Only paid Hotmail accounts work correctly with Microsoft Outlook Express. Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 can use the Outlook Connector to access a free Hotmail account.

This article is intended for a beginning to intermediate computer user.

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After you configure Microsoft Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook to access your Hotmail account, you receive the following error message when you try to download your Hotmail folders and when you try to send and receive e-mail messages:If you click Details, the following error details appear:If you are running Outlook Express on a Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)-based computer, you receive the following error message:

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To resolve this issue, use Method 1 for Outlook Express. Use Method 2 for Outlook 2003 and for Outlook 2007.

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Method 1: Use Windows Live Mail instead of Outlook Express

Windows Live Mail is an e-mail program that you install on your computer. Windows Live Mail stores messages on your computer. This means that you can access, read, and compose e-mail messages even when you are not connected to the Internet. After you connect, Windows Live Mail will send and receive messages and update your accounts. Windows Live Mail works with popular Web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail, AOL mail, Google mail, and Yahoo! mail. Windows Live Mail is built to automatically configure many popular e-mail services. To install Windows Live Mail, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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Method 2: Use Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 together with the Outlook Connector

For more information about how to use a Windows Live Hotmail account in Outlook, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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