Outlook 2003 & Hotmail Problem

[JoeM]

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.

[JoeM]

They must be having difficultly. I have 4 hotmail accounts and 1 MSN. All
were failing yesterday now only the hotmail accounts are. One of the
hotmail accounts synched late last night but not this morning. MSFT must be
having some type of problem.
Note: If you go through the website the accounts work fine.

"ZILLA" <ZI...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5EEA3766-0BA0-4D5C...@microsoft.com...
>I echo the same comments as JoeM...
>
> I have three paid hotmail accounts, all of which were working flawlessly
> in
> Outlook 2003. (Several POP3 accounts are still working fine.) Overnight
> ALL
> 3 of the Hotmail accounts stopped working properly.
> --Get the 0x800ccc0d "Server not found" error
> --Sometimes it'll grab the headers, not full message as per my
> settings.
> --Sometimes one account will work, but the other 2 don't.
> --Error might be with Send or Receive or both.
> Any help appreciated,
> ZILLA
> --
> The world is like a book, and those that never leave home read but one
> page.
> St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

[ZILLA]

I agree (again). Others are having this problem too:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?author=Jonathan+B.+Jung&email=jonathanjung%40hotmail.com&dg=microsoft.public.outlook.general&lang=en&cr=US
Mine have been working only sporadically, throughout the day. Hopefully
MSN/Hotmail staff will get it together.

[Christian]

I too am experiencing the same problem - exactly as you both describe -
trying to sync Outlook 2003 with my hotmail account. I first noticed the
problem on Friday 3rd June and filed a support incident with Microsoft
Support the same day. Last night (Saturday, GMT time zone), my Outllook
client started syncing again briefly but then the problem resurfaced and as
of this morning (Sun, 8am GMT) I still can't get my hotmail through Outlook.
Each time I fire up Outlook, a little window 'pops' up saying 'A connection
to the server could not be established'. It's driving me crazy!

It's good to know that I'm not alone! :-)

Christian

[JoeM]

As of 3:05pm EST all my accounts are now syncing with no problem, maybe
the fixed the problem, are you guys still having any trouble?

"Christian" <Chri...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1F59A016-AA8A-4F96...@microsoft.com...

[Christian]

My connections are still sporadic. One minute I can connect and the next I
can't. Very weird...
Christian

[jphanley]

Ditto. my acct was unaccessible from Outlook for almost 48 hours last week,
then came back, now is sporadically flaky. i reported it to hotmail tech
support and got a note telling me there shouldn't be a problem with my
acct... duh.

very frustrating. hotmail doesn't even seem to recognize there is a problem.

[jphanley]

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: exst_suppo...@css.one.microsoft.com
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:exst_suppo...@css.one.microsoft.com]
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: jpha...@hotmail.com
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: jpha...@hotmail.com
To: exst_su...@css.one.microsoft.com
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

=========================================

[rthar...@hotmail.com]

I just submitted a support message to hotmail referencing the same
incident you listed below. Thanks for posting this as I have been
having this annoying issue for months. I will post back with the
results. Here is the verbiage of my support message to hotmail.

"I have been receiving this error in my outlook 2003 app for some time:
"A connection to the server could not be established.
http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp is now in offline
mode."

An article I read dated 6-8-05 from Angelie S., MSN Hotmail Technical
Support, for what appears is the same issue, stated: "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"

Please let me know if this fix or another can be applied to resolve my
issue.

> frustrating. I can't afford to have the network lock me out like this -

[rthar...@hotmail.com]

test

[j_gla...@hotmail.com]

I am having the same problem--was your problem resolved?

[Robert]

Sorry for the late reply on this but I wanted to make sure I was good
beforehand...
This issue, for the most part, appears RESOLVED!
Below is the detail from the hotmail support person and for the most
part, it appears to be a setting change of some kind on their end. I
did do the remove and re-add per the below instructions...maybe new
tolerances for the account are pulled down or something.
I did have a few disconnects for about 2 days after but aftter that,
things have been running well.
Robert

Hello Robert,

Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

My name is Peter and I am responding to your concern on being unable to
access your Hotmail account using Outlook e-mail program due to 'A

connection to the server could not be established.
http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp is now in offline

mode.' error message.

I understand how important it is for you to access your account using
Outlook and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this matter has
caused you.

Robert, our Product team has gone through several tests lately to
determine the cause of this issue and I am glad to inform you that this
has been fixed. You should now be able to access your account in
Outlook 2003 without any problems.

In the meantime, I suggest that you reconfigure your Outlook 2003. I
have provided the instructions below for your convenience.

>> Manually remove your account

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. In Outlook, on the "Tools" menu, click "Accounts".

2. Select "Add a new e-mail account" under the E-mail section and click
"Next".

3. In the Server Type window, select "HTTP" and click "Next."

4. In the "User Information" section, type your name and e-mail
address.

5. In the "Logon Information" section, type your Hotmail user name
(e.g., user...@hotmail.com) and your Hotmail password.

6. Click "Next".

7. Click "Finish".

However, if for some reason you are still encountering difficulties in
accessing your Hotmail account through Outlook Express, please reply to

this e-mail and provide us with the following information:

a. Does this happen even when you use a different computer?
b. Do you encounter any error message? If so, please provide the exact
error message.
c. Does this issue occur with other Hotmail accounts that are being
accessed on your computer?

We will be more than willing to investigate this issue as soon as we
get the necessary information we need. Let us know the outcome so we
may continue to assist you in resolving your concern.

[rthar...@hotmail.com]

Sorry for the late reply on this but I wanted to make I was good

beforehand...
This issue, for the most part, appears RESOLVED!
Below is the detail from the hotmail support person and for the most
part, it appears to be a setting change of some kind on their end. I
did do the remove and re-add per the below instructions...maybe new
tolerances for the account are pulled down or something.
I did have a few disconnects for about 2 days after but aftter that,
things have been running well.
Robert

Hello Robert,

Thank you for writing to MSN Hotmail Technical Support.

My name is Peter and I am responding to your concern on being unable to
access your Hotmail account using Outlook e-mail program due to 'A

connection to the server could not be established.
http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp is now in offline

mode.' error message.

I understand how important it is for you to access your account using
Outlook and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this matter has
caused you.

Robert, our Product team has gone through several tests lately to
determine the cause of this issue and I am glad to inform you that this
has been fixed. You should now be able to access your account in
Outlook 2003 without any problems.

In the meantime, I suggest that you reconfigure your Outlook 2003. I
have provided the instructions below for your convenience.

>> Manually remove your account

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. In Outlook, on the "Tools" menu, click "Accounts".

2. Select "Add a new e-mail account" under the E-mail section and click
"Next".

3. In the Server Type window, select "HTTP" and click "Next."

4. In the "User Information" section, type your name and e-mail
address.

5. In the "Logon Information" section, type your Hotmail user name
(e.g., user...@hotmail.com) and your Hotmail password.

6. Click "Next".

7. Click "Finish".

However, if for some reason you are still encountering difficulties in
accessing your Hotmail account through Outlook Express, please reply to

this e-mail and provide us with the following information:

a. Does this happen even when you use a different computer?
b. Do you encounter any error message? If so, please provide the exact
error message.

[banhien]

I follow all instructions even totally get out before get in again to add new
account (one and only one) and still getting this error:

reported error (0x800CCC0D) : 'The server could not be found.'

Please note: I only have this problem on my laptop which has new Outlook
security update - other machine has no problem but it has diffrent folders
and I only use that machine once or twice a week.

Please help - yes PLEASE HELP

BanHien
Melbourne, Australia