Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
I get a constant stream of people asking me to re-open their Hotmail or other email account as if I were Hotmail or their ISP. Problem is: I'm not.
My 2 accounts are blocked: *****@hotmail.com and ***@hotmail.com. I already asked to unblock them. I couldn't send any e-mail. The only "improvement" is that now I even can't sign into my hotmail accounts and open my mail box. So I cant see e-mails I received. And I need these two accounts - I applied for jobs, sending my CV to companies and gave my e-mail address to be able to receive reply. Which i cant now!!!!!
Yes, I sent maybe too many e-mails. When we apply for job, we don't send only 5 emails, do we?? I'm not sending any junk mails.
Please don't send me any advice by email as I cant see it. Tell me how to unblock it or send me some number where I can call to solve it. My address: ****@****.cz
I'm really upset. How can you block it without letting me know, as now I'm like blind and may loose a chance to get a job.
So be that kind and let me use my accounts again.
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(My apologies in advance to those of you who tire of this type of question, but honestly - I'm just reacting to the frequency with which I see it in my own inbox, and my own resulting frustration.)
I get questions worded like this all the time. I have no idea why.
I did not close your account. I cannot open it.
I am not Hotmail: I don't work for them, I have no special access to their servers. Ten years ago I worked for Microsoft, but never even came close to Hotmail.
Today I just have this website where I answer tech questions - many of which happen to be about Hotmail.
So with that in mind, let me advise you on what I think you should do in the situation you're in.
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To begin with, you should never have allowed yourself to get into this situation.
Placing anything important only in a free email account is asking for exactly the experience you're having. Using a free email account for anything as important as job hunting or - as I've also seen - running your business, not only sends a very bad message to the recipient, but you also run the very real risk of losing access just when you need it most.
Just as you have experienced.
Get your own domain name, use that for your email and you'll never need to change your email address again. Get an email account at your ISP, registrar or another service that has real people answering customer service calls over the phone. Just as most all of the free services do not.
Enough about what you should have done differently.
You're here, now, with email accounts that have importance to you, and you can't access them.
What do you do?
I have to be honest and say that the chances of recovering your account are not good.
So to start with you should set up a more appropriate email account as described above and begin the process of switching all of your important usage to it.
Next, in the case of Hotmail, you should visit the Windows Live Help center. They are Hotmail, and if they elect to, only they can help you.
The problem is that they frequently do not. My assumption is that they're simply not staffed to be able to help the incredible volume of questions, requests and complaints that I'm sure they get.
However, you will find discussion forums where you may find additional information, often from other Hotmail users. And yes, actual Windows Live Hotmail representatives are also known to post in those forums.
I do wish you the best of luck. I honestly wish I could magically open your account for you, but I cannot.
I am not Hotmail.
I'm just Leo.
Article C4334 - June 5, 2010
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
Ok, seriously Leo, if you are the madman behind hotmail,I think it is only appropriate to claim you are the one who never delivered my pizza. I WANT MY PIZZA (and pick up a 6-pack of cheap beer). Asking you to reopen someone's email is like asking... well ok I'll be polite. hehe. Don't forget the pizza.
10-Jun-2010
Posted by: Joe at June 9, 2010 3:49 PM
#1 Leo, I love your e-letter...been "larning a lot"
Posted by: Benmara at June 9, 2010 9:36 PM#2 no legitimate company/enterprise has EVER sent me an email through these "freebies" so if you are trying to be "legit" through one you're better off just forgetting it. I own my own web site through which I send friends/serious mail and my ***@hotmail for signing up for e-letters, etc, until I am certain they are also legit (and Leo is!!!). Soon I'll try to figure out how to get him to change from hotmail to my real address...till then I will keep reading and learning! GO LEO!!
p.s Leo...unblock me, LOLOLOL
Hi Leo,
Posted by: Henk at June 12, 2010 2:48 AMI am using a hotmail account since yeeears. Never had any trouble with it. Two 'normal' ISP accounts (paid) sometimes block confirmation mails from e.g. hotels in the US or an airline in Brussels. Hotmail doesn't. So it sometimes comes in handy. Thanks for your nice articles!
if i closed my hotmail account, then re-opened it would i still recieve any emails that had been sent to me in the time it was closed?
22-Oct-2011
I thank you so much for your co-operation .
Posted by: ammar al-shamma at January 5, 2012 4:50 AMI have closed my account because there is a violation by many persons and i wish to return back it after I choose another password to avoid the problem of violation I faced ,THANKS