How to troubleshoot hotmail problems including blank pages and login redirects

popowich · Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Hello,

Many Hotmail members are reporting problems with their accounts loading to a blank page or redirecting to a blank page since the recent Hotmail service upgrades. There are several troubleshooting steps that you can take to resolve this problem. Some solutions are based on fixing a problem reaching or logging into Hotmail.com, while others are aimed at fixing a spyware or virus problem on your local computer and are unrelated to the service upgrades. Please try all of the steps below, in order, until one of them works for you. As time passes the usefulness of the steps below will change. When one of the solutions below fixes a problem for you please reply and let us know which step helped you so we can keep the most helpful troubleshooting steps at the top of the list. Thank you.

Login to the secure Hotmail login page at https://login.live.com
Login from another computer to http://account.live.com

If you can not login from either other computer go here: How to recover a lost Hotmail password / How to regain control of a hacked account

If you can login from the second computer try the following steps on the first computer :

Clear your web browser cache.
Make sure cookies are enabled and clear your cookies.
Update your Adobe Flash player.
Update the software on your computer with FileHippo.
Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Programs, and within manage add-ons disable "DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>"
Force a page refresh. After logging in and landing on the blank page, hold down the control key on your keyboard and while holding it down press the F5 key on your keyboard.
Internet Explorer Users: Restore the default web browser security levels.
Download the latest version of Windows Live Essentials
If you use Internet Explorer try using Mozilla Firefox instead. Download and install the latest Firefox and then use Firefox to go to Hotmail.com
Check your Anti-Virus software and make sure it is up to date. If you do not have an anti-virus program I recommend installing Avast personal edition.
Update and run your anti-spyware program. If you do not have a program that checks your computer for spyware I recommend installing, updating, and running a full scan of your computer with Spybot S&D or Malwarebytes.
Reset your web browser privacy and security settings to the defaults.
If you use Internet Explorer, download and reinstall the latest version of Internet Explorer. After upgrading / reinstalling Internet Explorer, try going to Hotmail.com and see if you can login.
Instead of using your ISP's DNS servers use the OpenDNS servers.
Instead of using the webmail interface try reading your Hotmail with Windows Live Mail
Sometimes Hotmail is the problem, try waiting an hour and try to login again by going to Hotmail.com.
You probably tried already, but if not, try rebooting your computer.

If you are having a different Hotmail problem that is not related to logging in please create a new thread in our Hotmail Support Forum.

Lorena · Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been working on this for two days and your number one suggestion cleared up the problem instantly. I really appreciate your help (and so fast too)!

Lorena

islandlady91 · Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Thank you for your response. I have done most of what you suggested, but I would be interested in trying a different DNS. Since you gave fair warning, I will wait until the end of next week since I am in the middle of an online course and a lot of that program is not compatible with my Mac, so after I finish I can afford to take that risk.

popowich · Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Two commonly used public DNS resolver services are the open DNS and Google DNS resolvers.

Open DNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Extra software is not needed on your computer to use the IP's above.

-Raymond

islandlady91 · Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Thank you, I will give that a try and let you know how it works. I'm not using Hotmail as much as I was, but I still definitely use it a lot though.

lucky1111 · Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Option one opened my e mail. Honestly didn't know there was a secure log in. Thanks a million.

KHC · Sunday, March 25th, 2012

This is magic. I tried the secured site and it worked. Thank you so so much....

apla212 · Monday, March 26th, 2012

I downloaded the latest Windows Live Essentials and it cleared the problem for me and didn't have to use the secure login after that.
Windows Live Mail

christov01 · Sunday, August 19th, 2012

RE: Blank hotmail login page with IE8 and web browser error bottom left corner of program (little yellow shield).

problem: DivX web player conflict with IE8:

If you have the problem in IE8... click "Tools", "Internet Options", "Programs" tab, in "manage add-ons", disable "DivX Plus Web Player HTML5 <video>" close web browser and retry.

sheep · Friday, September 7th, 2012

excellent iv had this problem for days myself now, despite the post been 4 years old it still helped me, iv been searching for the solution to my blank page problem online for nearly a week now and after reading your thread i found some suggestions that id not tried and the first 1 i tried worked and you can imagine the smile on my face with such a rapid success.. thankyou very much

Nice how you wrote this post 4 years ago and it still helped me today

addison1992 · Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Thanks for help.I tried the secured site and it worked. Thank you so so much....