Windows 7: Mail Question

I`m sorry old chap I don`t know how to check those facts. This whole box of tricks is still a mystery to me. I presume the presence of the title Windows Live Messenger in the All Programmes" column on the left side of the screen indicates the active presence of the Messenger programme, but when I click on it nothing seems to happen.
Is it lazy ( taking a long time to show) poorly (Sick with a snag) or defective/defunct(missing).
Your further advice on this would be much appreciated

Yes, that's were all the Start Menu shortcuts would be for all your programs. I'm currently using the 2009 version of the Windows Live Essentials package and all the programs that could have been installed with it would appear there under a yellow folder icon labled "Windows Live". If you're having problems with any of the Windows Live programs, just go to the Windows Control Panel "Programs and Features" and highlight "Windows Live Essentials", select uninstall/change, and in the next window choose "Repair". All the programs from the suite that were actually installed will be repaired.

Open your Start Menu, click All Programs, right-click on Windows Live Messenger, and click on Open. Then, in a few seconds you should see a little Windows Live Messenger box in your Desktop Taskbar -- or an icon in your Notification Area (to the right of your Taskbar). Double-click on either one to open the Messenger screen. If your ID and Password are not already filled in, then do so, and then check the little box that says Remember my ID and Password. When done, click on Sign In.

Once you do all that, Messenger will load, and in a moment at the lower-right corner of your screen, you'll see a pop-up box that tells you how many message you have in your mailbox. After that, every time you get a new message you'll have a new pop-up that will tell you so --- and also tell you who the message is from.

Can the Saint help once again. Every time i open the email programme ( Hotmail ) I get a window requesting me to sign in. Experience has shown if I click `cancel` the window disappears and the email function works ok. If I do try to obey and sign in, the user name is correctly entered on the top line but every attempt to enter the password is refused. I cannot remember the password so I go to the `refresh password` offer and whatever I do is refused. If I click on Support they offer me the opportunity to refresh my password with an email which they insist on sending to a different email address. The Frau has a computer so I quote this email address of hers and up comes their offered reset address. About three lines of alphemeric characters. On her machine....., which isnt a lot of use when my machine and email address is the one I can`t sign in to. I can go on ignoring this exercise in non-logicality, but the window is starting to become annoying so any suggestion would be helpful

The free Microsoft-provided email program is called Windows Live Mail, which is capable of accessing email from any service provider. Microsoft calls their email service "Hotmail", which can be accessed with a browser or an email program like WLM. If you are using the WLM program you can set the "Connection" option to "never sign-in" if you don't want to use the extra features offered on Microsoft's servers (Contacts saved at contacts.live.com website, Photo Email). Your sign-in name and password is what Microsoft calls your "Live ID" which is usually the same as the email address and password you are using for the Hotmail email service. The contact list you see when you use WLM will either be your "signed-in list" or your "not signed-in list" so you should probably either make the Connection choice to "Never sign in" or fill in the correct Live ID information and let WLM remember it so you will always be signed in automatically.

So if you have an email address and password combination that is accepted when you sign in at the live.com website, it can also serve as your sign-in combination for WLM. If you don't have one, just create a new one at the website and once it's set up, you can use it to "sign-in" to WLM. But keep in mind you will be using a new (blank) "signed-in" contact list and will have to import your current list into it via WLM Contact's export/import feature.

Thank you Roncerr. I cant honestly say I follow but thank you anyway.

NOTE TO IMPERFECT ! the problem you offered a clue to is virtually the same problem. I still come up with a window which requires my ID and password. As you can see from my bleat and Saints answer I still cant get past this window. As it seems to make no difference to the actual operation of the email system I shall just cancel the window and press on ad infinitum. I just dont understand why Microsoft has invented all these variations on a theme. Paganini he ain`t.

Yes, Windows Live Mail (Hotmail) can be very, very frustrating. On the theory that you have some corruption in your WLM app, you could try uninstalling it and reinstalling it. Some people have had luck with that.

PS Loved your Paganini reference --- gave me a big smile for the day! But, the other side of that coin is that I've had very good luck with Microsoft providing multiple ways to do many tasks -- because very often one way will work when the others don't -- sort of a "many ways to skin a cat" philosophy. . .

Thanks for your comment and suggestion Imperfect 1. The only words in the computer world that strike more terror into my heart than "User ID" and "Password", are Install and Uninstall ! Ah if only I knew all that stuff. If you would care to write out the precise way to do that I might well give it a go. I have not had this super computer ( i.e. expensive ). long and Im still finding out what the little lights and signs are all about on the keyboard. Does anyone else only use an expensive gadget like this purely as a communicator, or am the only idiot in town.
LA & Wisconsin I see,...are there really bridges left in Madison County?

You said "...the user name is correctly entered on the top line but every attempt to enter the password is refused..."
It looks like you want to fix the sign-in problem so that the password is accepted. To do that you need to have a username and password combination that will be a valid LiveID for the Microsoft site www.live.com . Forget about WLM until you go to that website via your browser and create an email and password combination that work together on that website. Once you can sign in to that website, you will be able to use the same email/password combination to sign-in to WLM.

The reason for my lengthy description in the initial post was to let you know that you have the option to sign in or not sign in to Windows Live Mail, to explain why you may want to sign in, and the reason why it's important to do the same thing consistently.