At wits end: Entourage 2004 & Hotmail.

[Mark C. Danzig lll]

I have 2 hotmail accounts, which I usually receive through Entourage. One
day it just stopped working. Error -xxx, server unavailable, and get this,
my account window would pop up asking for my password, again and again.
I would add it, and then try to get mail, and up pops the account again,
asking for my password-in other words-it wont stick.
I did this and I did that, deleted keychains, reinstalled Office or 10.4.8,
Went to Macfixit and saw nothing applicable to me.
Started getting 'invalid certificate' or 'you cannot access this address
after the @- 'cuz its a privileged domain' warnings-
Even got a "we do not trust MS Network Help-It could be a bogus page" error!
Ive written Windows LIVE several times and they tell me to do the WL "reset
password" when youre locked out of your account trick. No luck.
I thought maybe something had corrupted my computer, and so I zero-d all
data, that is, wiped my disc and reinstalled everything carefully, from
scratch.
Still no luck with Entourage.

Next I try the Hotmail login page, just to be sure-
I get a "you've tried too many times to access the account-the server may be
down, or someone may be trying to log in as you."
So now I cannot even access my accounts from the Hotmail website!

Trying my other Hotmail account gets the same results.
Cannot remember my secret answer, its been so long-probably wouldn't work
anyway.
So I have been unable to use my Hotmail for at least 2 weeks.

As a test, I created a new free Hotmail account then attempted to load it
into Entourage. Got this message:
"In order to use this account in Entourage, you must pay $20 a year for
access.....!?
Ive used these 2 same accounts for years in Entourage-is'nt that a breach of
contract?
WHAT is going on?
You name it, ive tried it. Firewall, Directory access netinfo, even wiped
clean, or repaired my keychains.
Any Ideas?

 

[Michel Bintener]

About 2 years ago, Microsoft decided to disable e-mail client access to free
Hotmail accounts, citing abuse by spammers as the main reason for doing so.
Ever since, Microsoft has been modifying existing Hotmail accounts to
prevent HTML access through programs such as Entourage. If you upgrade to
Hotmail Plus ($20 per year), you are deemed serious enough not to abuse the
Microsoft servers for junk e-mail. I'm afraid there's not much you can do
about it; you will either have to use the webmail interface or pay those $20
if you want to keep accessing your e-mail through e-mail clients. I would
not assume that this is a breach of contract: first of all, you are using a
free service, and secondly, I'm sure that if you read the Terms and
Conditions (to which you must have agreed when signing up), there'll be some
small print which says that Microsoft has the right to change their policies
when they feel like it.

I have 2 hotmail accounts, which I usually receive through Entourage. One
day it just stopped working. Error -xxx, server unavailable, and get this,
my account window would pop up asking for my password, again and again.
I would add it, and then try to get mail, and up pops the account again,
asking for my password-in other words-it wont stick.
I did this and I did that, deleted keychains, reinstalled Office or 10.4.8,
Went to Macfixit and saw nothing applicable to me.
Started getting 'invalid certificate' or 'you cannot access this address
after the @- 'cuz its a privileged domain' warnings-
Even got a "we do not trust MS Network Help-It could be a bogus page" error!
Ive written Windows LIVE several times and they tell me to do the WL "reset
password" when youre locked out of your account trick. No luck.
I thought maybe something had corrupted my computer, and so I zero-d all
data, that is, wiped my disc and reinstalled everything carefully, from
scratch.
Still no luck with Entourage.

Next I try the Hotmail login page, just to be sure-
I get a "you've tried too many times to access the account-the server may be
down, or someone may be trying to log in as you."
So now I cannot even access my accounts from the Hotmail website!

Trying my other Hotmail account gets the same results.
Cannot remember my secret answer, its been so long-probably wouldn't work
anyway.
So I have been unable to use my Hotmail for at least 2 weeks.

As a test, I created a new free Hotmail account then attempted to load it
into Entourage. Got this message:
"In order to use this account in Entourage, you must pay $20 a year for
access.....!?
Ive used these 2 same accounts for years in Entourage-is'nt that a breach of
contract?
WHAT is going on?
You name it, ive tried it. Firewall, Directory access netinfo, even wiped
clean, or repaired my keychains.
Any Ideas?

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Dr Q]

Just a small clarification. When MSN stopped allowing client access.
They claimed that those of us with accounts set up for client access
prior to the change in policy would be allowed to continue to do so
with our accounts. They did not indicate that they planned to phase us
out. Note the grandfather clause applied to accounts not individuals.

However, they were clear that any new accounts set up after the date of
the policy change could not.

Hence I use Outlook and now Entourage to access my hotmail. To date, I
have not had any trouble accessing. I can't verify if they are now
converting old accounts. However, I initially was using POP access and
had set up my hotmail account for that. Then outlook came out with the
http mail protocol which is what i use now.

I would try to reset the passwords on your old accounts. You won't be
allowed to use client access on the new one. I set one up for my dad
post policy change and could never set it up to access.

Sorry that I can't be of more help on why you had the problem in the
first place.