Outlook.com EAS Issue

[jf2go]

I joined OutlookForums hoping that someone may be able to help me with this issue. For some reason, my perfectly working Outlook 2013 Exchange ActiveSync connection to my hotmail account stopped working last week. Outlook shows "Connected", then "Waiting for Server Response", then disconnects. No emails, calendars, contacts get downloaded/synced whatsoever. I can successfully send from the account though. There are no errors in the Sync Issues folder. I have removed and re-added the account, created a new profile with only the Outlook.com account, changed the EAS server from blu406-m.hotmail.com to m.hotmail.com (as well as a few others), disabled Anti-Virus, etc. A different computer (my laptop) is running Outlook 2010, and it is not syncing either. I get Sync errors on that PC (0x80004005 and 0x8004102A). I can login to the Web Outlook.com, and everything is fine. I can setup the account as IMAP or POP, and that works fine. It is just EAS that is not working.

I went to the AnswerDesk and let them remotely login to my PC (cringe!!!!), and they went through pretty much the same troubleshoot steps that I did, with no success. They then recommended that I contact the Office support team. I created a case with that team, and they remotely logged into my PC and did the same troubleshooting as the AnswerDesk. They couldn't fix it and escalated the case to Level 2 who created a new case. The Level 2 tech called and said that the issue is with the Outlook.com severs, and that I needed to work with the AnswerDesk, as they had direct access to the EAS/Mail servers. I went *back* to the AnswerDesk, and they said that there was nothing that they could do, and I needed to contact Microsoft Pro Support. I called that number, and it seemed to go back to the same Office team. The new tech (I should have gotten her name), remotely logged into my PC and went through essentially the same troubleshooting steps for EAS, then created an IMAP account and said "there you are, it's working now. Is there anything else that I can do for you today". I told her in the beginning of the session that I had created an IMAP account as a temporary workaround for mail, and I knew that IMAP and POP worked. I told her that I need to get EAS working. She seemed to not pay attention to that, and indicate that this was all she could do, then quickly and abruptly ended the call.

I don't know if anyone else is having (or has had) the same issue and was able to get this resolved. I do think that it is possibly a setting or something on the Outlook.com side, but I don't know who to call or email to get help. For now, I can get my email using IMAP, but unfortunately can't do any calendar or contact sync.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I'm guessing it's related to the updates last week. Are you using two step authentication?

Try removing the stored credential for this account from Control Panel > User > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials

 

[jf2go]

Thank you for the reply Diane!

I have not (intentionally)setup two-step verification in my Microsoft account. I have noticed recently that when I sign in to my account, there is an extra step where it texts a code to my cell phone, that I need to input before I can get into my account for maintenance. Is that what you are referring to? My account does still offer "Set up two-step verification", and doesn't show that it is turned on.

Regarding the stored credential, I see two things relating to my Hotmail account. They are both under "Generic Credentials", there is nothing but names of the PCs/Servers that I login to under "Windows Credentials".

> One entry just has my Hotmail email address and Modified: 8/15/2014

> The other entry has WindowsLive (token):name=<My-Hotmail-Email-Address> and Modified: 8/15/2014

Should I remove one or both of these?

Thanks

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Yes, that extra code is two step - and if using it, you need to use an app password in outlook, not your real password.
http://www.outlook-tips.net/tips/tip-1090-twofactor-authentication-outlook/

It's probably the Hotmail email address - i think windows live is for logging into sites that use live. Try just the Hotmail one and if it fails, delete the live one too.

 

[jf2go]

Still no luck. I don't have two-step verification turned on, because I don't have the entry for App Passwords listed in my account. From your link, once I complete the setup for two-step, App Passwords appears. So as not to further complicate things, I won't complete the setup for two-step right now.

I deleted the Generic Credentials for my hotmail account, but Outlook is still not syncing with EAS. I also created a new Generic Credential for my hotmail account, but that didn't help either. I modeled the entry from another hotmail account that *is* working in Outlook 2013 with EAS. I had forgotten to mention earlier, one hotmail account is syncing fine, my other (primary) hotmail account is not.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Don't create credentials in the credential manager - outlook will create them when you try to log into the account.

I'd probably remove the account from outlook and add it back.

 

[jf2go]

Yep, I have done that a couple of times, and even created a brand new profile without only the Outlook.com EAS account. Unfortunately, it never syncs - just connects, sits there for 5 minutes "Waiting for Server Response", and disconnects.