Hotmail Problem

[emsp]

Hi - Ive been having trouble for a week logging into hotmail - the sign up page loads but when I enter my details and hit send it comes up with the message 'server timed out while waiting for browser request'........

I can access other sites, although not the hotmail help page....figures hey! I have been to an internet cafe and can access my hotmail there, and have also tried clearing the cache, cookies and resetting my browser....all to no avail....I use safari version 2.0.3, and the problem is on my ibook G4 laptop, which is running OSX 10.4.5.....any ideas/help would be muchly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[John A]

You most likely have not enabled Java/Javascript/Cookies in Safari. Follow these steps:

Go under the file menu, choose Preferences
Navigate to "Security" tab and make sure the following options are checked:

Enable Plug-ins
Enable Java
Enable Javascript
Accept Cookies = Always

If it still doesn't work, have you tried using a different browser? (Firefox, hint, hint)
http://www.mozilla.com/products/download.html?product=firefox-1.5.0.3&os=osx&lang=en-US

[emsp]

Hey there - tried all of that and didnt work....will try firefox!

Perhaps should have also mentioned that hotmail WAS working, and now for some reason its stopped......weird...?!

Thanks!

[emsp]

downloaded firefox and that does not work either! comes up with a different error message though.....this time its 'the connection to the server was reset while the page was loading'.......

[John A]

Well, assuming that Safari is the problem, you could do one of the following:

1. Find Internet Explorer, which is located in the Applications folder, and use IE to download Firefox (or just use it to see if Hotmail works).

2. Try reinstalling Safari. The installer package is located on your hard disk /Library/Reciepts/Safari.pkg

3. Remove Safari's preference files. The preference files are located in ~/Library/Safari. However, this will wipe out your bookmarks, so it's better to rename the folder "Safari" to something like "SafariBak". Run it and see if Hotmail works, and then adjust accordingly.

Also, do you know if the problem affects all users, or just you? (if you only have one user account on your Mac, try creating a test user.)

To make sure it's not your internet connection that's at fault, have you tried using someone else's internet just to see? (Like, going over to a friend's house and hooking his internet into your iBook.)