@CincyDave:

The Quick Add Pane and the ads on the right side of Hotmail's pages can be COMPLETELY REMOVED!!

(For obvious reasons, the moderators in these forums will tell you that the Quick Add Pane and the right-side ads cannot be removed from the free version of Hotmail and will provide alternative email solutions, but they will not tell you about the following solution ... which allows you to continue using the free Hotmail service with the Quick Add Pane and the right-side ads completely removed).
 

First, install the Firefox browser, and make it your default.

 

Then, install the extension to Firefox called Greasemonkey (this will allow scripts to be run within Firefox).

 

Finally, install the specialized script that will remove all ads from Hotmail and reuse the space vacated by the ads.

 

See this page for links to firefox and greasemonkey:

http://userscripts.org/about/installing

 

... and see this page for a link to the script you need:

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8228

@ CincyDave

Please provide us your email address and the screenshot of your compose page so we can investigate your issue;

To capture screenshot:

1.       Access the page where you encountered the issue.
2.       Press “Print Screen” key in your keyboard. This button is usually located at the upper right portion of your keyboard.
3.       Open your picture editor such as Microsoft Paint.
4.       Paste the screenshot by simultaneously pressing on “Ctrl” and “V” on your keyboard or by selecting “Paste” on the “Edit” drop-down button in Microsoft Paint.
5.       Save the screenshot by simultaneously pressing on “Ctrl” and “S” on your keyboard or by selecting “Save” on the “File” drop-down button in Microsoft Paint.
6.       Type the file name and save the attachment as a ".jpeg" file by selecting "JPEG" under the "Save as type" drop-down menu then click on the "Save" button.

For instruction on where to send the screenshot, please read the private data below this post.

About the quick add, I'm sorry there is no option to turn off 'Quick Add' feature that pops up on the right hand side of the window when you are composing a new email. For more info, please visit this link:

http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/settings/archive/2009/07/21/about-quick-add-feature-in-hotmail.aspx

Screen shot has been sent to address provided.

Thank you.

Thanks for the screenshot, CincyDave.

Let me know the following info so I can fully investigate:

- Does this issue happen all the time?
- Does this also happens when forwarding or newly composed messages?
- Does the same thing happen when you access your account on a different computer with a different Internet connection?  
- Does this issue occur with other Hotmail accounts that are being accessed on your computer?

Hello Celeste G.;

This does not happen when I am composing a new email. It happens when I am replying or forwarding an existing. It is worst when there are alot of names in the "to" or "cc" fields. The more names, the smaller the text box.

I do not know if it happens on other computers or other Hotmail accounts from my computer. I only use the one computer and no one else who uses this has a Hotmail account.

Thanks,

Dave

@ Dave,

Your account is working properly. The reason why you're getting a smaller compose box when replying or forwarding an e-mail is because the page is adjusting to the textboxes (To, Cc, and Bcc) and other objects (attachments) displayed in the page. This is the reason why you don't encounter the same issue when composing a new e-mail. You can use the scroll bar found at the right hand side of the compose box to be able to view the content of your e-mail.

Joseph D.;

This is a humongous inconvenience. Are you saying that if I want a decent amount of space to write and FOLLOW my email response I have to leave the To, Cc, Bcc boxes emply and clear any attachments? Having a window only 12 or so lines long is simply awful.

How about a technical fix to this stupid flaw?? Why not just program hotmail to let the reply box grow to a decent depth??

This is really unsatisfactory. Total garbage.

@CincyDave

This is not a flaw. Since the Cc: & Bcc: fields and attachments are displayed in the compose page, the displayed space of the compose box will obviously shrink. You can switch the Desktop resolution of your computer to a larger size so that the displayed space of your compose box will be increased. 1280 x 1024 or greater should give a better experience.  Here’s how:

a.  Right click on your desktop
b.  Click “Properties”
c.  Click “Settings”
d.  Under “Screen Resolution” adjust your screen resolution.

Dear Raniel L.;

I checked my screen resolution. It is at the maximum, 1280 x 800. This computer isn't that old. Are you saying that I will need to buy a new one in order to resolve your flaw?

In the previous version of hotmail, THIS WAS NOT A PROBLEM. Why did you have to mess it up? Why not just return things to the way they were, i.e. perfectly adequate?

Of course you don't have an answer to this question, you are Microsoft. The company that doesn't give a hoot. The company that doesn't listen.\\

Raniel, I don't blame you personally, you just have a lousy job, having to explain to people why Microsoft has blown it once again.

Hi CincyDave, the previous moderators have already explained why the compose box shrinks. I've tried this on my end and got the same result. The compose box will get smaller if the Cc and Bcc lines were used or expanded. I’ll take your post as a feedback and forward this one to our product team.

@Shiela F:

Windows Live Shiela F:

I’ll take your post as a feedback and forward this one to our product team.

Of the many requests (for fixes, enhancements, changes, etc to Hotmail) that you have forwarded to the Hotmail Product Team during the past 12 months, what percent of those requests were actually fixed in subsequent Hotmail releases?

I realize that you do not have data to provide an exact percentage, but take your best guess as to the percentage.

That statistic will help CincyDave (and other customers reading this thread) understand the probability of their problems actually being fixed.