# Hotmail acc't died **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780 "2003-11-28T21:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/1 "2003-11-28T21:26:37Z")
I’ve had the same e-mail account for a few years now, via MSN hotmail (yeah, just the free account). Suddenly, about a week ago, it stopped working. E-mails are getting bounced back to my friends, and I don’t even get spam anymore. It went from a few dozen spams and half a dozen legit e-mails a day to zero. Just for the record, I never used the account for anything weird – simply ordinary e-mail correspondence. Any idea why? Could this be some weird virus type of thing? Is someone else getting my e-mails? ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/2 "2003-11-28T21:37:00Z")
Did you empty your inbox and other folders of unneeded messages? There’s a 2 MB cap on storage space. Sometimes a sudden deluge of spam (or viral attachments running 100K+ each) can put you over the top even if you are pretty careful. MS-Hotmail encourages you to pay extra for more storage space. I personally prefer to use free software like Hotmail Popper, which checks and downloads your Hotmail when you check your other e-mail accounts, and deletes it from your Hotmail account. This solution won’t work for some people, who specifically want to be able to check their mail using a web browser instead of an e-mail program (e.g. if they generally read their hotmail at a library or coffee shop, instead of a laptop or home computer.) ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/3 "2003-11-28T22:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KP \* > \*\*Did you empty your inbox and other folders of unneeded messages? There’s a 2 MB cap on storage space. Sometimes a sudden deluge of spam (or viral attachments running 100K+ each) can put you over the top even if you are pretty careful. \*\* Yep, I’m only at about 30% of my storage capacity. Right now, my inbox has 2 messges, and zero in my junkmail. I do have about 40 in another folder, but I’m nowhere near the 2MB cap. ---
**Author:** ![Oat1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Oat1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat1957)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/4 "2003-11-28T22:42:18Z")
What may have happened is someone was using your Hotmail address for sending Spam and it got on M$N’s list for abuse. I get bounced Spam back to my account that I know I didn’t send. ---
**Author:** ![CheekyMonkey613](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@CheekyMonkey613](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheekyMonkey613)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/5 "2003-11-28T23:01:19Z")
You can TRY their support link, though it’s never been very useful to me. I usually get form letters or they give me answers to questions I never asked and don’t answer the ones I did. But it’s worth a shot: [http://www.msn.com/contactus.ashx](http://www.msn.com/contactus.ashx) ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/6 "2003-11-28T23:03:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oat1957 \* > \*\*What may have happened is someone was using your Hotmail address for sending Spam and it got on M$N’s list for abuse. > > I get bounced Spam back to my account that I know I didn’t send. \*\* Ouch. How can I find out if that’s the case, and anything I can do about it? I was really fond of the screenname, and everyone I’ve ever known uses that addy to e-mail me. ---
**Author:** ![Oat1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Oat1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat1957)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmail-acct-died/215780/7 "2003-11-28T23:47:07Z")
I don’t know if you can. M$ really doesn’t give a hoot about it’s paying customers let alone the ones that use the free service.