[Mark]

I went to check my emails the other day and as i signed into msn messenger popped up and told me how many mails were there etcf as usuall i then clicked emails to go to email section but was asked for security and to MAKE SURE I WASNT AUTOMATED to match the picture.

Ok i thought no probs so i matched the picture and was then directed not to my emails but to the msn hotmail log in screen ...strange cos i was still logged in via messenger anyway i retried to log in and guess wot yes match the picture and thats wots been happening for days now with this one account STUCK IN A CONTINUALL LOOP.

My other email account from the same pc is fine i have also tried the problem account on other pcs and not via msn just through Internet Explorer and Firefox but still the same.

The only thing i can think of is i did send a few large images via the problem email but i have never had any prob like this before and after a dozen mails to hotmail they still havent sorted it.

Any tips/advice would be great cos right now theres still email arriving in this account but i cant redirect or read cos of match the bloody picture .

THANX IN ADVANCE.

[heather_leigh63]

I've been having the exact same problem. I have no idea why they suspect me of sending spam. They sent me an email a while ago saying I could now email songs, so I sent one to a friend a week or so ago. I've tried sending emails to every hotmail support address I can find and I have yet to get anything helpful back, they're always computer generated sh!t. It seems to be exactly every other time I send an email out, they block me from my account. I too have another hotmail account and I have both in my outlook express and my other one has no problems. I'm considering using another free email company and just getting rid of hotmail all together.

I'm interested to hear if anybody has ever actually fixed this problem.

[Mark]

Got this from them


I am sorry for the inconvenience this matter may have caused you. We've recently implemented this feature to help protect MSN Hotmail users from junk e-mail (spam). We will periodically verify that our MSN Hotmail users are account holders with no automated programs designed to send large amounts of mail.

To verify the identity of users, we will occasionally prompt you to type the randomly generated text that is displayed. This precaution helps prevent malicious users from using programs to automatically send junk e-mail through Hotmail.

You've mentioned that you are unable to access your account because of the said verification. I am glad to inform you that this issue should now be resolved and you should now be able to access your account. However, if you are still experiencing the same issue, you should clear your browser's temporary Internet files. To delete your temporary Internet files and browser history in Internet Explorer, please follow the steps below:

1. In Internet Explorer, from the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
2. On the "General" tab, under "Temporary Internet Files," click "Delete Files".
3. Click "Settings" and select "Every Visit to the Page".
To confirm that the files have been deleted, click "View Files." If they have not been deleted, select all files and delete them.
4. Under "History," click "Clear History".

We apologize for the inconvenience you've experienced by the implementation of this feature; however, it will help protect you and others by reducing spam sent to and from MSN Hotmail customers.


Wot it basically means is that if you use Hotmail a lot then you are spamming and will be asked to match the bloody picture every couple of minutes........i get the feeling if you pay and upgrade then the problem will go away........just like i am doing from Hotmail now

[queenohearts]

I tried everything that was suggested.. I cleared my cookies and temp internet files on and offline.... And yet everytime I click hotmail it goes right to the picture match....so i do it then login and it goes right back to the picture match...It's driving me nuts.... Is there any other help out there please!!!!!!!

[RydeTheLytening]

well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one with this problem...i'm ready to f'n smash something!!! It only happens with one account for me too. anyone have any ideas?

[heather_leigh63]

I've tried emailing all the hotmail staff and support I can find. I keep getting similar auto-responses back. An ex-hotmail tech support guy posted something online and he said that the hotmail staff never even look at the emails you send them. Or if they do they just put it in a category and send a pre-made response.
I got the exact same response Marc posted.

Good luck!

[egill]

sorry for long post, but it happened to me too. search brought up this nugget:

Microsoft to charge for Hotmail-Outlook link
IDG News Service 9/27/04
http://www.itworld.com/App/334/040927hotmailoutlook/

Microsoft Corp. on Monday will start charging for a Hotmail feature that allows users of the Web-based e-mail service to access their e-mail using the Outlook e-mail client.

Microsoft is making the move not to increase the number of paying Hotmail users but because the feature is being abused by senders of spam, said Brooke Richardson, lead product manager for MSN at Microsoft.

"Essentially what spammers do is create scripts so they can rapid-fire e-mail from Outlook or Outlook Express and pop off a hundred e-mails from each of those Hotmail accounts in rapid succession," Richardson said. "On certain days we have seen tens of thousands of Hotmail accounts set up and spamming in this matter."

To prevent abuse of the feature, Microsoft will stop making it available to new users of free Hotmail and MSN mail accounts starting Monday. Current users can continue to use the feature but will be asked to become Hotmail subscribers over the coming months. By April next year, the feature will no longer be available for free, Richardson said.
The Hotmail and MSN mail feature is known as WebDAV, after the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol that enables it. It is enabled on about 5 percent, or 9.4 million, of the 187 million active Hotmail accounts, according to Richardson.

While the decision to make the link with Outlook or Outlook Express a paid service won't be welcome news to some users, Microsoft had to take the step "for greater good" of the Hotmail and e-mail community, Richardson said. Furthermore, rival Web-based e-mail providers such as Yahoo Inc. already charge for similar functionality, she said.

Other actions that Microsoft has taken to prevent abuse of Hotmail by senders of spam include a limit on outgoing messages of 100 per day on free accounts and an extra validation requirement when signing up for an account, Richardson said. "We do a lot of stuff in terms of understanding the characteristics of spammers so we can watch for them and shut them down when we see them," she said.

Users who want to use WebDAV to link their Hotmail or MSN mail to an Outlook can subscribe to Hotmail Plus, which also offers 2G bytes of e-mail space and an account that doesn't expire, for US$19.95 per year, or to MSN Premium for $99.95 a year.

same problem here. clearing the history and temp files did nothing. SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!!

[RydeTheLytening]

i still havent found out the cause of this crap but i havent had the problem in a couple days now since i stopped sending messages through Outlook. If you just send from the hotmail.com website it seems to be OK.

Also just curious...is anyone else using ZoneAlarm for a firewall? Maybe that has something to do with it?

[verrowe]

I also had this problem and after much frustration trying everything i could think of i finally discovered that i could get into hotmail if i was logged out of my msn (not easy as for some reason it proved impossible to do so from my MSN)
I had to type in the address of msn home page then i could get into hotmail not always but most of the time but then i discovered that i could not send e-mails.
I then uninstalled the new msn toolbar suite and disabled automatic logon with messenger.
I set msn as my home page and made hotmail today a favourite. now when i open internet explorer and click on hotmail today i go straight into hotmail. The first time I tried to send a message I had to type the characters but then I was OK and so far I have had no further problems.
Hope this is of some help!

Hi everybody, I found a good way might be helpful to you guys, :
1-turn off zone alarm
2-go to hotmail (from explorer or messenger)
3-type the security code.
4-enjoy your hotmail e-mail, or you can use incredimail after thet to receive your mail as in the past.

Have a nice time.

[egill]

brilliant...it worked. i've successfully retrieved all of my info from hotmail and sent to a new address.
thank you oh so much for posting!!!

Hey guys I had the same problem, really really frustating, I am definately going to switch over from crappy hotmail.

Anyways use Netscape, close all firewalls, log out of messanger,log out of any other msn passport & try to put in the code if asked at least two times.

Worked for me. All the Best.

[inlets]

my "match the picture" problem started after i downloaded a song someone sent me. i found that it doesn't happen on my laptop, where i didn't download the song. it doesn't happen on my daughters computer, either. it appears that the trouble is in my computer and not in the hotmail itself.

[goanna]

so many people wrote so many different things to do, ellgin (sorry cant remember spelling) said something worked for you..what was it??!?!?
what the hell is a zone alarm?
what security code?
help me!! im stuck in the loop..i desperately need to access my account to get my list of contacts so i can open another account elsewhere and do some work!