To the extent that it's helpful, here's my exchange with the hotmail
helpdesk. I haven't had the problem since i got this message:
==================================================
Hello James,
Thank you for writing back to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.
This is Angelie and I have read your e-mail exchange with Jeffrey regarding
your continued issues on not being able to connect to your Hotmail account
through Microsoft Outlook.
I understand how important it is for you to access your account via
Microsoft Outlook and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have
experienced.
I have fixed your account in our Support Control Panel and I am glad to
inform you that you should now be able to access your account in Microsoft
Outlook without any problems.
If for some reason you are still encountering difficulties in accessing your
Hotmail account through Microsoft Outlook, please reply to this e-mail and
provide us with the following information:
- Does this happen even when you use a different computer?
- Do you encounter any error message? If so, please provide the exact error
message.
Thank you for your continued support to MSN Hotmail.
Sincerely,
Angelie S.
MSN Hotmail Technical Support
--- Original Message ---
From: jphanley
To: (e-mail address removed)
Sent: Mon Jun 6 08:56:00 PST 2005
Subject: RE: CST194209441ID - RE:MSN Hotmail Plus: I need something fixed.: :
Hi Jeffrey,
I'm aware of how to remove and then re-add my hotmail account in
Outlook. I did that on two separate occasion, without any success, prior
to submitting my problem to you. I believe that there is some sort of
problem with the hotmail server. I am not the only person experiencing
this problem that you cannot seem to verify:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?dg=microsof
t.public.outlook.general&mid=a4439032-a52e-4e55-bc9e-2d72d0574e4e&sloc=e
n-us
After the second day of not being accessible from Outlook, it
spontaneously just started working again. To be clear, I did NOT make
any changes to the configuration in any way. I simply was away from the
pc for another day. Unfortunately, the problem still exists
intermittently. I would say about 30% of the time that I try to synch
with hotmail from Outlook, I get the error message. This is very
frustrating. I can't afford to have the network lock me out like this -
particularly for 2 days straight!
Please research my problem further and let me know if there is anything
I can do to help you trouble shoot from my end.
Thanks,
James
_____
From: MSN Hotmail Technical Support
[mailto:
[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 4:00 AM
Subject: CST194209441ID - RE:MSN Hotmail Plus: I need something fixed.:
Hello James,
Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.
This is Jeffrey and I am responding to your concern on not being able to
access your account through Microsoft Outlook 2003 due to "connection to
the server could not be established" error message. I understand how
frustrating this can be for you and I sincerely apologize for the
inconvenience this might have caused you.
James, I have investigated your account and found no reason why you are
getting the error message you reported. While we continue with our
investigation, we would like you to try reconfiguring your account in
Microsoft Outlook by following the steps provided below:
Manually remove your account
1. In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
2. Click View or change existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
3. Click Hotmail, and then click Remove.
4. Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the account.
5. Click Finish.
Manually add your account
1. Start Outlook, and on the "Tools" menu, click "E-mail Accounts".
2. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click to select the "Add a new
E-mail Account" option, and then click "Next".
3. In the Server Type dialog box, click "HTTP".
4. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, enter the required information by
using the following guidelines:
a. User Information
* Your Name: This should be your full name.
* E-mail Address: (e-mail address removed)
b. Log on Information
* User Name: This will usually be the part of your e-mail address to the
left of the at sign (@).
* Password: your Hotmail password.
* You can click to select the check box to have Outlook remember your
e-mail account password.
c. Server Information
* HTTP Mail Service Provider: (Hotmail): This menu lists all of the Web
e-mail providers that are enabled; Hotmail is available in this list.
* Server URL: Another choice is available in the HTTP Mail Service
Provider box. If you click Other, the Server URL text box is available.
You can enter the URL location of your HTTP e-mail service here.
6. Click on "Next"
7. Click on "Finish" to save settings.
This should allow you to access your account. As a valuable MSN
customer, your satisfaction is our primary concern. We appreciate your
continued support to MSN Hotmail. If you have other concerns, please
e-mail us again and we will be glad to help you.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C.
MSN Hotmail Technical Support
--- Original Message ---
From: (e-mail address removed)
To: (e-mail address removed)
Sent: Fri Jun 3 03:56:50 PST 2005
Subject: MSN Hotmail Plus: I need something fixed.: :
To ensure a quick resolution, provide as many details as possible,
including the date and time the problem occurred, a description of what
you were trying to do, the detailed steps you took that led up to the
problem, and details on any error messages that you received.:MS Outlook
2003 is suddenly having problems getting into my hotmail account.
The problem was intermittent (10% of the time initially, increasing over
the past couple weeks - i would restart XP to clear it) untill
yesterday. Now I get the following message always and cannot clear it:
'connection to the server could not be established.
Http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp is now in offline mode.'
please help; i use my hotmail acct for business, and it is critical to
have access to the Outlook BCM functions. I can access my hotmail from
the hotmail website, but this doesn't meet my needs. please help,
Jim
Frequency of the issue::Always present
How do you access your Hotmail account?:Outlook 2003
Who is your ISP?:Other
Type of Internet connection::Cable Modem
Have you recently installed any new software (if you enter yes please
add more comments in the text box above)?:No
Service: MSN Hotmail Plus
Type of issue::
I need something fixed.
Which operating system are you using?: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE
6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
Which browser are you using: IE6
=========================================
JoeM said:
For the last few days now when Outlook 2003 Synics with my Hotmail accounts
it fails with message 'The server could not be found' what is happening and
how can I correct this? I have had these hotmail accounts for about 2 years
and have used outlook with these accounts with no problem.