[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 Outlookprogram. 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 usingFile -> 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 accoun.

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. You can also try other free desktop email clients.