Windows Live Mail 2012 not Blocking Hotmail Images

I was reacting to Jim's statement that ALL images just show up and are not blocked.  Most of these are spam. If spam is turning up in the inbox, then the security level should be raised. If it's turning up in the Junk email folder, then things are working as designed and the message will not be displayed unless it's consciously opened, and the problem of displaying images doesn't arise.

He also wrote that this[I get an email with images and they're blocked unless I click "Show images"] works for all my accounts in Live Mail except my Hotmail account. It wasn't until after I'd posted that he wrote that I have this problem with all my IMAP accounts. That's moved the goalposts quite some distance away. It makes troubleshooting so much easier if the symptoms are described accurately to begin with.

It's worth pointing out that this setting applies only to external content. Images that are embedded in the message and transmitted with it are not external and will not be affected by the block. This is the likely scenario with a message from my GF.

 Do you know how to do that?

When viewing the message list, press Ctrl-Shift-O for Options. On the Read tab, select Read all messages in plain text.

Firedog,

I think you are misunderstanding the issue.

From OP:

I have "Block images and other external content in HTML email" checked in the Safety Options on the Security tab.  It works exactly the way it should so I get an email with images and they're blocked unless I click "Show images" on the message or if they are already in my Safe Senders list.

However, this works for all my accounts in Live Mail except my Hotmail account.  For some reason ALL images just show up and are not blocked.

----------------- (emphasis mine)

This has nothing to do with the "Security Level".  The setting is "Block images and other external content in HTML email"  This should apply to ALL e-mail, whether its spam, Nigerian Princes, a message from my GF, MSN, or Amazon.  But, alas, HTML e-mails from everyone in my Inbox automatically show the images without prompting.  The headers, the footers, and (presumably) the "blank" gifs they use to track when you've opened the e-mail.  We don't want that. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Jim)

And it works as expected/intended for all other accounts setup in Live Mail (GMail) (ie. images don't show up at all until clicked on appropriate link).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this only happens on Outlook accounts configured to use DeltaSync over HTTP. The solution would then be to use POP3 instead.

If obvious spam is being delivered to the inbox, then the security level should be raised. The one I use is Safe list only, with Also trust email from my contacts selected. That way, I can train the junk filter by adding senders to the safe senders list as appropriate. Messages in the Junk email folder are not displayed at all as a safety measure, so their source can easily be examined before any damage is done.

¡Firedog, I have this problem with all my IMAP accounts.

-- Jim

EDIT: ¡Firedog,, I apologize - it's been so long since I posted this, I just gave the wrong info.  My IMAP accounts all work correctly - the problem is with my Hotmail account from Windows Live Mail.  That is the only account that lets images pass through without prompting whether they should be shown.  All other accounts (all IMAP) give the prompt on whether they should be shown.  Sorry for the confusion.

-- Jim