Windows Live Mail 2012 not Blocking Hotmail Images

Anonymous
2013-03-22T17:45:35+00:00

Hi everyone, I've been running Windows 8 Enterprise with Windows Live Mail 2012 since the fall.  I have Windows Live Mail configured for 13 email accounts - most are IMAP accounts, a couple Yahoo! accounts, a GMail account, and a Hotmail account (@hotmail.com).  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.  Most of these are spam, so this is really bad because of the potential of web beacons letting the spammers know that the address is legit.  I can't figure out what's going on with this.  I had cleared all my Safe Senders to start from scratch just in case that was the issue, but it made no difference.

If I log into the Hotmail website (or Outlook.com), the option for "Block attachments, pictures, and links for anyone not in my safe senders list" is checked and the same messages that are showing images in Windows Live Mail are being correctly blocked on the websites.

So the problem has to be something on the Windows Live Mail client specific to Hotmail accounts (or at least mine), but I'm just not sure where to go next.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

-- Jim

Windows for home | Other | Email and communications

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

49 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T12:12:38+00:00

     I get too much blatant junk mail in my Inbox that Microsoft spam-filtering just can't seem to figure out ...

    You shouldn't be seeing 'blatant junk mail' in your inbox. If you are, your filter level is set too low. Safe list only will guarantee that you never get spam in your inbox.

    I use Yahoo! Mail as my primary account as well as GMail and probably about a dozen other email addresses and the Hotmail account is the only one with the spam problem.  Needing to set the account to "Safe list only" does not make for a good spam filter... that basically creates a simple white list that my grandmother could write a filter to handle.  I've had my Yahoo! Mail account since the beginning of time as well (my primary email account) and I bet I get one piece of junk mail that slips through every few months.

    Regardless, the junk mail is not the issue.  The issue is that if a mail client says it's going to block images, it should block images... period.  The ridiculous response from Microsoft does not even acknowledge that this is a bug - which it most definitely is.

    -- Jim

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T13:11:18+00:00

    ... Microsoft does not even acknowledge that this is a bug - which it most definitely is.

    Yes, I suppose it is. The bug is a pervasive one throughout this program, consisting in not always documenting the fact that functions and features sometimes work differently for DeltaSync accounts. If you're not happy with that, then don't use DeltaSync.

    Here's a screenshot of a message received on my Hotmail account with *Block images...*selected:

     

    If you're content with only downloading messages from your Yahoo account inbox, perhaps you'll be just as content with the same arrangement for your Hotmail account.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T13:29:40+00:00

    ... Microsoft does not even acknowledge that this is a bug - which it most definitely is.

    Yes, I suppose it is. The bug is a pervasive one throughout this program, consisting in not always documenting the fact that functions and features sometimes work differently for DeltaSync accounts. If you're not happy with that, then don't use DeltaSync. 

    Hold the phone!  Are you telling me there's a way to just shut off DeltaSync?  How can I do that and what (if any) are the repercussions?

    Thanks,

    -- Jim

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T15:13:14+00:00

    Not exactly, but you can just set up the account to use POP3/SMTP like any other. Press Ctrl-Shift-T to start the Add your email accounts wizard, Select Manually configure server settings, then POP3 on the next page. The settings to use are:

    Incoming (POP3) Server

    • Server address: pop3.live.com
    • Port: 995
    • SSL: Yes

    Outgoing (SMTP) Server

    • Server address: smtp.live.com
    • Port: 587
    • Authentication: Yes
    • SSL: Yes

    Log-on username: Your email address

    You should not have Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizingselected for both accounts simultaneously*. If you sign in in Windows Live Mail with the same email address, you may find that the DeltaSync account synchronizes mail messages regardless of this setting (another instance of your 'bug'!).

    * Right-click on the account name in the folder pane and select Properties to see and change account settings. This one is on theGeneral tab.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2013-08-07T18:32:15+00:00

    Not exactly, but you can just set up the account to use POP3/SMTP like any other.

    So it sounds like my choices are deal with the images security issue or use the archaic POP3, huh?  Not the greatest of choices.  Well, at least I know where things stand.

    Thanks for your help.

    -- Jim

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments