I tried to call the hotmail technical support line, but it was just a recording that didn't help at all. I tried the MSN Privacy line, but I was told that since hotmail was a free service, I couldn't get any help over the phone. They said that I had to e-mail them or write them a letter. When I tried to explain that I couldn't access my e-mail account, I was told to register for another one. I then tried to change my password to see if that was suddenly a problem (it contained a semi-colon), and I was allowed to do that and was signed into the .Net Passport site, but I still couldn't access hotmail. I have no clue what's going on, and I'm getting angrier by the minute.

Raw Shock, what phone number did you call? Maybe we can get someone here to get you a better number to call.

The number with the recordings was: 650.964.7200
The one with the live person was: 425.886.8080
And the e-mail address that the person at that number gave me was: service_x@hotmail but here's the reply that I got from that:

Well, it turns out that the problem was on my end. I found a complaint/problem form to contact hotmail, and they got back to me quickly with a few suggestions. They said that I should lower my security settings to the default ones, which didn't work, gave me 7 MSN sites to try to sign into with my .NET passport, which didn't work, and finally to try to log in from another computer, which did work. I replied to them to let them know that I was only having trouble from my home computer and they e-mailed back a few hours later with some more suggestions that didn't help. But I got to thinking that maybe I'd blocked the wrong cookie when my security settings were higher (I was accepting first-party cookies and being prompted for third-party cookies, which I blocked), so here's what I did that finally fixed the problem:

went to Internet Options
clicked on the Privacy tab
under Web Sites, I clicked Edit
on that page I clicked Remove All to clear all blocked cookies

After doing that I was able to access my hotmail account.

I also haven't been able to log into my Hotmail account. On Friday, I signed up for a Paypal account. Before I could do so, I had to do the Windows update to get my Cipher strength up from 56-bit to 128-bit. This was the first time I had updated Windows in a long time. On Saturday, I downloaded and installed an automatic update for Windows. After it was done, I restarted my computer. Since then, I haven't been able to log into my Hotmail or Ebay accounts, and I think I may be having the same sort of problem that you had, Raw Shok Test. However, I tried to change my cookies settings, and nothing has worked. I'm going to try to have my brother log into my account to see if it'll work on another computer. If you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate any help.

Here are all of the suggestions that I got from hotmail's tech support:


1st e-mail:
A. Delete your browser Cookies, Clear your Temporary Internet Files (or Cache) and your browser History (recently visited sites).

Please note that some Web sites store your member name and password or other personally identifiable information about you in a cookie; therefore, if you delete a cookie, you may need to re-enter this information the next time you visit the site.

1. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
2. On the General tab, under "Temporary Internet Files",
a. Click on "Delete Cookies" then click on "ok".
b. Click on "Delete Files". Put a checkmark on the "Delete all offline content" radio button, then click on "ok".
c. Click on the "Settings" button. Under "Check for newer versions of stored pages", select "Every Visit to the Page". Click on "ok".
3 . Under the same tab, click the "Clear History" button under "History" and choose "yes". (Please take note that deleting your cookies, will disable the automatic sign-in feature of your browser.)
4 . Click on "ok".

However, if you are using another browser type or version other than what is stated above, please contact the support group of your browser.

B. Lower your security settings:

1. From the "Tools" menu, click on "Internet Options".
2. On the Security tab, click on "Default Level" and choose "Medium".
3. Click on "Apply" to confirm the changes.

If you still encounter the same problem, please reply to this email with the following information:

- Does the problem exist when using a different computer?
- Does the problems exist when signing in to other Microsoft .NET passport site?

Listed below are some of the Microsoft .NET Passport sites you can visit:

MSN Health : [url]http://health.msn.com/[/url]
MSNBC News : [url]http://msnbc.msn.com/[/url]
MSN Women: [url]http://womencentral.msn.com/[/url]
MSN Groups : [url]http://groups.msn.com/home.msnw?pgmarket=en-us[/url]
MSN Money : [url]http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp[/url]
MSN Chat : [url]http://chat.msn.com[/url]
MSN Games : [url]http://zone.msn.com/en/root/freeonline.htm[/url]

Please let us know which site you failed to access and the exact wordings of the error message encountered.



2nd e-mail:
1. Optimize your browser settings:

I. Clear your browser's cache or "Temporary Internet Files".

a. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
b. On the "General" tab, under "Temporary Internet Files", click on "Delete Cookies" then click on "OK".
c. Click on "Delete Files". Put a checkmark on the "Delete all offline content" radio button, and then click on "OK".

II. Set your browser to check for newer versions of stored pages.

a. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
b. On the "General" tab, click "Settings".
c. Under "check for newer versions of stored pages", select "Every visit to the page".
d. Click "OK".

III. Verify that your browser's cookies are enabled.

a. Click "Tools" from your browser's menu, then click "Internet Options".
b. Click "Privacy" Tab, then click the "Advanced" button.
c. Mark the checkbox beside "Override Automatic Cookie Handling".

IV. Lower your "Security" settings.

a. On the "Tools" menu, click "Internet Options".
b. Click "Security".
c. Click "Default Level".
d. Verify that the slider is set to "Medium." If it is not, move the slider to "Medium" by clicking on it and moving your cursor to the appropriate direction.
e. Click "OK".

V. Reset all ActiveX settings to default.

a. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
b. On the "Security tab", select "Internet".
c. Click the "Default Level" button.

VI. To restore your browser's default settings.

a. In Internet Explorer, in the "Tools" menu, click "Internet Options".
b. Click "Programs".
c. Click "Reset Web Settings".
d. Select the "Also reset my home page" check box.
e. Click "Yes".
f. Click "OK".

2. Try to disable firewall or anti-virus programs if running to see if they're causing any conflicts. Please be sure to enable these after trying as you don't want to expose your computer to unwanted treats. To check for the firewall interference with your connection, please perform the following steps given below:

a. Click "Start", select "Run".
b. Type "CMD", click "OK".
c. Type "IPCONFIG/flushdns".

3. Check to see if Spyware may be on your machine that could be causing pages to load slowly and can exhibit symptoms similar to what you described.

I emailed Hotmail about my problem, and this is the response that I got:

Thank you for contacting MSN Hotmail Technical Support Team. My name is Gipson and I will be assisting you today.

I understand that you downloaded and installed the latest Windows update into your computer on 2nd April and the installation prompted you to restart your computer. After the restart of your computer, you are unable to sign into your Hotmail account.

Scott, I understand how inconvenient this could be and how important it is for you to have this issue resolved at once.

I investigated your account with our database and noticed that your Hotmail account is residing on a server machine that is temporarily experiencing issues due to some unexpected technical difficulties. Due to a huge network traffic with the Hotmail servers, some customers are facing a few issues with their account accessibility. Your concerns are related to these technical issues.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this would have caused you. We are aware of these issues and are working diligently to fix it and to set up Hotmail for your convenient access. We have received complaints from many of our customers and your mail to us regarding this issue has increased our priority to solve the issue at the earliest possible period.

However, we are unable to promise you an estimated time limit to resolve these issues. Please be assured that they will be resolved as quickly as possible. I request your patience till then. Once again we are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to write back. You are a valued customer at MSN services and we look forward to providing you with consistent and effective service.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Have a great day.


Regards,

Gipson
MSN Hotmail Technical Support






So I guess it looks like I'll just have to wait until they fix it. I've had that account for about 5-6 years. What a wonderful time for it to be messed up.

I have been having a problem logging on to my Hotmail account for 3-4 days as well. I keep getting messages indicating "This page is not available", even when I try to log in. I have had the account for several years and nothing I do seems to help. Even tried the MSN troubleshooting tips and the fix which apparently worked for Raw Shok. Guess I'll try sending an e-mail to MSN via my Bellsouth e-mail account. Any other tips or ideas appreciated.

We've been having problems with our hotmail accounts, too, for over a week now. My husband can access his account ONLY through our internet explorer brower and not mozilla....but can only access paypal, ebay through mozilla.
The windows security updates are the cause of some problems and they have come out with a 'patch' to download which helps resolve some of those issues. I, too, changed all of my privacy and security settings on my computer to no avail. The patch did help with internet explorer access to all but my son's account which we STILL have not been able to retrieve and it seems as though we will NOT be able to get it. I spent two hours on the phone with msn tonite and was basically told that since hotmail is a free service and they do not have an 800 number, we are out of luck. My son has two final papers in that account that he did not back-up and it really stinks. He made his account over three years ago and cannot access with the new interface. They told him he would have to create an alternate e-mail account, but that didnt help either as you have to sign IN to net passport in order to add an alternate email. We've tried everything and he's given up. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a REAL person to reset the password...please let us know. Emails and contact with msn tech support won't work.