PC Doctor November 22, 2017

Have your computer questions answered here! Search the PC Doctor archive or submit a question of your own at info@athollibrary.org

Dear PC Doctor:

I use Outlook on my Dell PC for email (hotmail). Recently, I get several error messages when trying to send mail: “Couldn’t send the following message,” “This message can’t be sent because your device isn’t connected to the internet,” and, “Try again when you gain connectivity.” I know I am connected because I can reach other applications and websites. When I check my drafts folder, I have multiple copies of the messages – one for each time I tried to send it. This happens on our two Windows 10 laptops. We use the same hotmail account on the iPhone and Kindle Fire, but those both work. Can you help?

Signed,

Confused

Dear Confused:

Wow, that is confusing, and maddening, too. The internet is working on both your Windows 10 devices, just not for hotmail. And, your hotmail is working fine on your other devices. I am going to guess that you are either using an app or Safari to access the internet on your iPhone, and the Kindle browser (Silk) on your Kindle Fire. What browser are you using on the PCs? Is it Internet Explorer? Microsoft Edge? I know it sounds crazy, but, because IE 11 came out in 2013 and Microsoft no longer updates it, some programs don’t work well with it. Additionally, there have been some reports of Microsoft Edge ‘fighting’ a bit with hotmail. It doesn’t seem right, given that both are Microsoft products. However, it does seem to happen. Try accessing your hotmail via Google Chrome instead. Many people have had success with this work around.

I hope this helps!

Until next time,
Happy computing!

PC Doctor