Windows Live Mail and Calendars

We received the email from Microsoft telling us to run the update in order to keep using Windows Live Mail (2012). The update killed our email. We have two Dell laptops. One with W10 and one with W7. We have 4 email accounts added to the Windows Live Email program. 3 are @Live accounts and 1 is an @Hotmail account. The update killed our ability to update and to receive our email in the various accounts. They just stopped updating and receiving. Sending is questionable. It appears the updates and aps it asked us to use also screwed up the email accounts on our iPhones. They too do not seem to be receiving or updating. Not sure one has to do with the other, but it is a coincidence, as the timing and issue occurred after running the requested update on both of our laptops (W10 and W7). There is no doubt, the update MS insisted we install, killed our Windows Live Mail accounts on the two laptops. Did MS not TEST this first? And what do we all do now that our mail programs are screwed up? Is MS unaware of what they did? Any plans for a solution?

Hey, Rob. Did you by any chance have any custom folders under the account? I had two hotmail.com address accounts configured in WLM 2012 and after the botched patch - and after using a "Fix It" from Microsoft located here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2842520

• I was able to synch one account but the other threw up errors. That account had custom folders that I had created in it. I don't know. I was just curious if that might be part of our little problem... :/

Same problem W10, advice from the Outlook email to install the KB update.

Didn't read the system requirements, did you!

I just posted this elsewhere:

Users who install the patch on Windows 10 may find that the program crashes soon after start. This will only happen if the user is automatically signed in on program start, or attempts to sign in later. Some users have found<br> that they can prevent this crash by running the program in Windows 8 compatibility mode: <br><br><br><br><ol><br><ol><br> <br><li><span>Install the patch when no programs are running. The program may open and crash - if it doesn't, close it down and wait a few minutes.<br><br></span> </li><li><span>Reboot the computer. <br><br></span> </li><li><span>Open File Explorer (Windows key  + E) and navigate to <br><br></span><span style="font-weight:bold">C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Mail</span><span>*<br><br>and open the folder.<br><br></span> </li><li><span>Right-click on </span><span style="font-weight:bold">wlmail.exe</span><span> and select<br></span><span style="font-style:italic">Properties</span><span>. On the </span><span style="font-style:italic">Compatibility</span><span> tab, select<br></span><span style="font-style:italic">Run this program in compatibility mode for</span><span> > Windows 8. <br><br></span></li><li><span>Click </span><span style="font-style:italic">Apply</span><span> and </span><br><span style="font-style:italic">OK</span><span>, then launch Windows Live Mail and test.<br></span></li></ol><br></ol><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>* Assuming you have a 64-bit system. If yours is a 32-bit system, leave out ' (x86)' from the file path.

TBH the system requirements were not made obvious at all. There was no mention of this in the email, and unless you expand the  system requirements on the KB download page, you'd be none the wiser - not everyone out there would know to check - this is where MS has utterly failed yet again. At the very least, the update should have refused to install on Windows 10 if it would break things on there. Even then, the update appears to break the Calendar, which many people use and sync regularly.

Exactly! Here are some direct quotes from the email:

"In a few weeks, we will be making some changes to our email services that might impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live, or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from being delivered to the Windows Live Mail 2012 application you use."

"In order to continue using Windows Live Mail 2012 to send and receive email for your account, you need to install the latest update published here."

"If you use Windows Live Mail 2012 on Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, we recommend that you switch to the built in Mail app in Windows..."

"Windows Live Essentials 2009 and 2011 are not supported anymore, and you will need to update to Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 10 and use the Mail app, or use www.outlook.com."

"We also recommend all Windows Live Mail users on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10 and use the built in Mail application to stay connected and get the latest feature updates."

Now... After ALL OF THAT, yep, you are taken directly to a download page (from the link that says "here", in the second quote above) which, yep, has system requirements if you click to expand it. But why would someone do that after receiving an email that tells you that WLM is all but dead? So I think that a snarky "Didn't read the system requirements, did you!" isn't really all that applicable here. It was a poorly executed deployment and I would like to know what really happened. Who would authorize something like this? Someone(s) is(are) either overworked and in serious need of a vacation or they need to be shown the door.

Didn't know where to put this but I am running Win 10 with windows Live Mail.  I did the patch and it made a mess of things. every time I restarted win live mail it would crash just as the calendar started to sync. I found if I ignored the message and moved it to the edge of the screen and I was able to send and receive mail but anytime the calendar was accessed the program would crash!  After spending nearly a day on this problem I found a workaround to get me back on line.

I finally went to programs and features. I uninstalled Win essentials, I then rebooted and downloaded a fresh copy of windows live mail 2012. I rebooted again and after the computer restarted I launched Windows Live mail. when everything finished syncing all was back to normal although I am not going to do another patch till this is fixed or I go to a different email provider and a 3rd party software.

Same problem W10, advice from the Outlook email to install the KB update.

Didn't read the system requirements, did you!

I just posted this elsewhere:

Users who install the patch on Windows 10 may find that the program crashes soon after start. This will only happen if the user is automatically signed in on program start, or attempts to sign in later. Some users have found<br> that they can prevent this crash by running the program in Windows 8 compatibility mode: <br><br><br><br><ol><br><ol><br> <br><li><span>Install the patch when no programs are running. The program may open and crash - if it doesn't, close it down and wait a few minutes.<br><br></span> </li><li><span>Reboot the computer. <br><br></span> </li><li><span>Open File Explorer (Windows key  + E) and navigate to <br><br></span><span style="font-weight:bold">C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Mail</span><span>*<br><br>and open the folder.<br><br></span> </li><li><span>Right-click on </span><span style="font-weight:bold">wlmail.exe</span><span> and select<br></span><span style="font-style:italic">Properties</span><span>. On the </span><span style="font-style:italic">Compatibility</span><span> tab, select<br></span><span style="font-style:italic">Run this program in compatibility mode for</span><span> > Windows 8. <br><br></span></li><li><span>Click </span><span style="font-style:italic">Apply</span><span> and </span><br><span style="font-style:italic">OK</span><span>, then launch Windows Live Mail and test.<br></span></li></ol><br></ol><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>* Assuming you have a 64-bit system. If yours is a 32-bit system, leave out ' (x86)' from the file path.

TBH the system requirements were not made obvious at all. There was no mention of this in the email, and unless you expand the  system requirements on the KB download page, you'd be none the wiser - not everyone out there would know to check - this is where MS has utterly failed yet again. At the very least, the update should have refused to install on Windows 10 if it would break things on there. Even then, the update appears to break the Calendar, which many people use and sync regularly.