.

Cookies are left by the browser, not the operating system.

All sites that have a login leave cookies on your computer, particularly if they have a "keep me logged in" feature. The cookie is needed to determine if the site will prompt you to log in and where it will take you.

When companies make changes and don't update their cookies in advance, your cookie will be out of synch with the server.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

ITA - clear your cookies and history. If you have your username a password remembered, you might try removing it as well. Or try a browser you don't normally use.

 

[Simone411]

ITA - clear your cookies and history. If you have your username a password remembered, you might try removing it as well. Or try a browser you don't normally use.

ITA. @Vash01 to clear your cookies, go to "Tools" in the top right corner in the Internet Explorer Browser. Scroll to the bottom and select "Internet Options". That will take you to the "General" tab page. Look down to where it says Browsing History. You can click on the "Delete" button. When you click on that, you can then choose what you wish to delete like "cookies", "history" etc.

 

[Vash01]

Cookies are left by the browser, not the operating system.

All sites that have a login leave cookies on your computer, particularly if they have a "keep me logged in" feature. The cookie is needed to determine if the site will prompt you to log in and where it will take you.

When companies make changes and don't update their cookies in advance, your cookie will be out of synch with the server.

ITA - clear your cookies and history. If you have your username a password remembered, you might try removing it as well. Or try a browser you don't normally use.

ITA. @Vash01 to clear your cookies, go to "Tools" in the top right corner in the Internet Explorer Browser. Scroll to the bottom and select "Internet Options". That will take you to the "General" tab page. Look down to where it says Browsing History. You can click on the "Delete" button. When you click on that, you can then choose what you wish to delete like "cookies", "history" etc.

Thanks everyone.

Why do I have to remove my user name?

With Windows 10 I have only Edge. I heard its possible to get other browsers but I never tried because Edge was working ok, until now.

 

[Simone411]

Thanks everyone.

Why do I have to remove my user name?

With Windows 10 I have only Edge. I heard its possible to get other browsers but I never tried because Edge was working ok, until now.

That may be exactly what's wrong, then. A Dell Tech told me not too long ago IE 11 would be better to use than the Edge browser because Edge doesn't get Flash updates, etc.

I've used IE 11 from the beginning when I updated to Windows 10 in February. All you have to do is click on the Start button, start typing Internet Explorer 11, and it will appear in the menu. Just right-click on it and choose "pin to your taskbar". Then you can click on the IE icon on the taskbar to use IE 11 instead of Edge.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

With Windows 10 I have only Edge. I heard its possible to get other browsers but I never tried because Edge was working ok, until now.

When I renewed my Norton Anti-virus software several weeks ago, the tech person warned me not to use Edge as it is not supported by anti-virus software. He said Microsoft refuses to share info that would allow anti-virus software developers to add protection for Edge users.

I was using Edge and got one of those pop-up messages about a problem. The message had a click-on link and a phone number. It wasn't a legitimate message, though, just an attempt to infect my computer and I didn't click on it. I couldn't close out of Edge. My screen was frozen and Microsoft was no help. My email was hacked and I had to change my Microsoft password and my passwords for both email accounts. It took hours to get my email back on all devices.

I haven't used Edge since but have been using Mozilla Firefox instead. It is much faster than Edge was (Edge was like using dial-up again), and I haven't had the problems I had with Edge of websites refusing to open or taking forever.

I have a Hotmail account but opened an Outlook account several years ago. I enter Hotmail.com and it takes me to my Outlook account with no problems. Before calling either of those numbers, check with Microsoft Forums in case somebody has posted an answer for your problem. I am always leery about calling numbers because it's difficult to tell if it's a legitimate number or a spoofed one.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I will give it a try though I didn't think there were any cookies on my home computer. Windows 10 is no fun at all.

Windows 10 is not only no fun.....it is EVILLE!

 

[Simone411]

When I renewed my Norton Anti-virus software several weeks ago, the tech person warned me not to use Edge as it is not supported by anti-virus software. He said Microsoft refuses to share info that would allow anti-virus software developers to add protection for Edge users.

I was using Edge and got one of those pop-up messages about a problem. The message had a click-on link and a phone number. It wasn't a legitimate message, though, just an attempt to infect my computer and I didn't click on it. I couldn't close out of Edge. My screen was frozen and Microsoft was no help. My email was hacked and I had to change my Microsoft password and my passwords for both email accounts. It took hours to get my email back on all devices.

I haven't used Edge since but have been using Mozilla Firefox instead. It is much faster than Edge was (Edge was like using dial-up again), and I haven't had the problems I had with Edge of websites refusing to open or taking forever.

I have a Hotmail account but opened an Outlook account several years ago. I enter Hotmail.com and it takes me to my Outlook account with no problems. Before calling either of those numbers, check with Microsoft Forums in case somebody has posted an answer for your problem. I am always leery about calling numbers because it's difficult to tell if it's a legitimate number or a spoofed one.

Thanks for that. The Dell Tech did tell me that also, but I forgot. IE 11 also has the smart screen filter for protection. Edge really isn't supported by anti-virus. That along with not getting Flash updates, etc. makes Edge not compatible with a lot of websites.

What you stated about not being able to close the Edge browser - there is a safe way to do that with any browser if something suspicious pops and tries to install something or if you even get a message with a link and phone number.

First, don't click on the link or even try to close the message. Just right-click on your taskbar and select Task Manager. It will bring up a window that shows you what's running. Look for the browser that you're using and click on it. Then click on End Task at the bottom of the window, and it will close the browser.

Once you've done that, go ahead and run a scan with your anti-virus and your malware protection if you have that, too. I have Malware Hunter installed on my laptop and it's free. It's made by Glarysoft Utilities and works really well.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

What you stated about not being able to close the Edge browser - there is a safe way to do that with any browser if something suspicious pops and tries to install something or if you even get a message with a link and phone number.

First, don't click on the link or even try to close the message. Just right-click on your taskbar and select Task Manager. It will bring up a window that shows you what's running. Look for the browser that you're using and click on it. Then click on End Task at the bottom of the window, and it will close the browser.

I tried using Task Manager to close out Edge. I could see it in the list of what was running but, no matter how many times I tried, it wouldn't close it.

A number of people have had this same problem with this popup locking Edge. I posted on Microsoft forums and received these replies:

"First _ Close Edge using Task Manager Control-Alt - Delete

Second _ Close the offending Tab when you restart Edge by IMMEDIATELY holding down the Control key and tapping W (quickly and repeatedly) to close all Tabs before they can load."

"I have had two different formsw of this scam. I called. They want you to download software that gives them complete access to your computer.

Removal is very simple:
1. Close Edge with taks manager.
2. Unpin Edge from the tray at the bottom.
3. Press the Windows Key.
4. Right click on the Edge tile and unpin from the start.
5. Start edge using Cortana.
6. Right click on the Edge symbol in the tray and pin to start.

That's all yuou have to do."

By the time I received these responses, I had already got it to close but I don't remember how I did it.