Search This Blog

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Cannot send email through Windows Mail


windows mail help
Windows Mail is the desktop mail client created by Microsoft for Windows Vista. It is an upgrade to Outlook Express and was superseded by Windows Live Mail in Windows 7.

Windows Mail is better than Outlook Express in every way. You can easily use your contacts from Outlook Express as well keep an archive of messages which you imported from Outlook express. Windows Mail is better, faster and more secure than its previous mail client versions. Windows Live Mail brings together multiple e-mail accounts, calendars, and more into one easy-to-use program. You can get multiple e-mail accounts in one program - Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo.

Although Windows Mail is a powerful and reliable email client, it can sometimes run into various problems. Sometimes email won’t open. At other times we are unable to send or receive email from our address book contacts. We want to send an important email but our email settings are not correctly configured. At these times we need a Microsoft certified Windows live customer service that can help us provide us Windows live email help and fix our email problems.

Common Email Problems

Some of the common email problems faced by the web users are: -

  • Problem in sending/receiving email messages.
  • Unable to send attachments in email.
  • Unable to download or save attachments received in email.
  • Problem in adding new contacts in the address book.
  • I can’t view email messages in other email accounts attached with Windows Mail.
  • Why does my browser redirect me to the site of my ISP instead of my mail program.
  • My address book contacts are receiving a lot of spam from my account.
  • My firewall/antivirus is not letting me open my email program.

There are a few reasons why this might happen:

  • Your email server is offline.
  • Your email server address is incorrect.
  • Your email server requires authentication.
  • You have to activate your inbound email first to initiate the outbound mail server.
  • Your ISP won't let you send email through a third-party SMTP server.
  • The attachment on your email is too large in size.
  • Your internet gets disconnected.
  • The server times out before the email can be sent.

Following tips can help you fix most of your windows mail problems:-

  • Check whether you have a good Internet connection. If you can receive mail and surf the Web with your web browser, the internet connection is not the problem area.
  • Check to make sure your SMTP server address is correct.
  • In order to prevent misuse of their servers by spammers, some ISPs require that you log in to their network server before sending email. If this is the case, ensure that your Windows Mail is set up to do that.
  • Large attachments can cause problems with SMTP servers. Often they time out before an email can be sent, especially if you have a slow Internet connection.
  • Third-party security applications, including antivirus scanners and anti-spyware scanners, can sometimes block email activity. Software firewalls can also cause serious problems.

If all else fails it is highly advised that you contact Microsoft certified Windows Live email support to help you fix your email problems and clear away all the problem causing elements so that you can check your email and send and receive emails smoothly.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Transfer Outlook Express address book from XP to Windows Vista


When you buy a new computer / laptop or have just formatted your hard drive and installed Windows Vista, you will need to setup the new computer according to your needs. One of the things you might consider doing is transferring your Outlook Express contacts and messages that you had with Windows XP and import them into Windows Mail. Outlook Express has been replaced by Windows Mail in Windows Vista. You will need to upgrade from Outlook Express to Windows Mail in either of the following situations.

  • When you are upgrading a computer running Windows XP to Windows Vista.
  • If you are not upgrading but want to transfer your Outlook Express messages to Windows Mail, running in Windows Vista.
  • If you are just transferring Outlook Express messages (and not all your other files and settings) from a computer running Windows XP to your Windows Vista Computer.



If you are unable to import/ export messages and contacts from Outlook Express or are having outlook express problems then you might need to contact Microsoft outlook express support team to help you resolve your troubles.

This procedure involves two main actions
  1. Exporting the Outlook Express address book to a standard CSV (Comma Separated Values) file format
  2. Importing the Outlook Express contacts and messages to Windows Mail Vista.

Before we can export the Outlook Express address book to Windows Mail Vista we will need to first convert the messages and contacts to a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file format. A Comma Separated Values file is a standard format for moving data across different computers and applications. This file contains pieces of information or values separated by the commas and can be opened and viewed in programs like Microsoft Excel and even be imported to databases such as MySQL.


Instructions to save the Outlook Express address book and backup the contacts information


  •  Select "Address Book" from the "Export" function under the "File" menu.

  • The program gives you two options for exporting: Microsoft Exchange and Text file. Select Text File (Comma Separated Values).




  • Click the "Browse" button and pick the folder in which you want so save the Address Book CSV file.


  • Provide a name for the CSV file.


  • By default, the Outlook Express address book export function does not select the names (First, Last, Middle and Nickname) of your contacts. Place a checkmark in these boxes.





  • Click "Finish" and save the Outlook Express address book in CSV format.




Now that your messages and converted to CSV format, you can easily move that file to your Windows Vista computer using a USB Flash drive, SD Card or any other portable media.


Transfer Outlook Express address book to Windows Mail Vista

Once you have the CSV file on the Vista computer, you need to import it into Windows Mail.

  • Select "File" -> "Import" -> "Windows Contacts"




  • Choose the "CSV (Comma Separated Values)" option.




  • Windows Mail will now ask you to specify the location of the CSV file Browse to the folder and double-click on the file.





  • Click the "Next" button and get the list of fields in the CSV. I suggest you put a checkmark in front of all if that's what you had done when exporting.





  • You have successfully transferred the Outlook Express Address Book to Windows Mail email program on Vista. Hit the "Finish" button and Close the pop-up window.





If you are unable to perform any of the above steps listed above then I suggest you contact Microsoft certified outlook express tech support so that they can help you with the outlook express problems you are facing and help you in troubleshooting other related issues.

Monday 1 October 2012

Set up Windows Mail for your email account

Before you begin

You must have an email account on Windows Live. If you do not have a Windows Live Email Account you can go to www.hotmail.com and sign-up for a new email account. If you encounter any problems then you can contact Windows Live customer service who will provide you all kinds of Windows Live email help and Windows Live email support.

Download and Install

  • First, you must first download the Windows Live Essentials 2011 by going to (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-home1).





  • Save the installer client on your desktop ( or wherever you want to save the installer).







  •  Double click the downloaded WLM 2011 to start the installer client.




  •  In the options when you are asked if you want to “Install all of Windows Live Essentials” or “Choose the programs you want to install”, choose the option “Choose the programs you want to install” .




  •  In the window “Select the programs you want to install”, uncheck all options and only select “Mail”.


  • Click in the “Install” button.



  • Go to Start Menu -> All Programs -> Windows Live Mail.





  • In Windows Live Mail , Go to Accounts Section -> Click the email Button.



  • The “Add your email accounts” window pops up.



  • Check the box “Manually Configure Server Settings”
  • If you already have a Windows Live email account you can use that ID to login to Windows Live Mail, or if you would like to create a new email ID follow the steps below.
  • If you already have a Windows Live email account you can use that ID to login to Windows Live Mail. In case you are using Gmail ,Google Apps or any other webmail service, then you will need to manually configure the POP and IMAP settings
  • Choose either IMAP or POP from the drop down menu. Both incoming and outgoing servers are mail  followed by your domain name. 
  • Port 143 is used for Incoming mails and Port 25 is used for Outgoing mails. Sometimes port 25 might be blocked by your ISP, if the account does not work when sending email use port 587 for Outgoing mails. Read at the bottom for information on changing the ports.
  • On Login ID make sure you type your full email address.
  • Check both “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)” and “My outgoing server requires authentication” at the bottom of the wizard. Click Next




  • You will be signed in and a pop up appears saying that “your email account was added”. Click on “Finish” Button.

  • Enter your desired username and set the password for it. Enter a display name for your sent messages. Click on “Next” Button.


  • You will be signed in and a pop up appears saying that “your email account was added”. Click on “Finish” Button.





  • Your Email account is ready and now you can check your mail from the desktop, just like you would check your email online.


'Special' folder designation

By default, Windows Live Mail will not assign your Drafts, Junk, Sent and Trash folders correctly. To rectify this error, go to the properties page of your account (ALT+S then ALT+P when viewing normal email) and under the IMAP tab, enter the following:


  • Sent Items path: Inbox.Sent
  • Drafts path: Inbox.Drafts
  • Deleted Items path: Inbox.Trash
  • Junk path: Inbox.Junk 


Troubleshooting and Ports 
  • Sending Error



  • If you can't send any email with an Error either saying that ' Server does not support SSL connection ' or similar try changing your outgoing port to the alternative Port 587 by Right Clicking your account and selecting Properties.


  • Change port to 587 and Ok everything..



SMTP Port 587 is the alternate for (blocked) port 25
On the Advanced tab, change port 25 to 587, if your ISP blocks port 25.
It is the alternate port that DreamHost apparently makes available, just for that case.


  • To ensure that your email is working correctly click on home and then on the Send/Receive Button.



Thursday 27 September 2012

Troubleshooting common email problems


email helpAs we all know, email has become a very important of our lives. It is the most modern form of exchanging messages and communicating with friends, family and colleagues. Without the internet and email, it would have been near impossible to keep in touch with our loved ones.

Email helps us in exchanging messages not only in the form of text but also lets us share pictures, videos, documents and some even let us chat with one or more people through them. Thanks to the power of the internet and the service we all know as email, the world indeed has become a very small place.

Even though email may seem perfect, it does have its own share of problems. We wake up one morning, turn on the computer and go to the website of our webmail service to send an important email.  We put in the username and password required to log into the account. Instead of our mail screen we are greeted by the message “Invalid username or Password”. Maybe we put in something wrong, so we try again. Same message. We try to clear our history, cookies, and temporary internet files, restart our internet and try again. This time we are notified that our account has been blocked. We are puzzled as we had checked our email a few days ago and it was fine. We never really had problems with email before, until now.

There could be only one reason to why we are facing problems with email account – Our email account has been hacked by a black hat programmer (commonly known as hackers or spammers). The worst fear of every internet user has become a shocking reality. As the internet technologies are improving, so are the hackers. They constantly look for security flaws in the services used by net surfers and take advantage of it, using their cheap and dangerous tools.

secure email
In panic, we frantically try and scan for the culprit software who let the hacker in to our system, but it’s already too late. Even if we find the rogue software, it won’t let us get rid of it easily. It has disabled our firewall, shutdown our antivirus and changed the search engine settings so that we are unable to remove the Rootkit Trojan out of the system. So now you wonder 




“How do I recover my account and fix my email settings that might have been changed?”

    Email Troubleshooting
  • The first thing you could try is to use your old password. If you can login using your old username and password, Great! But if not, you should click on “I forgot my password” (even if you never did forget it). Answer the security questions and provide the alternate email address for password recovery. If everything works out, you will have the option to reset your password.
  • Change your password and make a new stronger yet easy to remember one. 
  • Change your recovery information as the hacker already knows about the old recovery information. Make sure that all information in the recovery form is set by you. Remove any information that you are unaware of immediately. 
  • Change your passwords for any other related sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your bank etc) that you used to access with your email before it was hacked. Do it quickly and pray that the hacker has not done the same before you.
  • Tell your contacts and the webmail service provider that your account has been hacked, not to reply to any emails/ requests from that account and to remove it from the address book.
  • Back up all your security information to a external hard disk or portable media. Learn from the experience and take steps to ensure that this does not repeat in the future.