# Hotmail's down; or, Why I haven't answered your letter **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948 "2000-12-11T00:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/1 "2000-12-11T00:42:33Z")
I have, the last time I checked, 39 new messages in my Hotmail mailbox. However, I can’t access any of them. MSN Messenger is up (that’s how I know how many emails I have) but Hotmail is down, possibly under the weight of all the emails I can’t retrieve! I NEED my email! The fate of the Straight Dope depends on it! I’ll, I’ll…quit Hotmail? That’ll show 'em! Once I quit paying Hotmail… Ahem. Anyway, to put this in a borderline IMHO mode… Does anyone know of any email service that DOESN’T go down very often? This is twice that Hotmail has let me down…and I haven’t been using it that long! Less than a week or so, I think. While the price is certainly right, I want dependability, too. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/2 "2000-12-11T00:57:37Z")
No, I have no suggestions, but I do want to say DAMN THEM! I haven’t been able to check my email in DAYS!!! (Not that I’ll have any new messages, but I still like to check…) Have you tried Yahoo? ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/3 "2000-12-11T01:13:08Z")
I use [mail.com](http://mail.com), I like them. They are dependable. ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/4 "2000-12-11T01:20:59Z")
I used to use [mail.com](http://mail.com), but it was a little slow at times, and occasionally they upgraded and then it was down. I’ve been on a cable modem for the last year and a half, though, so I’m bound to be impatient. So now I’m back to Yahoo. It’s hardly ever down, but occasionally it’s slow. Nothing’s perfect, but I like Yahoo the best. Never try Excite mail. It is evil. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/5 "2000-12-11T01:34:48Z")
I’ve not had any problems with hotmail recently. I just checked it after reading this, and it’s got to my mail with no problem. Umm… I didn’t like yahoo when I had that one. I briefly used Eudora mail. The other free e-mails I have are at [ivillage.com](http://ivillage.com) and [ecfans.com](http://ecfans.com). I don’t know how good the ecfans will turn out to be, because I just got that one. ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/6 "2000-12-11T01:55:55Z")
I use Yahoo’s free E-mail. I can’t remember the last time it went down on me. I mean, what am I doing wrong? And why are all of you complaining? I want my E-mail to go down on me too! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/7 "2000-12-11T02:04:48Z")
My Hotmail’s been down all day too. Bad Microsoft, Bad Bill Gates ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/8 "2000-12-11T02:44:52Z")
Yeah, Hotmail’s been doing some kind of upgrade or something the last couple weeks; I’ve had intermittent “issues” with it myself. Sucks to know you’ve got mail there and can’t get to it! ---
**Author:** ![Lost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/22d042/32.png) [@Lost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/9 "2000-12-11T03:02:52Z")
I am so pissed at **Not-So-Hot** Mail right now that it’s hard to type! **Not** because I can’t get mail, but because the last **3** times that I’ve tried to reply to an email - IE pops me with an error .exe message, wipes out my (lengthy) reply and _shuts itself off!_. (bad words deleted) ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/10 "2000-12-11T03:04:15Z")
After the billionth time that Hotmail went down, I switched to [Netscape Webmail](http://ureg.netscape.com/iiop/UReg2/login/log_back_in?U2_LA=en&U2_BACK_FROM_CJ=true&U2_CS=iso-8859-1&U2_ENDURL=http://mailredirect.netscape.com/&U2_NEW_ENDURL=http://mailredirect.netscape.com/?nu=1&U2_EXITURL=http://home.netscape.com/&U2_SOURCE=Webmail). I’ve been fairly happy with it. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/11 "2000-12-11T03:57:33Z")
**Lynn** : Since you’re my favorite admin\*, I’ll give you an email addy at my website ( @3weasel.20m.com) if you want it. It’s free, too. 🙂 I don’t know about the reliability (I only check mine there once a week), but it seems to be pretty good. Email me direct, and I’ll set it up. [sub]\*–we need an ass-kissing smiley[/sub]😃 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/12 "2000-12-11T03:57:49Z")
[http://www.cluestore.com](http://www.cluestore.com) has web-based email that is reliable. 🙂 It’s powered by [everyone.net](http://everyone.net) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/13 "2000-12-11T05:47:41Z")
Another vote for Yahoo here. I have _never_ had a problem accessing or recieving my mail, and it’s fast. ---
**Author:** ![What\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f475e1/32.png) [@What\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_fire)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/14 "2000-12-11T06:22:24Z")
Yahoo works for me, never had it down. A really good one is [email.com](http://email.com), which will forward for free, so you don’t have to be web based to use it. This is important to me, since I am a temp worker without a home computer and want to have my mail follow me from job to job. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/15 "2000-12-11T14:15:35Z")
This is odd. Often I have the IE shutdown while replying to email problem that Lost describes. At work I have Outlook Express, and use my Hotmail account from there to send email, thus circumventing the problem However, I usually read emails on the web as son as MSN Messenger notifies me. When I reply on the web, bingo shutdowno. Not today, though. Today, I write an email in Outlook Express, but when I came to send it, it refused to know me, saying my password was wrong There can’t be anything wrong with my password, as I’m fine in MSN Messenger. I logged off and on to check. So, I write my email from the web, and everything was fine. I even got a reply (from Alphagene, no less). The only thing worse than a flaw is an inconsistent flaw. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/16 "2000-12-11T14:50:36Z")
I was having the same problem accessing Hotmail using IE, but I switched to Netscape and was able to use it just fine. Cool, I thought, Microsoft has finally sabotaged itself. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/17 "2000-12-11T21:09:19Z")
Thank you, one and all. I’m going to look into Yahoo, definitely. AFTER I retrieve my 74 unread messages from Hotmail. I’m really getting twitchy here, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/18 "2000-12-12T00:19:11Z")
Well, I have two @hotmail.com addresses. One of them (the main one I use and the one that’s in my profile here) I still can’t get into. The other one that I have I _can_ get into (finally), but I wasn’t able to for a few days. Thirty-freakin’-two pages of new messages. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/19 "2000-12-13T02:12:03Z")
But in all the replys, not one said AOHell… I have the cheap BYOA and it is very dependable and I get all the AOHell bennies too. I LOVE it. Fast, dependable, get it anywhere form any server, off most anybodys computer that will allow me to log on, local access #'s all over the country, ::::: sigh ::: it is so Wonderful… ::::::: flee :::::::: ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948/20 "2000-12-13T04:03:10Z")
Ok. The email gods are conspiring against me. Hotmail has been down more often than not the past few days. (Not fun when you’re sending out resumes…) I got a Yahoo account, because everyone has been saying how wonderful it is. YahooMail, for some reason, crashes my browser. To top it off, AltaVista free access is gone, and I had to scramble to find another alternative, and am stuck with [Bluelight.com](http://Bluelight.com). Should be called [Cheapassedbluelightspecial.com](http://Cheapassedbluelightspecial.com) because it sucks. Oh well. Heh, and the outgoing mail server at work is so slow I might as well go hand deliver messages to people… ::Rasa twitches from a lack of email:: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotmails-down-or-why-i-havent-answered-your-letter/44948.md?page=2)