Question for the PC experts

[woodsieboy]

I have been locked out of my Hotmail e mail account for 48 hours,with Microsoft claimimg suspicious activity, when I try to reset it they ask me to enter the e mail account and password, then the last 4 numbers of my mobile to verufy it and they will send me a code, when I request code they say 'not working right now'
Is there a simple alternative to Microsoft please, that I can use with my existing e mail address

 

[Len W]

There are a lot of free email providers out there that you can use, but you won't be able to use them with your current hotmail address if you're unable to sign into hotmail. Make sure you're signing in via the main microsoft site, just in case you received a link from somewhere else as that may not be legit.
Microsoft say you can get help with signing in here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...-account-475c9b5c-8c25-49f1-9c2d-c64b7072e735
That should walk you through the process of recovering it, as it's only been 48 hours the account will still be live and you should be able to get back into it if you still have access to the phone number you had on the account.
Other providers that offer a good (in some cases better) service include gmail and protonmail. Yahoo is a bit rubbish these days. Best of luck, hope you get it sorted soon!

 

[Woodentop]

As I said elsewhere earlier this week, gmail is good provided your version of whatever mail software you are using can handle 0Auth authentication. It certainly works well with Thunderbird.
Protonmail is also good and VERY secure but it has some idiosyncrasies. One of the most annoying is that if you delete a mail account either accidentally or deliberately you cannot reinstate that address and password until a full year has passed.
Proton also charge for system usage.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Not sure if you've made any progress with your problem but as it seems that you are being locked out of your account with Microsoft, using any other program - Email Client or Web Browser - to get access isn't going to help.

How do you currently access your email?

 

[woodsieboy]

Many thanks for both replies, sadly it seems I have learnt a harsh lesson, and been held captive by Microsoft.

I have used my existing gmail account to try and reset the Hotmail e mail, and despite filling in the on line form for MS they tell me they need more information including any passwords associated with the account for the last 20 years.
The biggest issue I have is that I do not have access to the email addresses of my contacts, and also no access to the archived e mails, surely there must be a way to access them?
So now seriously considering replacing PC with Chromebook as windows 10 will not be supported after October anyway, and setting up alternative g mail addresses for different parts of my life, eg banking, caravan, car, family etc, hopefully this information will help somebody else on here before MS decide to interfere in their lives.
Also the sheer frustration of dealing with what is clearly AI and them telling me that 'this sytem is not working right now' when it is them that have blocked my account and are unable to give a specific reason, quoting 'suspected' unauthorised activity, nakes me realise how stupid I have been to rely on them, perhaps think myself lucky it didn't happen last week when I was in France
I am done with Microsoft