Outlook Express Hotmail ?

[terrydxn]

I know this may sound stupid but I am new to computers and have a lot of trouble with Outlook Express continuiosly asking me to validate my account. When I enter Hotmail through MSN Messenger I get a lot less trouble but I prefer the layout of Outlook, my question is what is the difference between these two programs

[bangbuathong]

Hotmail with Outlook Express

A nicer way to Hotmail

A recently added feature of Outlook Express (it's included in version 6, which comes with Windows XP) is the ability to read your Hotmail messages. This gives you an easier to use and nicer way to compose and read messages, compared to accessing Hotmail through a browser. If you are familiar with the features of Outlook Express for reading regular POP3 email, you will really appreciate having the same format and tools for using Hotmail.

To set up a Hotmail account with Outlook Express, first open it from the Start Menu. If this is the first time you are opening OE, you will automatically find yourself in the new account wizard. If you have already been using OE, and you want to add a Hotmail account, click the Tools menu, then click "Accounts..." Click the Add button, then choose "Mail..." Enter a display name for you to use to reference the account, then click Next. Then enter in your Hotmail email address and click Next. Make sure that your email server is HTTP, and your provider is Hotmail, and click Next. Verify your email address, and enter your password (optional). if you leave the password field blank, you will be prompted for it each time you open Hotmail in OE. Click Next, then Finish to complete the setup. You may be prompted to download the folders from Hotmail; choose Yes to be able to read your Hotmail email now.

OE will not really download your messages - instead it synchronizes them with the Hotmail web server. This can actually be convenient if you switch back and forth between using OE and using Hotmail from a browser. If you receive many messages, or have a really slow network connection, you may want to change your synchronization settings. Right-click the Inbox (or any folder), and hold the mouse cursor over "Synchronization Settings," then click "Headers Only." This means that only the title of the messages will be downloaded into OE, and the message itself won't be downloaded until you open it. This is also handy for SPAM, which you can delete without opening it.

You can now use Outlook Express for Hotmail in all the same ways that you use it for your regular POP3 email, including creating new folders, moving messages to different folders, contacts/address book, receipts, signatures, etc. Once you have OE set up for Hotmail, you can send a blank email message to [email protected], and you will receive an automatic response back from Microsoft with some useful information about using Hotmail with Outlook Express.

goodluck

[terrydxn]

Thanks for the info bangbuathong, I have just followed your post and things look better.

[meadish_sweetball]

Unless you have a paid account with Hotmail, expect problems. I have been a Hotmail address user since 1995, before it was bought by Microsoft. I started to access hotmail through Outlook Express in 2001, and it has worked ok all the way up until this year.

Now that MS have transformed Hotmail from being a quality web-based free email into a crap web-based free email for which you are forced to pay for if you want the quality for example G-mail provide, I am gradually phasing out my account with Hotmail in favour of G-mail.

The main reason is because I have had so many problems with accessing Hotmail with Outlook Express lately. The server does not accept my password when I log in through OE, although it works perfectly logging in through the web browser.

[RDN]

.... I have had so many problems with accessing Hotmail with Outlook Express lately. The server does not accept my password when I log in through OE, although it works perfectly logging in through the web browser.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry to hear that, Meadish. I had a problem like that soon after Hotmail said they would not support access using Outlook Express (OE), and I had to log in to the web site and re-confirm my password. But after that, it has worked with OE as normal. And I got the email from Hotmail saying that I could continue to use OE to access the mail. I also have GMail, and forward my GMail emails to the Hotmail account.