Password recovery or doom?!?
May 22, 2010 12:23 PM Subscribe
PasswordBuffooneryFilter: I've had a Hotmail account for eons, don't use it a ton, get a couple things sent there on an ongoing basis. Had the password stored via Firefox and it has disappeared from the remember-password feature. It's been long enough that I don't remember the password-recovery info (favorite pet, etc.) and I didn't register an alternate e-mail (that they would use to send me the means to access the account). Based on the Microsoft info I've slogged through and Internet searches, it seems I'm sunk. Or am I?? Much gratitude for any help folks can provide.
Did you only use the web interface or a different email client, too? Recovery of passwords from those is often easier.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:18 PM on May 22, 2010
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:18 PM on May 22, 2010
Best answer: ambient2: “Had the password stored via Firefox and it has disappeared from the remember-password feature.”
What do you mean when you say this? Do you mean that it no longer automatically puts in your password when you go to the login site? If so, that's fairly common; sometimes when a site changes their layout or formatting Firefox has trouble figuring out where to stick that password.
You can look at all your saved passwords in Firefox by selecting the Tools menu and clicking Preferences. When the Firefox Preferences dialog comes up, select the Security tab. A Saved Passwords window will appear with a list of all the sites for which you've saved a password in Firefox, even ones that don't seem to work anymore; if you click the Show Passwords button, it will show you your passwords to those sites.
I'm worried that maybe you mean that you've checked there, and it's gone – but there aren't many ways for it to just disappear. It also might be that you're using a different installation of or profile for Mozilla Firefox. Either way, it ought to be possible to get that password back from Firefox itself – they're careful to make sure that Firefox doesn't just delete this stuff.
Hope some of this helps. Good luck!
posted by koeselitz at 1:47 PM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
What do you mean when you say this? Do you mean that it no longer automatically puts in your password when you go to the login site? If so, that's fairly common; sometimes when a site changes their layout or formatting Firefox has trouble figuring out where to stick that password.
You can look at all your saved passwords in Firefox by selecting the Tools menu and clicking Preferences. When the Firefox Preferences dialog comes up, select the Security tab. A Saved Passwords window will appear with a list of all the sites for which you've saved a password in Firefox, even ones that don't seem to work anymore; if you click the Show Passwords button, it will show you your passwords to those sites.
I'm worried that maybe you mean that you've checked there, and it's gone – but there aren't many ways for it to just disappear. It also might be that you're using a different installation of or profile for Mozilla Firefox. Either way, it ought to be possible to get that password back from Firefox itself – they're careful to make sure that Firefox doesn't just delete this stuff.
Hope some of this helps. Good luck!
posted by koeselitz at 1:47 PM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
This exact situation happened to me about a year ago, except that the password I had always used inexplicably didn't work anymore. I signed up for Hotmail before they required a security question or alternate email address.
After much digging, I found this link: Account Password Recovery. If you click the Continue button at the bottom of the page, you'll see a screen that details the steps you'll have to take to recover your password. Basically, you'll need to send them an email address at which they can contact you, and they will ask you questions about the Hotmail account to verify that it is yours: who are some senders of email in your Inbox, what are the names of folders you have set up, who are some of the people in your address book, etc. Once you answer these questions, they will help you with the password.
Good luck!
posted by initapplette at 8:02 PM on May 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
After much digging, I found this link: Account Password Recovery. If you click the Continue button at the bottom of the page, you'll see a screen that details the steps you'll have to take to recover your password. Basically, you'll need to send them an email address at which they can contact you, and they will ask you questions about the Hotmail account to verify that it is yours: who are some senders of email in your Inbox, what are the names of folders you have set up, who are some of the people in your address book, etc. Once you answer these questions, they will help you with the password.
Good luck!
posted by initapplette at 8:02 PM on May 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you, Koeselitz. Complete success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by ambient2 at 2:42 AM on May 23, 2010
posted by ambient2 at 2:42 AM on May 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
if you are at the site and it is just asking for your password, click log in as a different ID, and then the lost password link. hope this helps.
i may be wrong, but in the past i think hotmail had a 30 day timeout on logins, and after that the email was gone. again, i may be wrong as they may have changed this.
posted by marienbad at 12:55 PM on May 22, 2010