Cannot login to Hotmail/Outlook Live

[katz]

Working with an elderly person who seems to have fouled things up pretty bad.

They are locked out of their Hotmail/Outlook Live account. I have gone through the password recovery on Outlook's webpage twice, but we keep getting stuck in the round robin loop of "Unfortunately, our automated system has determined that the information you provided was not sufficient for us to validate your account ownership."

They don't know enough information, email contact names, etc., that Microsoft is requiring to let us reset the password.

Any options/ideas at this point?

 

[Sky-Knight]

Setup a new email address, because they've lost that one.

 

[katz]

Believe it or not, they actually found their password in the last few minutes. Now we're dealing with more email issues, not sending, crazy stuff. I think I'll just recommend a gmail account to them.

 

[Markverhyden]

Were there any restore points to roll back to?

 

[katz]

It's an old Win 7 pc, none of the restore points worked. It's running like a dinosaur, and of course, they want me to wave a magic wand and fix everything.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Well, before you argue with all the issues with mail, I suggest you secure the account! Get all those little details set correctly so they don't lose it again.

As for the rest, Win7 is dead there's no fixing it... I wouldn't even work on it... sell a replacement or an upgrade.

 

[Markverhyden]

To be honest when I saw Hotmail the first thing that popped in my mind was it's gone. People signing up with hotmail.com addresses date back 15-20 years. Things were very different, especially about recovery options, because people used to answer the phone even with free email. So recovery options were just glossed over. Not now. I'm thinking that as they upgraded the backend the account templates changed so the old one's won't work like the new ones.

I had a FB account I created ages, as in 10-15 years ago. Never used it. But I still have access to the email address used. Go through the "recovery" procedures and they never work. Plenty of emails sent to FB. Just crickets.

 

[frase]

Agreed to secure the account - then setup eM Client as default email client.

 

[britechguy]

Agreed to secure the account - then setup eM Client as default email client.

This would be a good time to wean them from any email client unless they insist. Webmail just makes a lot more sense in a huge number of circumstances.

 

[fincoder]

Webmail just makes a lot more sense in a huge number of circumstances.

Off-topic, but I have to say this statement is not accepted wisdom. IMO even the Windows 10 Mail app is better than any webmail (faster, works offline). Webmail is good for situations where you can't use your email client (e.g. using a borrowed device, or if the email client has a temporary problem), and with imap/exchange any client or device or webmail can be used depending on the situation and folders stay in sync.

 

[britechguy]

In the context of a senior citizen, who's going to have to learn a "whole new system," it is my personal opinion (note: opinion) that webmail makes a lot more sense.

It's also my opinion that it makes a lot more sense than e-mail clients in general do, barring specific needs, which I deal with a lot.

And if you haven't figured out how to make your webmail (regardless of whose) work offline if you need to do that routinely, then you simply haven't been paying attention. That's been a feature of most of them for quite a while now.

And, though I'll agree that we all are absolutely entitled to our own opinions, which are born of different experiences, mine about the Windows 10 Mail App is that I'd rather gnaw my own fingers off than use it. I'll go with Thunderbird or eM Client over it anytime.

 

[fincoder]

I'll go with Thunderbird or eM Client over it anytime.

Sure, the Mail app isn't great. That's why I said even Mail is better than browser-based mail.

Webmail does change, perhaps more so than client apps. Plenty of seniors have been thrown into confusion by changes to the webmail interfaces over the years.

I just googled 'outlook.com offline' and got this article that's been updated with:
'UPDATE in 2020: Oultook.com offline access feature has been removed.'
Enable & Use Outlook.com Offline Access (intowindows.com)

Maybe it's a generational thing? Millennials and younger generations barely use email and it isn't encouraged in schools. So webmail didn't matter. As techs our personal preferences often influence our advice to others.

Lots of my senior customers still lament the demise of Outlook Express, many are still using Win Live Mail, plenty of them use and like Thunderbird, some on emClient. Lots are using ISP email accounts and those webmail interfaces are much worse than gmail/outlook.com.

The Mail app was much worse in the early Win10 releases, in those days I suggested other clients like Thunderbird. It is now more stable and the worst quirks are fixed. It should be thought of as a PC version of a mobile mail app, and many people are happy enough with those on their tablets and phones.

 

[NJW]

And if you haven't figured out how to make your webmail (regardless of whose) work offline if you need to do that routinely, then you simply haven't been paying attention. That's been a feature of most of them for quite a while now.

*Raises hand* I clearly haven't been paying attention – I didn't know that 'offline webmail' was a thing. Reading the link in @fincoder's post, it sounds just like a mail client to me ... but for a single provider.

That's right up there with having four browsers open, each logged in to a different mail account. Don't get me wrong, if it works for folks, then have at it. I'll stick with Thunderbird and my four accounts with three providers – offline access, cross-account searches and drag'n'drop between accounts FTW.

 

[britechguy]

*Raises hand* I clearly haven't been paying attention – I didn't know that 'offline webmail' was a thing.

Well, now you do. Notice I didn't say it was universal, just common. And the fact that Microsoft elected to remove that capability from Outlook.com was strongly linked to their launch strategy for Office 365.

Just like you can log in to Windows 10 using a Microsoft Account linked user account without an internet connection, a great deal of software that has cloud connections is designed knowing that there will be times where you need to have access to your "recently touched" data and they keep an offline store of same available for use. Internet connectivity can be flaky, at times. Email's no different, and webmail access to email's no different in quite a few implementations.

I'm not criticizing anyone's personal choices, either. You have to do what's right for you.