Frequently Asked Questions - Accessing Hotmail on mail programs

ABOUT MAIL PROGRAMS

Q: How do I know which program I am currently using to view my Hotmail?
A: On the tool bar, click on Help and click on the About option. This will provide the details about the program you are using (e.g. Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express, or Entourage).

Q: What is Windows Live Mail?
A: Windows Live Mail is a free mail program that allows customers to access e-mail accounts like Windows Live Hotmail. It has similar functionality to Outlook Express in that it syncs your e-mail when you’re connected to the internet, yet allows you to access your downloaded e-mail when you’re not online. It provides junk mail filtering and a built-in calendar that works with your Windows Live Calendar.

ABOUT SETTING UP HOTMAIL ON YOUR MAIL PROGRAM

Q: How do I set up Outlook to access Hotmail?
A: For a step-by-step guide, please see this article.

Q: I currently use Outlook Express, how can I access Hotmail?
A: Other than accessing Hotmail on the web, you can choose to set up Outlook to use the POP3 protocol, choose to download Windows Live Mail. Learn more about your options in this article.

Q: How do I set up Entourage on my Mac to access Hotmail?
A: For a step-by-step guide, please see this article.

Q: What is POP3?
A: POP3 is one of the most common mail protocols that allows mail programs to communicate with e-mail services like Hotmail to display e-mail. 

ABOUT RETIRING THE DAV PROTOCOL

Q: What is DAV?
A: The DAV protocol is a communications method that mail programs use to communicate in order to display your e-mail. Outlook, Outlook Express, and Entourage can use the DAV protocol to display your Hotmail.

Q: Why is DAV being disabled?
A: DAV is a legacy protocol that is not optimally suited for clients to access large inboxes. Over time, as we've provided more e-mail storage to our users, DAV has become an inefficient solution for syncing your e-mail.

Q: You said you were going to discontinue DAV last year, and you changed that. Do you really mean it this time?
A: Yes. Last year, we postponed plans to retire the DAV protocol until more options were available (e.g. until the POP3 protocol was live). Now that these options are available, the DAV protocol will end on September 1, 2009.

Q: I'm an Outlook user, how does this affect me?
A: To see if you are affected, on the Tools menu in Outlook, click Account Settings, then click the E-mail tab. If your Hotmail account type is 'HTTP', you're using the DAV protocol and need to select an alternative solution. Unless you take action now, after September 1, 2009 you will no longer receive new e-mail in your Outlook inbox because the communications method that your Outlook uses to access Hotmail will no longer work. To continue to receive new email, you can download Office Outlook Connector to continue accessing your Windows Live Hotmail within Outlook 2003 or 2007.  If you're using Outlook 2002 you will need to change the settings on your program (to use another communications method, known as the POP3 protocol) to access your Hotmail. Click here to learn more.

Q: I'm an Outlook Express user, how does this affect me?
A: Unless you take action now, after September 1, 2009 you will no long receive new e-mail in your Outlook Express inbox because the communications method that your Outlook Express uses to access Hotmail will no longer work. To ensure that you continue to receive new email, you can choose to download Windows Live Mail (recommended) or change the settings on your program (to use another communications method, known as the POP3 protocol)  to access your Hotmail. Click here to learn more about your options.

Q: I'm an Entourage user, how does this affect me?
A: Unless you take action now, after September 1, 2009 you will no longer receive new e-mail in your Entourage inbox because the communications method that your Entourage uses to access Hotmail will no longer work. To ensure that you continue to receive new e-mail, you can change the settings in your program (to use another communications method known as the POP3 protocol) to access your Hotmail. Click here to learn more about setting up POP3 for Entourage.

Q: My default mail client is set up as Outlook Express. If I change to Windows Live Mail, what will my experience be like?
A: Windows Live Mail will work similarly to Outlook Express and can access messages from your Hotmail account, including older messages that you've read previously and new messages as they are received. Windows Live Mail is optimized to work with Windows Live Hotmail and also integrates well with other Windows Live services. It offers: 

• Offline mail
• Send/receive mail from multiple accounts in one place - Hotmail accounts or POP and IMAP mail accounts (like Gmail or Yahoo! Plus)
• Rich photo-sharing capabilities
• Integration with Desktop Search
• Safety tools (anti-phishing, anti-spam features)
• Integration with Windows Live services including Windows Live Spaces
• RSS feed aggregation
• Built-in calendar view that can access your Windows Live Calendar

Q: What happens to all my data in Outlook Express if I switch to Windows Live Mail?
A:  You will still be able to open and view e-mails previously downloaded to your Outlook Express program. However, after September 1, 2009, Outlook Express will no longer be able to access Hotmail and receive new e-mail. Instead, your Hotmail will be viewable via Windows Live Mail. In addition, you can continue to access Hotmail on the web.

Q: If I setup POP3, what will my experience be like?
A: With this option, your experience with your e-mail will be different to what it was in your program (Outlook, Outlook Express, or Entourage) with DAV, particularly if you access your email both in a web browser (i.e. www.hotmail.com) and in your program.  All emails will initially download as being unread. If you delete or read an email in your program and then log into www.hotmail.com, your changes will not be reflected there.  Also, if you have set up filtering rules on www.hotmail.com that move messages directly into a folder, those messages will not be downloaded to your program. Only messages arriving in your Inbox on the web will be downloaded to your program.

Q: I have more questions, how can I get more answers?
A: Visit the community forum.