How do I resolve my MSN Hotmail sign in problems?

You could be having difficulty signing in to MSN Hotmail email account for various reasons.We will explore some of these hang-ups and some troubleshooting solutions you might want to try.

If the only problem you are having with your computer is your email account, the easiest fixes include:

- Check to make sure your sign-in name is typed in correctly.Although most sign-in names are not case-sensitive, some names are.
- Your Hotmail account may have expired.A Hotmail account is deleted if it is not used during the first 10 days after you register or for any consecutive 60 days. Because Hotmail cannot reactivate a deleted account, you must register for a new Hotmail account.

- Hotmail may be the problem in and of itself.There are times when the system is having technical difficulties and you may just have to try back later.
- Reboot your PC, modem and router.Your access to the site may have just been misinterpreted.
- MSN Hotmail requires cookies in order to get past the "match the picture" security check.To make sure Cookies are enabled, from Internet Explorer click Tools, Internet Options Privacy, and press Default.However, it may be that an existing cookie is causing problems in which case you may need to clear the cookies first.To do so, go to Tools, Internet Options General, and press Delete Cookies.Some firewalls block cookies.If you have a firewall other than the one that comes with Windows XP, try opening it up until you are past the "match the picture" security check.If you are able to get through, your firewall is the culprit.Be sure though not to leave your firewall turned off.
- It may be that a page is not being correctly refreshed.You will have to Clear the cache. In IE, go to Tools, Internet Options General, and press Delete Files.Be sure to check Delete all offline content prior to clicking OK.
- The date and time on your computer must be correct. Several aspects of connections to secure sites like MSN Hotmail rely on your clock being accurate.You can synchronize your clock by right clicking on the clock in your taskbar, selecting Adjust Date/Time, clicking on the Time Zone tab choosing your time zone. Then click on the Internet Time tab and check Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server. Click Update Now to update the time immediately.

Things get more complicated though if your entire machine is also experiencing problems.Your machine may have contracted a virus or has been infected with some sort of spyware that may be affecting your MSN Hotmail.If that is the case, you can:

- Scan your hard drive to make sure you don't have any viruses or spyware.
- Check your "hosts" file by opening it in notepad.If you see "hotmail.com", or "passport.com", then the file has probably been compromised malware. If that's the case, just rename the file to something else.
If you have Internet Explorer as your browser:
- Try switching your browser to something like Netscape or Firefox
- You can also try reinstalling Internet Explorer.You can find the latest version by doing a quick internet search for Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- You can lower the security level by going to the Tools menu, Internet Options Security, Custom Level, Reset to, and then select the desired level.However, this may increase your risk of viruses.
Some things you should know about that are outside of your control:
- If your using Outlook Express, it might be useful to know that MSN Hotmail support in Outlook Express is being phased out.To continue using your MSN Hotmail account in Outlook Express you need to purchase an MSN Hotmail Plus account.
- Internet theft is getting more and more common.If you've received an email from MSN Hotmail asking you to visit a web site to "re-verify" your account, you may have fallen victim to a phishing scam. These emails are not legitimate and was probably a hacker attempting to get your personal information.Also, if you've accessed your MSN Hotmail account in a public place, it is possible that your MSN Hotmail account has been hijacked or stolen. Unfortunately, there are few, if any, resources to help you recover your password, or the contents of your address book or mailbox. The only real solution is to start over and take steps so that it doesn't happen again.