[Bug Fix] Windows Live Mail 2012 Shows “Please Enter Your PIN to Sign in” in Windows 10

A Few Words About the Problem:

First of all let me tell you that this problem is only related to the latest Windows 10 operating system and latest version 2012 (Wave 5) of Windows Live Mail which is a desktop email client program and a part of Windows Live Essentials package.

This problem will not occur if you use any previous version of Windows Live Mail such as2009 (Wave 3) or 2008 (Wave 2). It'll only occur if you use the latest Windows Live Mail 2012 version in Windows 10.

Also this problem will not occur in any previous Windows version such as Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. Windows Live Mail 2012 will work fine in previous Windows versions.

So this problem only occurs if you use Windows Live Mail 2012 (Wave 5) version in Windows 10 operating system.

Problem Symptom:

When you install Windows Live Mail 2012 in Windows 10 and try to add your Microsoft email account such as Outlook.com, Hotmail.com or any other Microsoft account (formerly known as Windows Live account) in Windows Live Mail, it doesn't accept the password of your email account.

Although the entered password is correct, Windows Live Mail will keep showing "Please enter your PIN to sign in" error message:

If you click on OK button, it'll again show the account login screen to enter the password.

And the same loop will continue forever.

I tried the same thing on all of my Windows 10 machines and same thing happened on all machines. I even tried it on a clean install of Windows 10 but the same issue occurred.

I also tried to create a new app password using my Hotmail account security settings and tried to enter the same as the password in Windows Live Mail program but it didn't accept it and kept asking for the PIN number.

As a workaround, I also tried to sign into my Hotmail account using Internet Explorer web browser and when the browser sent the 2-step verification code to my mobile phone, I tried to enter it as the password in Windows Live Mail sign-in screen but same issue occurred.

I also installed the recently released update KB3093594 to enable support for "Exchange ActiveSync" synchronization protocol in Windows Live Mail 2012 but it also didn't work.

In fact, I also tried to create a PIN to use as a password using Settings app -> Accounts -> Sign-in options page but that also didn't work.

So no matter what password or code you enter as the password of your email account in Windows Live Mail 2012 in Windows 10, it'll keep asking for the PIN number which you'll never know.

Problem Reason:

After some research and troubleshooting, I was able to figure out the main reason behind this problem.

It only happens if you have enabled the two-step verification feature in your Hotmail, Outlook or other Microsoft email account. It seems either Windows Live Mail 2012 or Windows 10 has some problem in the authentication mechanism to verify the app password or 2-step verification code.

I think its a problem in Windows Live Mail 2012 and it has not been programmed to send and accept the 2-step verification code of Hotmail, Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts. That's why it asks for the PIN but doesn't show any dialog box to enter the PIN. It just keeps showing the same email account login screen.

Problem Solution:

Currently the only working fix is to turn off the 2-step verification feature in your email account settings which I'll never prefer as it'll decrease your email account security. But if you really want to use Windows Live Mail 2012 program in Windows 10 to access your Hotmail or Outlook email accounts, you'll need to disable 2-step verification using following steps:

1. First of all go to following link and sign in using your Microsoft account credentials:

Microsoft Account Security and Privacy Settings

Now click on "More security settings" link.

Alternatively you can click on following link to directly open your Microsoft account security settings page:

Microsoft Account Security Settings Page

2. Now scroll down a little and click on "Turn off two-step verification" link given on the page and follow the instructions.

That's it. Once you turn off two-step verification feature in your email account settings, Windows Live Mail will stop asking for the PIN number and it'll accept your email account password without any problem.

I hope Microsoft will address this issue and will release an update for Windows Live Mail 2012 to fix this annoying problem.

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[Fix] KB3093594 Update Causing Email Sync Problems to Windows Live Mail 2012 Users

Recently Microsoft sent an email to all outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, msn.com and other Microsoft email account (previously known as Windows Live email account) users about the upcoming changes to the email service which will prevent them from syncing their Microsoft email accounts using Windows Live Mail 2012 program in coming weeks.

Windows Live Mail also known as WLM is a Desktop email client program which is a part of Microsoft's official and popular Windows Essentials (previously known as Windows Live Essentials) package which consists of Windows Live Mail, Messenger, Writer, OneDrive, Photo Gallery, Family Safety and other useful programs.

Windows Live Mail uses Microsoft's own DeltaSync protocol to synchronize emails for Outlook, Hotmail, Live, MSN and other Microsoft email accounts. It works similar to IMAP protocol but its faster and more accurate than IMAP.

Now Microsoft has decided to retire DeltaSync protocol and the company is planning to replace it with Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol which is also used by Microsoft Outlook program. When Microsoft will discontinue DeltaSync protocol, Windows Live Mail program will stop synchronizing emails for all Outlook and other Microsoft accounts. That's why Microsoft sent the email to all users informing about this upcoming change.

PROBLEM SYMPTOM:

Although that was a nice initiative by Microsoft to inform the users in advance about the change but it has started giving problems to many Windows Live Mail users.

Actually Microsoft has mentioned in the email that once the Windows Live Mail program stops working for Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts, all users will need to install a new update KB3093594 to fix the issue. This update will allow Windows Live Mail to again synchronize emails without any problem.

Actually this update adds support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol to Windows Live Mail program and also updates the existing Outlook, Hotmail, Live, MSN and other Microsoft email accounts settings in Windows Live Mail program so that the program can sync emails using new EAS protocol.

But instead of fixing the issue, this update is causing a big problem to Windows Live Mail users. As soon as a Windows Live Mail 2012 user installs this update, the program stops synchronizing emails for Outlook and other Microsoft accounts. The programs starts giving errors while syncing email accounts.

PROBLEM REASON:

The problem is occurring due to following reasons:

REASON 1:

First of all this update has been released only for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1operating systems. Its mentioned in the supported operating system list under "System Requirements" section of the update download page as shown in following screenshot:

But this important fact is nowhere mentioned in the email that Windows 10 users should not install this update. So if you install this update in Windows 10, it'll obviously break the Windows Live Mail program as the update was not intended for Windows 10. Microsoft should have mentioned it clearly in the email that Windows 10 users should stay away from this update. Also this update should warn users if they try to install it in Windows 10 OS. Currently this update doesn't show any warning or error messages while installing in Windows 10.

REASON 2:

Even though this update was released for Windows 7/8/8.1 operating system, it still causes the same problem to these operating system users. The reason is very simple! This update adds support for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol to Windows Live Mail program but Microsoft has not yet fully implemented the functionality at server side. That's why Windows Live Mail program can't sync emails for Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts as the functionality is currently broken at server side.

Actually Microsoft has been upgrading all Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts to a new service called Outlook Mail (Preview) since May 2015. Some email accounts have been upgraded to this new service but many Microsoft email accounts are still pending. Microsoft will keep upgrading all remaining email accounts to this new email service in coming weeks or months.

You can check whether your email account has been upgraded to the new Outlook Mail (Preview) service or not by logging into your Outlook email account using any web browser and if you see the new Outlook Mail (Preview) logo at the top-left corner of the webpage that means your account has been successfully upgraded. But if you see only Outlook logo that means your account has not been upgraded yet.

Now the problem is that the email accounts which have been upgraded to Outlook Mail (Preview) service already support EAS protocol sync so those accounts will be able to sync emails in Windows Live Mail 2012 with the KB3093594 patch installed. Other remaining Microsoft email account users who have not been upgraded to this new service yet, can't sync emails in Windows Live Mail 2012 with KB3093594 update installed as their email accounts don't have EAS support.

So if your Microsoft email account has been upgraded to new Outlook Mail (Preview) service, you'll need to install KB3093594 update in Windows Live Mail 2012 program to sync emails using EAS protocol because the new Outlook Mail (Preview) email accounts no longer support older DeltaSync protocol used by Windows Live Mail 2012 program.

And if your email account has not been upgraded to new Outlook Mail (Preview) service, DO NOT install KB3093594 update.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

First of all if you have not installed the KB3093594 update yet and your email account is working fine in Windows Live Mail 2012, DO NOT install the update at the moment. Stay away from this update. Microsoft has already updated and re-released the update twice. First the previous version of this update (released on December 11th) caused crashing problems in Windows Live Mail program when the user tried to update the Calendar. Then Microsoft released a new version of this update on December 17th which started this syncing problem. Microsoft has already acknowledged the issue and they are investigating it. Once the issue is resolved, they'll release another version of the update to fix the problem.

But if you have installed the update and are facing email syncing problem, you can try following solutions:

SOLUTION 1:

The best solution would be first uninstall and then reinstall Windows Live Mail program. Doing this will automatically remove the new update from your computer. Don't worry! When you uninstall the program, it'll not delete your email account settings and emails from your computer. It'll keep them safe in AppData folder. When you'll reinstall the program, it'll automatically detect the settings and existing email accounts and will start working as usual.

PS: If you are still worried about losing email account settings and email messages, you can take a backup of the email accounts and messages using built-in export option. Click on File -> Export email -> Email messages and Account options. Now you can export your desired accounts and emails. After reinstalling Windows Live Mail, you can import email accounts using File -> Options -> Email accounts -> Import option and import messages using File -> Import messages option.

To uninstall the program do as following:

1. Open Control Panel and click on "Programs and Features" icon.

2. You'll see Windows Essentials 2012 present in the installed programs list. Click on it and then click on "Uninstall/Change" button present in the toolbar.

3. It'll open the setup wizard which will ask you to remove or repair the program. Click on "Remove one or more Windows Essentials programs" option.

Now select Mail program from the list. Uncheck other programs if you want to keep them on your computer. Click on Uninstall button and it'll uninstall Windows Live Mail 2012 within a few minutes.

4. Now run Windows Essentials setup installer again (if you don't have, you can download it from here) and click on "Choose the programs you want to install" option.

Now select Mail program and click on Install button. It'll install Windows Live Mail again on your computer.

Launch the program and since the KB3093594 update was automatically removed when you uninstalled Windows Live Mail program, now your Outlook and other Microsoft email accounts will sync properly in Windows Live Mail 2012 program.

SOLUTION 2:

If you don't want to uninstall and reinstall the program, you can take help of IMAP protocol to sync your email accounts. You can remove existing Outlook or other Microsoft email account and then re-add the same account using following steps:

1. Click on Accounts tab present in the Ribbon and then click on Email button.

2. It'll launch add new email accounts wizard. Now provide required information such as your email account address, password, display name and then select "Manually configure server settings" option. Now click on Next button.

3. On next screen, select IMAP from "Server type" drop-down list and enter required incoming and outgoing server addresses and port numbers for your Outlook email account 

Following screenshot also shows the required information:

Don't forget to type your correct email address in "Logon user name" field.

4. Now click on Next button and it'll add your email account successfully.

Now your Outlook or other Microsoft email account will sync perfectly using IMAP protocol in Windows Live Mail 2012.

SOLUTION 3:

If you are not satisfied with Windows Live Mail program, you can try the built-in Mail app present in Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 to sync your email accounts.

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Windows 10 Mobile RTM Now Available for Windows Phone 8.1 Devices

Finally after taking so much time in development and testing, Microsoft has releasedWindows 10 Mobile operating system for selected Windows Phone 8.1 devices. For your knowledge let us tell you that Windows 10 RTM was already available for PCs since long time but Microsoft didn't release Windows 10 RTM i.e. final version for mobile phones.

Today i.e. March 17, 2016, Microsoft has started rolling out Windows 10 Mobile OS to a few selected devices having Windows Phone 8.1 OS.

Until now Windows 10 Mobile Preview builds were available for testing purposes only and users could download and install it in their Windows Phone devices by joining Windows Insiders program but now you can install the RTM version of Windows 10 Mobile in your Windows Phone 8.1 device if its eligible for the upgrade.

List of Supported Windows Phone 8.1 Devices:

Microsoft wanted a smooth upgrade experience for Windows Phone users, that's why Windows 10 Mobile is only available for a few selected devices at the moment. The devices which can be upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile are as following:

Lumia 1520, 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, 532, 535, 540, 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 430, 435, BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q, MCJ Madosma Q501

More devices can be added to the upgrade list in coming days.

How to Install Windows 10 Mobile Update in Windows Phone 8.1 Devices?

To upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, you'll need to download and install Upgrade Advisor (or Update Advisor) app from Windows Store on your phone. You can also download and install it from following direct download link:

Download Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor App for Windows Phone

Alternative Download Link

After installing Upgrade Advisor, run the app to see if the Windows 1o Mobile update is available. Once it shows the update is available, select "Enable Windows 10 Upgrade" option. Now you can open Phone Settings and then go to Phone Update section and check for new updates. It'll start downloading Windows 10 update files.

Things to Know and Remember Before Upgrading to Windows 10 Mobile:

Before upgrading to Windows 10 Mobile, you need to make sure following things:

• You are running Windows Phone 8.1 GDR1 QFE8 or later version in your device
• You have at least 1.4 GB free space on your phone to download Windows 10 Mobile OS files
• You'll need Wi-Fi connectivity to download the upgrade files
• After upgrading to Windows 10 Mobile, following features might be missing: Notifications on contact tiles, Me Tile, Me Card, Hey Cortana, Indoor maps
• Cortana is currently only available in the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain
• Speech-to-text is currently only available in the United States (English), United Kingdom (English), China (Simplified Chinese), France (French), Italy (Italian), Spain (Spanish), Germany (German), Canada (English), Australia (English), India (English) and Japan (Japanese)
• Music and video streaming through Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music) or Movies & TV apps is not available in all regions
• Xbox app and some games and features only available in Xbox Live supported countries and regions
• Skype is available only in select countries and regions

Windows 10 Mobile upgrade is free, if your Windows Phone 8.1 is eligible for the upgrade, you should definitely install Windows 10 Mobile in your device.

Btw if you upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile and later you decide to rollback to previous Windows Phone 8.1

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Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14342 Available for Download

UPDATED on May 16, 2016: Release of Windows 10 Insider Preview build 14342 for mobiles.

NOTE: These are testing builds of Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview officially released by Microsoft. These builds are under development and testing phase and may contain bugs, issues and other problems. They may also make your phone not bootable in some rare situations. So install and use these builds at your own risk. If something goes wrong, you can try to repair your phone by restoring default firmware using Windows Phone Recovery Tool.

If you are using Windows 10 Insider Preview (previously known as Technical Preview) for mobile phones, here is a good news for you. Microsoft has released a new build 14342 of Windows 10 Insider Preview for mobile phones. This build comes with fixes for many issues which we'll discuss later in this topic.

What's New in This Build?

Following are the new features and changes in this build:

• Support for 3 new devices: Lumia Icon, BLU Win HD LTE x150e and BLU Win JR x130e
• Wi-Fi Sense feature removed due to low usage and low demand
• You can now swipe from anywhere on a web page to go back to the previous page in Microsoft Edge
• New page in Settings -> System -> Apps for websites which is currently not functional
• Improvements to Feedback Hub

What's Fixed in This Build?

Following are a few things which have been fixed in this build:

• Fixed an issue causing installation of mobile builds to fail with Error 80070002.
• Language and Speech Packs should download without any errors.
• Fixed the issue causing DRM-protected content from services like Groove Music, Microsoft Movies & TV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or Hulu to fail on playback with 0x8004C029 or 0x8004C503 errors.
• Fixed the issue where some users with some non-English keyboards were not able to enter letters such as w, y, and a when typing into the address bar of the Edge browser.
• Fixed the issue causing your phone to lock up and reboot when it receives a notification from an app that has "Keep notifications private on the lock screen" turned on under Settings -> System -> Notifications & actions.
• Increased font size and improved spacing of the data migration page after receiving an update.
• Polished icons used to identify pages in the Settings app. In particular, updated battery icon to be more consistent with the weight of the other icons.
• Improved performance when retrieving updated GPS coordinates while driving.
• Goodbye message on shutdown will now remain visible until the last moment, to make it easier to determine when your device is off.
• Polished the look of media controls on the Lock screen. When you press one of the media control buttons, it appears "Pressed".
• Fixed an issue where some apps, including Tweetium, would crash on launch.
• Fixed an issue where Action Center's context menus would appear in the wrong orientation if the app underneath was in landscape mode.
• Fixed an issue where Lumia 435, 532, 535 and 540 would fail to record video, as well as an issue where advanced camera settings were not preserved when taking a photo with the Lumia 435, resulting in the photo being taken with default settings instead.
• Fixed an issue where the same device might be listed multiple times under Connect.
• Fixed an issue where quickly pressing the power button twice when Windows Hello is enabled could result in the display appearing stuck off.
• Fixed the issue where Groove Music might show an error saying "Can't play - Another app is controlling your sound right now".
• When delayed lock is setup, Windows Hello will now say "Swipe up to dismiss the lock screen", rather than looking for your iris.
• Fixed an issue where Glance wouldn't be displayed when hovering hand over proximity sensor.
• Fixed an issue where multiple UWPs might start crashing on launch after getting stuck on their splash screen.

Known Issues in This Build

Following are the known issues with their workarounds in this new build:

• After your device reboots from installing this update, if it gets stuck as the Windows logo - let it sit and be patient. It might appear frozen but its still working in the background. While you wait, it is recommended you plug your phone in and let it charge as well.
  
• There are some data issues with some Dual-SIM devices where cellular data doesn't work correctly with a second SIM. Several issues relating to cellular data with Dual-SIM devices have been reported by Insiders with the last two Mobile builds and Microsoft is investigating these reports.
• Feedback Hub is not localized and the UI will be in English (U.S.) only, even with language packs installed.
• Microsoft has reduced the number of instances where boxes are seen when entering emoji. You may still see them in some text fields.
• The Settings app may crash when you are re-arranging Quick Actions under Settings -> System -> Notification & actions. If it does, it could result in one of the Quick Action spots disappearing. If you see this happen, please refrain from changing your Quick Action settings on this build. If you have been impacted by this issue, only a hard reset will revert your Quick Action settings back to default.

List of Supported Mobile Phones

At the moment you can install Windows 10 Insider Preview build in following mobile phones only:

• Lumia 430, 435
• Lumia 532, 535, 540, 550
• Lumia 635 (1GB), 636 (1GB), 638 (1GB), 640, 640 XL, 650
• Lumia 730, 735
• Lumia 830
• Lumia 929 (ICON), 930, 950, 950 XL
• Lumia 1520
• Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL
• BLU Win HD W510U
• BLU Win HD LTE X150e
• BLU Win HD LTE X150Q
• BLU Win JR X130e
• MCJ Madosma Q501
• Xiaomi Mi4

Some mobile phones are still not supported in this build. But Microsoft is working hard to make Windows 10 Insider Preview build to support all the remaining Lumia and non-Lumia phones.

How to Update or Install This New Build?

If you are already using Windows 10 Insider Preview in your phone, you can update to this new build by following these simple steps:

• Open Settings app and go to Update & Recovery
• Now open Phone Update and then tap on Check for Updates option

Now it'll automatically check for new updates and will install the new build in your mobile phone.

Please note that this new build is only available on Fast ring. If you want to change from Fast ring to Slow ring or vice versa, open Windows Insider app in your phone, login with your Microsoft account and then change ring settings.

If you are not using Windows 10 Insider Preview in your phone but want to try the new build, you can install it in your phone.

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