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Question

I need help (but I need advice more than technical help).

by Jul 29, 2011 5:20PM PDT

I have been trying to recover my msn.com email account. Can't sign on. Can't reset password because I can't sign on to email.

I was advised by somebody at Windows Live (I think) that if I followed some of their links and answered some of their questions that I would be able able to talk to a "support agent" who would help me recover my old email account (with messages, folders, contacts, etc.) I have been jumping through their hoops for more than three days to no avail. I have the necessary PIN and have been able to navigate to the link that is supposed to take me to the support agent. When I take the link, I come out in some kind of hierarchical discrimination net (with no sign of a way to talk to a support agent) that seems to have different solutions to different problems. Unfortunately, those problems and solutions led me nowhere. I felt like Wiley Coyote who just chased the Roadrunner off a cliff ... running, running...running on air.

When I tried to question moderators at the Windows live Solution Center, (supposedly available 24/7), about those unsatisfying results, I got two replies with instructions and links to my trap door in the sky.

Having got the second direction to the same seemingly useless result, I tried to reply to the second Moderator and ask her where to find the support agent and what to do when I reached the discrimination net.

When I tried to reply to her direction, I got this:

Login failed for user 'PHX\BAYWLSCWEBXA17$'.

(and a quarter page of stack traces that mean nothing to me).

So now I can't reply to her or look at my previous threads or even logon to the Windows Live Solution Center.

Earlier, Mod #2 had suggested my account might have been compromised (because she told me to click that button (account compromised) on my way to the support agent) but she gave no information other than that.

Does anybody recognize my situation as being symptomatic of MSN's handling of a compromised account or any other hotmail sign 0n problem?

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
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Answer
Partly resolved
by Jul 29, 2011 6:21PM PDT

Login failed for user 'PHX\BAYWLSCWEBXA17$'.

OK, this problem cleared up and I posted my questtions about support agents and mods to Janet b.

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Answer
Can I be honest?
by Forum moderator Jul 30, 2011 8:47AM PDT

When MSFT bought Hotmail they didn't take long to start ripping out the servers and making a fine mess.

Get your stuff and data off that thing?
Bob

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Couple of questions:
by dubina666 Jul 30, 2011 6:27PM PDT

"Get your stuff and data off that thing?"

What do you mean? I'm trying to get back to my email and other stuff related to my old address and password. Should I be thinking of putting my stuff and data on SkyDrive (because Hotmail is more hackable than SkyDrive?) Seems to me the first order of business to (a) get back to my email and other stuff and (b) find out what happened.

Next question: Despite evidence to the contrary, I assume Windows Live Solution Center has moderators / support agents to deal with problems like this. It's been 5 days since I requested help (from Windows Live Solution Center) and a couple of days since I told "Janet B" that her link to a moderator didn't seem to engage a moderator. Is this response or paucity of response normal for them or what? How do you read it?

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How I read that.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 1, 2011 8:42AM PDT

They are inundated with calls for support and since it's a free product there is little to no revenue so you can't expect support. I know folk do but the moderators have a saying "We only lose what we don't backup."

If you use some web based email or such and don't have a copy, then you are subject to the whims of the site, it's owners and in the case of Egypt, your country.
Bob

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Another question
by dubina666 Aug 1, 2011 12:48PM PDT

I understand what you said except for the part about my country being Egypt. Why on Earth do you think so?
I live in Alaska.

Seriously, Bob, why do think my country is Egypt? Do you see something that I can't see?

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My reference to Egypt is that the events there
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 1, 2011 1:21PM PDT

Showed us that governments (and back hoes!) mean we should keep a copy of what we can't lose.

As to keyloggers those are rarely needed. If you look at FIRESHEEP (see google) that was a wake call for those that use open or free wifi.

My comments are about getting your information safe and in your possession. If folk use web based email with no backup, they made a choice.
Bob

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More questions about hacks:
by dubina666 Aug 1, 2011 12:57PM PDT

Bob, if my information has been hacked, my password protection was "strong" or "very strong" (can't remember which). How do hackers hack very strong passwords? If very strong passwords are significantly more difficult to hack than weak passwords, why do hackers bother? Should I be worried about a keystroke logger? I am "protected" by a reputable security program. Are keystroke loggers able to avoid detection?

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