Member Avatar for Leanne81

Im new to the forum, and would really appreciate any help! After all being well prior to today, I can't log into my hotmail account and am unsure why. It may be a virus or spyware, but all other webpages work fine. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to resolve this? Many thanks, Leanne

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by chrisbliss18

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Brief summary and context: lost access to Hotmail while other sites worked. The account became reachable again after an attempt to open it in Outlook and after several local fixes had been tried (cookies cleared, IE settings restored, Microsoft Antispyware reinstalled, router/modem power-cycled, HijackThis downloaded but not run). noted other users saw the same symptom, which makes a transient server- or network-level cause more likely than a persistent local problem.

Why this often happens: when a single site or service fails while the rest of the web is fine, common causes are DNS caching (PC or ISP), a hosts-file or proxy redirect, browser add-ons or corrupted browser settings, or a temporary outage at the mail provider. Malware can produce identical symptoms by hijacking proxy/Winsock settings or the hosts file. Because access returned after trying another mail client, a transient DNS/connection state or server-side hiccup is a plausible explanation.

Practical diagnostic checklist (ordered for fastest isolation):

  • Try a different computer or a different network (phone tethering/public WiFi). If it works elsewhere, the problem is local.

  • Flush DNS and reset the network stack (Windows example):

    ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset

  • Check IE proxy/connection settings: Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings (ensure an unexpected proxy is not enabled).

  • Inspect the hosts file (Windows: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) for entries redirecting mail domains.

  • Disable browser add-ons or try another browser to rule out toolbar/add-on interference.

  • Run an up-to-date anti-malware scan (an expired scanner may not detect current threats).

  • For deeper diagnosis, a HijackThis log plus the output of nslookup for the mail host and ipconfig /all helps experienced helpers distinguish DNS/hosts/proxy/malware causes. Do not remove HijackThis entries blindly—get confirmation before deleting.

A short note: intermittent errors that resolve after a few hours are often server- or ISP-related. If the problem recurs persistently, collect the diagnostics above and check with the ISP or the service status for the mail provider.

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Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Join in on the Cannot login to Hotmail thread. Seems like many people are having this issue. We haven't found a fix yet, but we're looking.

Member Avatar for Leanne81

Thanks for that... wierd thing is though, after hours of trying to get around this, I tried one more thing--to try and open up my hotmail account through ms outlook. Even though this failed to open in outlook too, I tried to open hotmail through IE once again, and now it works! strange! but im glad it works again now!
Thanks again, Leanne

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Are you certain that you didn't modify anything? Please list what different things you tried to fix the issue in case it might help others.

Member Avatar for Leanne81

All the things that I tried throughout the day included, deleting all my cookies, restoring the default setting in the advanced tab of internet explorer options, uninstalling and reinstalling the microsoft antispyware I had on my pc (which had expired a month ago, and once reinstalled still didn't work!). I shut down my pc, reset my router and reset my broadband modem, left it all switched off for about 10 mins and restarted it. I also, as recommended by this forum, downloaded HijackThis, but never actually got around to opening up the file and installing it. Thats all I can remember what I did. Sounds strange, but the way it just seemed to work again a good few hours after trying all these things would suggest it had nothing to do with them anyway. The only thing I can see was that it had something to do with opening up hotmail in ms outlook (to which I already had my hotmail account set up in), but then again, that could have just been a coincidence. Hope this helps.

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Thanks for the update. It's very possible that this could help someone out.

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