I have the exact same error message pop up too. I have been calling MSN for the last two days with no resolution. I can't access my hotmail/msn email account. I too had Firefox, and Windows XP. It was working fine before, then all of a sudden it stopped. It was fairly recent that I loaded and installed Mozilla Firefox on my computer. Was this the source of the problem? I am hoping someone may be able to help me, and the person above me.

Thanks in advance

Doesn't anyone have any clue to help solve this problem? I haven't been able to sign in to hotmail for weeks now. I think it is a JAVA problem, but I'm not sure. My old computer works. Is it because I have Mozilla Firefox? I need your help.

Oct Wed 20th 2004 connection was refused error SOLVED
I was having an error message every time I tried logging into MSN hotmail and secure Yahoo mail. The error was always, "connection was refused when attempting to contact...." .I have Mozilla Firefox and Windows XP. The problem is related to Norton Internet Security. I was having an error message with NIS too at the start up and could not figure out why. I concluded that the problems with "connection was refused" error message were related. I unistalled NIS through the start menu, in the uninstall option, and the error message resolved themselves. I then re-installed Norton Internet Security from the CD. I hope this helps some of you as I have been trying to solve this problem for 2 months or so. Inspiration hit me, and the problems went away after a few minutes.