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Level 1

15 points

Hotmail constantly asking for password

Hi guys

This has been going on for about 3 months now.

My Hotmail (Live) account in Mail is constantly re-asking for the login password, although it has been typed dozens of times and "checked" to be remembered in the keychain.

I could not establish a pattern for this behavior since it happens pretty randomly. I mean it doesn't always happen when I start Mail.app, nor when I wake up the computer from sleep and reconnects to my wifi.

My other two different accounts are fine and never created any problems.

Is this a Keychain problem or a Hotmail problem ?

I also thought of changing the password but it's not that old and it has been created with 1Password, so it's a strong password. Could this be a sign of someone trying to hack into my Hotmail account ?

15" MBP Unibody 2.4G, 7200rpm/250G; 15" MBP Unibody 2.8G, 7200/500G; iTouch 2nd, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jul 20, 2010 9:04 AM

38 replies

revDAVE

Level 2

344 points

Sep 8, 2010 8:16 AM in response to jpasquale_

Sounds like your hotmail account account is timing out, as in too many attempts to login.

I'll bet that you are correct about this...

BTW: I tried NOT retyping the password when it asks - then later it's fine for a while - which sort of proves that it's NOT losing the password and probably a timeout error as you state.

I'll guess that many of us have auto check to every minute ... I'm going to try checking every 5 or 10 minutes instead and see if that makes the problem vanish .... let us know if anyone else tries this test also and the results...

Andy E

Level 1

9 points

Sep 23, 2010 12:17 PM in response to revDAVE

I also have this problem. Mail is currently configured with 7 POP3 mailboxes but it is only the Hotmail one which is causing the problem. It is definitely not an incorrect password, as most of the time it works. It manages to login automatically and retrieve e-mails. I can also send e-mails via the Hotmail SMTP server which also requires authorisation using my keychain.

The problem is intermittent - it sometimes works and other times it will prompt for the password. As the other six mailboxes work, I get the feeling that this is a Microsoft Hotmail issue and not a Mac Mail problem. If some one reading this thread uses a different e-mail client which has no problems with Hotmail could they let us know?

Thanks,

Andy

Sep 23, 2010 12:36 PM in response to Andy E

I am also having this problem! I have deleted the info in keychain and added the password again when prompted but it just hardly ever seems to work!

It used to work fine until recently????

revDAVE

Level 2

344 points

Sep 23, 2010 1:14 PM in response to Tim in Spain

still is a problem for me too...

J_J

Level 1

0 points

Sep 23, 2010 4:55 PM in response to revDAVE

I also want to add that I have had this same problem for the last year. I have 2 Hotmail accounts and a gMail account and I am forever having to re-enter the password for the Hotmail accounts.

What I have found is that in the properties of the account in Mail the password goes missing.

It is obviously an issue from the Hotmail side and I also suspect that it is a timeout issue. I have now set the Hotmail account to not check mail automatically. This is only a minor inconvenience to me compared to the pain in the ar$e it is to continually re-enter the password. If you try this work around please let me know if it also works for you.

Cheers
J_J

hartofak

Level 1

5 points

Sep 24, 2010 8:31 AM in response to revDAVE

I've been having this problem for awhile. I was hoping that this spring when I upgraded from a G5 mac to an Intel one, it would stop, but no. I tried changing the auto check from every 5 minutes to every 30 minutes, but it didn't help.

Sep 26, 2010 11:59 AM in response to hartofak

I have opted to use thunderbird until the problem is solved.

It is even possible to get a skin for it that makes it look like mail!

Please Apple/Microsoft sort this so I can go back to Mail OSX, Thunderbird does the job but i prefer mail!!!!!!

Sep 26, 2010 12:34 PM in response to revDAVE

I am also having this problem 😟

Oct 3, 2010 11:58 AM in response to clientsiman

My wife and I have both had this issue for several months (maybe even a year at this point). We both suspect a problem with Mail.app as we have never had this problem after a few months of using Thunderbird and the remaining time (probably 6-8 months) of using PostboxExpress.

AV41

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2010 4:58 PM in response to Zeniamin

I have this problem too, but it wasn't just hotmail. From time to time it popped up that it was my other mail accounts too. Hotmail was more common than anything else.

Now I recently did some upgrades on my computer, so I re-installed the OS and I had Time Machine put back everything as it was. When I opened Mail, it optimized everything on it's own...and so far no problems what so ever.

It has been working just fine. So I think you might have to restore the Mail application to an earlier time or try to reconfigure it. All I can say is, after I reinstalled everything, it is working just fine.

Hope that helps!

Rod1941

Level 1

4 points

Oct 18, 2010 3:01 PM in response to Zeniamin

I have a Network Solutions set up to receive and send on my MacBook Pro. The Mac receives mail on that account, but when I try to send, it says the server has rejected my password. I went to my iPhone and used the same account with the same smtp and same password and it sent just fine. Why is my computer lying to me about the server rejecting my password?

I can receive on that account with that password on my computer and I can send and receive on 2 other accounts on my computer. Only that 1 account is a problem. Therefore, it does not seem to be a connection or ISP issue.

Rod1941

Level 1

4 points

Oct 19, 2010 11:03 AM in response to Rod1941

I just called my email provider - Network Solutions - and they were very responsive. The woman guided me through various changes in my account setup in "Mail Preferences". This immediately fixed the problem. One element was unchecking "SSL". Also changing "smtp" to "mail". Also, a port change.

revDAVE

Level 2

344 points

Oct 19, 2010 11:50 AM in response to Rod1941

Hi Rod1941,

Good to hear - what is the new port change?

Rod1941

Level 1

4 points

Oct 19, 2010 12:39 PM in response to revDAVE

2525

revDAVE

Level 2

344 points

Oct 19, 2010 12:47 PM in response to Rod1941

Thanks -just to be clear there are independent settings for ssl and ports for both pop & smtp

so when you say uncheck SSL - is that in the advanced tab for pop or SMTP?

port change to 2525 is for pop or SMTP?

Thanks for the help

Hotmail constantly asking for password