So when I click on a contact link on a website, IE pulls up an email form and lets me fill out my message. Then it asks me questions, and when it gets to the email address, gives me the following message:
Windows Mail no longer supports the HTTP servers used by Hotmail and other web-based e-mail providers.
For a variety of reasons I intend to continue to use Internet Explorer, so I don’t want to turn this into a debate over what web browser to use. Instead, I’m wondering if there is any way around IE’s refusal to accept to use my hotmail account.
I’m confused. What application do you normally use to handle email? It sounds to me like this is unrelated to IE8 because when you click on an email link IE8 is just launching your email app. It’s your email app, windows mail apparently from what you’ve said, that appears to be bitching.
Is this something that happens only when you click an email link in a browser or all the time when you try to send email with windows mail?
Kraaze is on to it. The default mail handler for your OS (Vista? 7?) is the one called Windows Mail and you obviously haven’t done anything with it (it is unconfigured) since you are only accessing your mail through a browser. I don’t think there is a workaround for this; you aren’t going to be able to click an email link and have it open your browser and go to your webmail site. Not even if you have the browser/mail open will it do this I think.
Edit: and there’s almost definitely not a way to get it to work with IE. Um, if you have Outlook installed, you can set up your Hotmail account in that.
I thought Hotmail stopped supporting being able to be setup in a “real” offline mail program like Outlook Express/Windows Mail years ago? Even for the paid Hotmail users.
In order to use webmail with mailto links, you need some little app that will register with your system as the default mail handler and then when invoked will just open a browser window with your webmail in it. Gmail has a little app like that for XP/Vista/Win7. Not sure if other webmail solutions have something similar.
That should work - IE dropped Hotmail as a built in mail provider around the time IE7 and Vista were released, and there is no offially supported workaround.
As for clients - You can use Windows Live Mail (basically an update version of Outlook Express) to download Hotmail using the DeltaSynch protocol. Hotmail also supports download via Pop3 into basically any email client made in the last 7 years (but Pop3 sucks, don’t use it). Neither of these options require you pay.
