Problems logging on to MSN (and Amazon) email account

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Hi there,

Yeah, I know, this thread isn't exactly exciting or interesting. But I am having problems logging on to the MSN email account. In fact, I'm also having problems logging on to Amazon and I have no idea why that is.

Let me give you some more information. Amazon tells me that "my connection was refused when attempting to contact Amazon.com". Whatever that means.

A month prior, all my accounts were fine. I could log on to any site without any problems. All my passwords and usernames are 100% correct. Even if I forgot the password and chose to find it, the same error is given "my connection was refused. . . .". . .".

With MSN, when trying to log on, it tells me that "my connection was refused when attempting to contract login.live.com. Now I have no idea why this is happening.

Can someone please explain what is happening, why I can't log on to these sites and what I can do to remedy the situation ? I would appreciate it a lot.

Thanks.

--Sincerely,

 

[MDS]

You may get 'connection refused' for any number of reasons:
1. The ip address you are using is not correct or the DNS service of your isp is down and is unable to convert a domain name like www.amazon.com to an ip address.
2. The port to which you are directing your request is incorrect.
3. The address is correct but the site is temporarily down.
4. Any router along the path from your isp to the site is down.
5. Everything above is correct but your username and password are incorrect or maybe expired.

You can try to ping the site: ping www.amazon.com (but not all servers respond to ping (ICMP) messages). If you get 100% packet loss, you have connectivity problems or that particular site is down.

You can use trace route: tracert www.amazon.com. If you see any *'s in the response, that particular router is misbehaving.

Test your general internet access by using 'ping quote.yahoo.com'. That site is nearly always up and does respond to pings. If you get 100% packet loss chances are the problem is on your side.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Pinging quote.yahoo.com yields a reply, reply and reply. So I think that is fine. It isn't giving me problems. However, when I use tracert www.Amazon.com, there are lots of *'s.

So then the problem is on my part. Is it perhaps a DNS server thing ? Must I change that perhaps ?

--Sincerely,

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

I am using Mozilla btw. If I use Internet Explorer, the page doesn't seem to load if I try to log on to MSN. The icon at the top keeps on moving but you don't see any progress.

I tried Firefox but it gives the same problem as Mozilla.

--Sincerely,

 

[MDS]

I've tried to ping amazon.com and the requests time out so it likely does not respond to icmp messages. If you can ping quote.yahoo.com and load other pages, then your connectivity is fine.

Is this web based email where you go to a web page and then enter your username and password? Can you access your email using an email client but not the web based version?

For example, I have road runner and I can use the web based email at webmail.austin.rr.com, but that is different from using say Outlook Express to access my mail. The email client will use regular SMTP and port 25 whereas the web based email is HTTP and port 80. I suspect that you just have the wrong address for using the web based email (or perhaps it doesn't expect port 80).

Do you have a firewall that would restrict outbound connections? That is another possibility.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

I have my firewall disabled, apparently. The email account is "hotmail" at MSN. I could log on as many times as I wanted but from last month, I can't log in. It tells me that my connection was refused.

Even if I check the "find lost password" (along similar lines) it still tells me that my connection was refused. So I'm a bit lost at the moment.

I have several email accounts. I can email people from those accounts. However, if I try to use a different email address to log on to Amazon, it tells me that my connection was refused (almost exactly the same as MSN hotmail).

Concerning firewalls, is it advised to disable it or to remove it altogether (if causing problems ?) ?

Thanks.

--Sincerely,

 

[MDS]

It is advisable to always use a firewall - both hardware (router) and software if possible and get it configured properly. Disabling the software firewall may help you to diagnose if that is the problem (which one is it- the built-in Windows firewall?)

You say you get a connection refused when you use 'a different email address'. Is it possible that the one you are using is not the one you orginally used to open the account?

The other email accounts that work - are they web based too or do you use an email client that already has the username and password stored so you don't have to enter it?

Unless you have a software firewall that is set to block certain outgoing connections or you have the site you are trying to access on a restricted site list in the browser, it sure sounds like you just don't have the correct login credentials.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

The username and password is 100% correct. As I said, even if the password was incorrect, I could always find lost password. But the thing is, if I click on "find lost password", it also tells me that my connection was refused.

For Amazon, I used hotmail to open the account. My cookies have since been deleted. So naturally I thought that I could start using a new email account to log in to Amazon. But nope.

Amazon tells me that my connection has been refused in the exact same manner as hotmail does. Perhaps both sites have similar coding or something.

The firewall I referred to was the windows firewall. The other email accounts (that work) I need to enter a username and password.

--Sincerely,

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Strange. I contacted my ISP company and the guy I dealt with said that the ISP is not to blame for what is happening. In his words, if "you are able to log on to the internet, then any other faults are not and cannot be assigned to the ISP.

I changed DNS server settings just for my curiosity. Nothing changed. I still can't log on to MSN hotmail. I don't know what else to do.

--Sincerely,

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Another thing. When I attempted to register a new account with MSN (since my cookies are deleted and I haven't logged on right now), it STILL tells me that my connection to accountservices. passport. . .". was refused.

Can someone please tell me what is going on here ? Does anyone have an account with hotmail ? If so, please confirm with me if the system they are using is working or not.

Thank you.

--Sincerely,

 

[markw]

don't know if this means anything but I just checked my hotmail account..

...and it worked fine.

 

[LaurenB]

Having THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MESSENGER!!!

Were you able to figure it out???

I'm having the same problem

 

[clyde]

MSN e-mail problem

On July 4, 2006, my MSN suddenly blanked out-when I tried to log in with my usual e-mail and password (was just logged in with it at the time), I was told either one or the other was incorrect.After 5-6 attempts to log in as usual, I was denied access-also tried the two options to reset the password to no avail-MSN has no tech support, only out sourcing(very expensive at $2.99-3.99/minute).Sent e-mail requests to various MSN(specified locations) as well as other Microsoft help daily since then with no response(even told response within 24 hours). My password and security question had been changed and MSN format(to7.5)without my prior approval/permission had been added. Even though I can not access my e-mail, e-mail is still being accepted by my locked out e-mail address.The closest, although unsatisfactory solution is, first find out what MSN format you have on you computer(click programs icon)- discovered the MSN 7.5 format was loaded without my permission-check to make sure your old MSN format is still there(fortunately, mine was). It was a simple task to remove the MSN 7.5 format by hitting it, then hitting uninstall, leaving the old format(if you don't have the old format, you need to request in when you sign up with MSN or you may keep the new format-I didn't like it) . Do not close out your current MSN account or it will be frozen for 30 days. The next step is to open a new MSN account-you can not use the old one as it is still registered, making it unavailable. The biggest pain is the value of the stored e-mail/incoming e-mail to the old account, unless you close it. MSN has decided the only e-mail carrier they will accept is hotmail.com ( i.e.- aol.com or yahhoo.com is not acceptable as yet)-good luck-hope this was of some benifit