Windows Live Hotmail Technical Support Blog

How to Perform a clean removal of Windows Live Mail
The "clean removal” procedure completely removes Windows Live Mail from the computer.  Unlike the usual re-installation, this process requires deleting certain entries from your registry.  These methods may fix some installation issues and other problems.  Please follow the instructions below. 

A. Backup up your messages using the Export options.
Please refer to the steps in the following link:
How to backup Messages and contacts in Windows Live Mail

B. Removing Windows Live Mail
Please refer to the steps in the following link:
How to remove Windows Live Mail

C. Deleting registry keys
To delete the registry keys that are associated with Windows Live Mail, please follow the steps below.  Before you edit the registry, please make sure to back it up.  It is highly recommended that you know how to restore the registry just in case a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, please read the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986 .

Important Note: As long as the following instructions are done accurately, this should not adversely affect your computer and installed programs. 

For Windows XP

1. Click "Start,” click "Run,” type "regedit," and then press ENTER to open a Registry Editor window.

2. Click "HKEY_CURRENT_USER,” click "SOFTWARE,” and then click "MICROSOFT.”  Click "Windows Live Mail” and then press “Delete” to remove the registry key.

3. Click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,” click "SOFTWARE,” and click "MICROSOFT.”  Click "Windows Live Mail” and then press “Delete” to delete the registry key.

4. Exit Registry Editor and then restart the computer.

For Windows Vista
1. Open Registry Editor (Click "Start,” on the Start Search box,” type "regedit," and then press ENTER to open a Registry Editor window)

2. Click "HKEY_CURRENT_USER,” click "SOFTWARE,” and then click "MICROSOFT.”  Click "Windows Live Mail” and then press “Delete” to remove the registry key.

3. Click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,” click "SOFTWARE,” and click "MICROSOFT.”  Click "Windows Live Mail” and then press “Delete” to delete the registry key.

4. Exit Registry Editor and then restart the computer.

For Windows XP
The following are two sets of instructions on how to remove the latest and older versions of Windows Live Mail.  Since you cannot check which version you are using, please try to follow the one that is applicable.

For old Windows Live Mail versions:

1. Close all the Windows-based programs that are running.

2. Click "Start," click "Run," type the command “CONTROL APPWIZ.CPL” and then click "OK".

3. Under "Currently installed programs," select "Windows Live Mail," and then click "Remove."

4. When you are prompted to confirm the file deletion, click "Yes."

Note: If you see "Windows Live Beta (all programs)" under "Currently installed programs," please refer to these steps instead:

3. Under "Currently installed programs," select "Windows Live Beta (all programs)," and then click "Change/Remove."

4. Select "Install or Uninstall" then click "Continue."

5. Clear the checkbox next to "Mail Beta" to uninstall then click "Continue."

6. Click "Close" once done. 

For the latest WLM version:

1. Close all the Windows-based programs that are running.

2. Click "Start," click "Run," type the command “CONTROL APPWIZ.CPL” and then click "OK".

3. Under "Currently installed programs," select "Windows Live Essentials," and then click "Remove."

4. Select “Uninstall” when you are prompted to confirm the file deletion then click "Continue."

5. Under "Currently installed programs," select "Mail," and then click "Continue." This action will uninstall Windows Live Mail from your computer.

For Windows Vista

For old WLM versions

1. Click “Start,” type “programs and features” in the Start Search box, and then press “ENTER” on your keyboard.

2. In the list of programs, click “Windows Live Mail,” and then click “Uninstall.”

3. If you are prompted to confirm that you want to remove the program, click “Yes.”

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click “Allow.” 

For the latest WLM version

1. Click “Start,” type “programs and features” in the Start Search box, and then press “ENTER” on your keyboard.

2. In the list of programs, click “Windows Live Essentials,” and then click “Uninstall/Change.”

3. Select “Uninstall” when you are prompted to confirm the file deletion then click "Continue."

4. In the list of installed programs, select "Mail," and then click "Continue." This action will uninstall Windows Live Mail from your computer.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click “Allow.” 

Recommendation: (Prior to Backing Up information from Windows Live Mail)

- Create a new folder using Windows Explorer in the location of your choice (e.g. folder on the hard drive, external drive, or jump drive)

- Folder names can be full or abbreviations -- Mail, News, Contacts, Msgs (highly suggested to aid organization)

Note: Consider appending a date suffix to the Messages folder name (e.g. Msgs_040509)
To back up e-mail messages in Windows Live Mail using the export feature

1. Start Windows Live Mail.

2. On the "File" menu, click "Export," and then click "Messages."

3. Select "Microsoft Windows Live Mail" as the export format, and then click "Next."

4. Click "Browse," and then select the folder in which you want to store the exported messages. We recommend that you create a new folder for storing the backup files.

IMPORTANT: The export directory must be an empty directory.

5. Click "Next."

6. Select the message folders that you want to export, and then click "Next." You will receive a message that states that the messages were successfully exported.

7. Click "Finish."
Note: You can use the import feature of Windows Live Mail to restore the exported messages later.
To restore data in Live Mail by using the import feature

1. Start Windows Live Mail.

2. On the "File" menu, click "Import," and then click "Messages…"

3. Select Windows Live Mail as the import format, and then click "Next."

4. Click "Browse," select the folder to which you exported the messages, and then click "Next." You can choose to import all the folders or only specific folders.

5. Click "Next." You will receive a message that states that the messages were imported in Windows Live Mail format.

6. Click "Finish."

FiddlerCap is a tool we use to capture explicit communications between your computer and our servers - the requests your computer makes and the response our server provides. When you run into an error using Hotmail or Windows Live Hotmail, the most valuable information we can use to resolve the issue is captured in FiddlerCap. (Windows Live Mail has its own error logging tool).

This tool will allow us to view the unencrypted data that is sent between your computer and web servers while the tool is capturing information. This means FiddlerCap can’t record your password for Live Hotmail, but we would be able to see what emails are in your inbox if you viewed it with the tool running. The information gathered using the tool is only used for troubleshooting of an issue you report to us, and we do not use it for data mining or other activities.

1. To install FiddlerCap, click here and save the file to your desktop

2. Once the installer has finished downloading, double click on “FiddlerCapSetup.exe” on your desktop

3. Read the License Agreement and then click “I Agree”

4. Click “Install”

5. Once installed, click “Close”

6. FiddlerCap will now open automatically.

7. Click “1. Start Capture”

8. Close all browsers, all e-mail application that uses HTTP protocol (ex. Outlook Express etc.) including any other program that connects to the Internet. Launch Windows Live Mail. Reproduce the issue you are having (for instance, clicking on the “Synch” button generates a deltasynch error).
Note: only Windows Live Mail and Fiddlercap should be running while capturing a fiddler trace.
9. Once completed, go back to the FiddlerCap window and select “2. Stop Capture”

10. Click on “3. Save Capture”, which will open the save file menu.

11. Click the “Save” button to save the capture file to your desktop.

12. If you have an open ticket with Mail Customer Support, reply to the message you received from Mail Customer Support and attach the FiddlerCap SAZ file to your reply.

You can uninstall FiddlerCap by going to Control Panel and selecting Add/Remove Programs.

Windows Live Mail troubleshooting logs contains technical information that can help us identify and diagnose issues that concern Windows Live Mail.
To configure Windows Live Mail to create these logs, follow these steps:
1. Open Windows Live Mail
2.  Click on “Tools”

3.  Click on “Options”

4.  Select the “Advanced” tab

5.  Under Maintenance and Troubleshooting, click “Maintenance”

6.  In the new window that opened, click on “Store Folder” and copy the path that is shown (we will use this later in removing and retrieving the log file)


7.  Under Troubleshooting, check the "General," "Contacts," "E-mail," "Newsgroup," and "Calendar" boxes and click “Close”

8.  Click on “Apply” and then on “OK”

After this, we will need to remove the existing log file first before generating a new one. However, please make sure that you have chosen “Show Hidden files and folders” before we can retrieve it.  Here’s how to do this:
Windows XP:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/hiddenfiles.mspx

Windows Vista:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/27e9a81a-fac7-457f-896b-e0017a04a59f1033.mspx

To remove the existing log files:

a. Click on “Start” and then “Run” (or click in the “Start Search” box if using Windows Vista)
Windows XP

Windows Vista

b. Paste the path that you copied in STEP # 6 above and hit “Enter”
c. Once in the “Windows Live Mail” folder, locate the “WindowsLiveMail.log” file and delete it.

Synchronize your e-mail once again by clicking the “Sync” button. The updated logs have now been created and we just need to retrieve these logs. Please follow the steps below:

a. Click on “Start” and then “Run” (or click in the “Start Search” box if using Windows Vista)
b. Paste the path again that you copied in STEP # 6 above and hit “Enter”
c. Once in the “Windows Live Mail” folder, locate and copy the “WindowsLiveMail.log” file
Note: Please rename this file to Windowslivemail.txt then attach it to your reply if you have an open ticket with Windows Live Mail Customer Support. You may also send the file directly to our test account at WindowsLM@msn.com. If you choose to directly send it to our test account, please use SR____ID (found in the subject line of your e-mail to Windows Live Mail Customer Support) as the subject for easy tracking. Kindly notify Windows Live Mail Customer Support that you have sent it to the test account by replying to the open ticket.