Alerts on MSN Msgr not working all of a sudden?!?

[Mr_V]

Hi all,

MSN 6.1.0207, on Windows XP SP1, IE 6.

Today I noticed that pop-up alerts simply do not appear any more. Whenever I recieve an email to my hotmail account, there is no little window popping up to tell me "New email message received from...", nor does the title up in the Main Messenger window change to say "1 new messahe in inbox". Only if I sign out and sign in again, I just get a pop up then - saying "X new messages...". When I click on inbox and view them/delete them, the main window does not get updated as it used to before!!! I have to sign out and sign in again so that it would go back to saying "No new email messages"!

I changed NOTHING in the configuration. If I go Tools->Options->General, the "Display alerts when when e-mail is received" is STILL ticked on. Just for a laugh, I ticked it off, and back on, and nothing!

I removed this version, and installed an older 6.0 version, and same thing! I sent an email to myself, and where I usually got a pop-up alert saying "You have received a new message...", now I don't get anything. Removed that, downloaded and installed latest version again, nothing! Restarted countless times. Funnily enough, chat functions are fine - no problems whatsoever!

I get quite a lot emails during the day, so this was quite important to me. Has anyone got any suggestions or will I have to keep one IE window with Hotmail Inbox open and hit F5 every 5 minutes?

Thanks for any suggestions

[Mr_V]

This is really interesting. I've just installed MSN Messenger at home, and the same thing happens!

However, then I signed out and I signed in with a different hotmail address - for which, IT WORKS!!!

Assuming that all options are set in the same way (as they ARE!), where else could this setting be made? Obviously, two different hotmail accounts are behaving differently, and I must have inadvertantly changed the setting of my original hotmail address, but where? I still have "Display alerts when email is received" switched ON for both accounts! Could there be something in my Hotmail settings I should look at?

[Not Sure]

I have been having the same problem for a week now too. I have also removed MSN from my system and reinstalled it, and "receive alerts" has been selected constantly. I also use MSN for a number of hotmail accounts and none of them are receiving email alerts.

(I am using version 6.1 on both Windows ME and XP)

[Mr_V]

Since the FAQ and Help section on messenger.msn.com were not helpful at all, I sent Miscrosoft guys a bug report, and I got some feedback from them Today. Nothing overly encouraging, just saying that they confirmed the problem (hm?) and passed it on to tech support.

I'm glad I'm not alone at least, and I'd advise you to send them the same report from

http://messenger.msn.com/Help/ContactUs.aspx

with specifications
General question: "I need something fixed"
Topic area: "Hotmail & Messenger"
Specific concern: "Notifications"

as they might get a move on if they get a lot of bug reports for the same thing.

Last night I went mad going through my Hotmail account, trying to find SOME setting for it, as Messenger settings are obviously independent of the local machine/installation, right? Presumably, you can log in on any Messenger in the world and it will have your settings there, so the settings must be stored somewhere on MSN/Hotmail profile. No-thing!

Anyway, this is what they wrote back to me:
---
Hello,

Thank you for writing to MSN Messenger.

I believe you are having issues with the e-mail alerts of MSN Messenger.

We have confirmed the problem you described and passed the issue on to our technical support staff for investigation. While we wait for the product group to address your issue or concern, we cannot give you specific dates for when you will see changes.

Should you have any other inquiries, please feel free to write us back.

For additional online help, please go to: http://messenger.msn.com/Help

Sincerely,
Brian
MSN Messenger Support

[Not Sure]

Done.

I will post any useful responses here.

[geosdaisy]

It is good to know that my mom isn't the only one with this problem. She has had me working on this for over a week and I still haven't found the answer. I will be watching here for a solution as well as contacting msn about it. If they send me a solution before you guys get one, I will be sure to post it.

[geosdaisy]

I went to live chat tech support after I my last post and they gave me this link to try

http://messenger.msn.com/download/OS.aspx


I have my mother downloading it now. She said it is a problem because of the OS incompatibility. I know I have installed it previously for XP Pro. I am not an idiot. But we are trying her suggestion anyway. If it works I will let you know. If it doesn't...I will try tech support and let you all know what they say. The problem arised suddenly it wasn't something that happened after a new install. One day it worked and then the next day it wasn't working. So I am not sure this is the correct solution. But cross your fingers.

[geosdaisy]

Of course the reinstall did not work!
I contacted msn messenger support by email. So now I will just wait for a reply.

[Austin69er6]

I have the same prob with MSN Messenger not telling me that I have new e-mail, however I e-mailed Mircosoft and they told me that they are aware of the problem and will make changes. This is what they wrote back to me. Hello,

Thank you for writing to MSN Messenger.

I understand that you are having some issues with the email counter / email notification alert feature in your Messenger client. We have confirmed the problem you described and passed the issue on to our technical support staff for investigation. While we wait for the product group to address your issue or concern, we cannot give you specific dates for when you will see changes.

We apologize for the delay and for the inconvenience this issue may have caused you.

Sincerely,

Christian
MSN Messenger Support

[Mr_V]

Does anyone else have a feeling that we're just getting automated replies with different names in signatures?

It's good that they say they're on to it, but I wish I had some basic idea how long is all this going to take? It does not really seem to be a major bug. Majority of Hotmail accounts are working fine (so far I asked 9 friends to try it, 7 are fine). I was thinking of changing my email address, but I've had it since 1996, and I am one of the rare people never to change it in that many years...

Every morning I send a test email to myself... and still nothing.