Windows Live Mail - login problem/question

[DiamondEcho]

I've moved back to the UK, and brought my PC (old, but holds the core of my historic data and comms on it) and laptop (new, and with a subset of the most recent data, mostly from after out return to the UK).

Per a previous discussion, viewtopic.php?f=39&t=14696&p=183165#p183165 and I'm very grateful for the pointers I got there, I have managed to configure the PC to go online, and can visit websites there and so on. Absolutely brilliant, as it felt at the outer boundaries of what I can do, changing 'Port settings', and associated configuration.
On my laptop, 'everything is working', web, e-mail and so on; just I can't access e-mail archives from before the summer. The final step I need to complete is getting e-mail working on my PC, with access into my storage folders.

When on my PC I open e-mail, Windows Live Mail, via the desktop application, it presents a pop-up 'Sign in to Windows Live Mail', prefilled with my e-mail address and just requiring my password [prefilled as a row of dots]. But it won't login with that prefilled password, and when I enter what I believe to be my current password it fails; 'The user name or password is incorrect'.

Is it possible to get a password reminder without having to reset the password? I ask as e-mail IS working on my laptop (Lifeline#1), and as back-up if ever needed it is also working going onto my mobile phone (Lifeline#2). So I'm loath to start changing my password on my desktop and having to re-sych it in various places, when all I need is a reminder in order to get access on to my PC.

[Stonge]

can you log in on yoour desktop using the password that you use on your laptop?

[DiamondEcho]

can you log in on yoour desktop using the password that you use on your laptop?

Thanks for the reply, it's one of those jobs I have to do but at the same time it's one I'm not comfortable dealing with so it's the first thing on my job-list to get post-poned too

Outlook* on my laptop is set for auto-login, so I don't enter the password. Yesterday I was looking inside the programme to try and confirm the e-mail address/es that would be used if I were to do a password reset. Frustratingly it treats that as akin to an 'Admin' task requiring my password; and as mentioned I am very apprehensive of doing anything that results in my getting shut out of Outlook on this machine.
I do have a note of what I believe is my current password is but prior experience of this kind of challenge has been that more often that not [ie simply over 50%] to get out of this problem involves a password reset.
I believe my recovery channels are:
1) My wife's e-mail address [I've just sent her a message asking if she recalls being involved in comms during the previous reset process. She's much better at IT than me AND has a memory like an elephant so I expect she'll know].
2) IDR for sure but it's possible another reset channel is my UK mobile phone.
... I searched on this question and this seems to be MS's overview: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... r-password, [--------below---------]. It's frustrating, all I need is a p/w prompt, but instead I have to do a reset. That then requires to me to do a reset across various computers/mob, including the channel that currently works.
3) Another possibility is ... I used to have a GMail a/c that I used solely for a recovery channel for Outlook. As such it is very, very rarely used. Just in case I shall check whether I can still access that a/c.
------------------------
'Windows 10 PC
To reset your password:
1) On the sign-in screen, type your Microsoft account name if it's not displayed. If there are multiple accounts on the PC, choose the one to reset.
2) Select I forgot my password below the password text box.
3) On the Recover your account screen, type the characters displayed in the box below Enter the characters you see, then select Next.
4) On the Verify your identity screen, choose to receive your security code either as a text or email message. If you choose text, type the last four digits of your phone number, and then select Send code. Learn more about security info and security codes.
5) When you get the code as a text or email message on a separate device, enter it and then select Next.
6) On the Reset your password screen, create a new password, and then select Next. This sets your new password. Select Next again to return to the sign-in screen.
------------------------

Lastly I have tried to login on my PC with what I believe to be my current Outlook password and it wouldn't take it. BUT this PC returned with us from abroad and had to go off here for repairs. The long/short is internet works on it, but Outlook doesn't. This is either something deepish in the settings [ip #s, port settings etc] or it's simply the password. I suppose one of the first steps is checking that all the Outlook settings on the working laptop, are fully mirrored on my PC...

Placeholder for now/outline of current position for when I have to refer back to it!







* I'm still not used to calling it Windows Live Mail

[DiamondEcho]

If it happens I do need to get MS to process a password reset this appears to be how it's done:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... nt-recover

[Apologies for the further post just for a PS, the edit-lock has activated on my previous].

[stewamax]

“Storage folder” means something specific in Windows Live Mail (WLM), and they live on your PC, not remotely within MSFT.
When WLM starts up, it will try to Send/Receive any IMAP or POP email accounts and also email, contacts and calendars from Hotmail and outlook.com. However, WLM* support for Hotmail and outlook.com was dropped three years ago when MSFT moved all such accounts to a deliberately limited version of O365 Exchange Server. The new remote implementation was fine, but the new free desktop Mail client (MSFT's replacement for WLM) that was shipped with Windows 10 was functionally limited and bug-ridden. The new webmail client was not much better.

Any password it is asking for may be from a MSFT or non-MSFT account. If it is the former, I can’t for the reason just mentioned see WLM being able to connect to the MSFT server anyway.
But if it just your storage folders you need, they are independent of any server connection.

* and also the Outlook hotmail connector

[DiamondEcho]

I think I've resolved this now, touch wood.

I had access on my laptop where email is set to login automatically on start-up. On my PC I couldn't log-in [it usually would in the same way], and it wouldn't take any iterations of what I believed the p/w to be.
Long story short I did a password reset on the laptop, and tested that that worked (twice!). That was a sigh of e-mail as it felt like risking the only functioning e-mail access I have in order to get it on my PC. And then I used that login on my PC, where there were one or two minor glitches but then it worked, and there are all my e-mail folders too.

I suspect that I'd changed the p/w on my laptop in recent weeks, not on my PC which off being repaired, and so the PC was out of synch. The connection settings being changed and 'Activate Windows' warning on the monitor were further distractions.

I'd previously described e-mail on my laptop as a lifeline, it is and I was uncomfortable changing the p/w there, in case that somehow went wrong too. But I think it's worked ok.

Thanks very much to all those who helped me, cheers!