nope; turning off the two-step verification did not help.

So, 2-step *was* turned on then?

You might want to retype your username and password on the "Servers" tab in the account's properties, close out of settings and restart Opera. Make sure it's pop-mail.outlook.com, port 995, TLS checked, authentication=auto. And, make sure your username is your email address with the @... part.

Maybe sign out of mail.live.com and back into it before trying in Opera again. Maybe try turning off POP at outlook.com, logging out. Then, log back in and turn on POP again.

Searching google, 2-step is one of causes for your problem, so it's best to double-check.

Also, click the menu, goto "Settings" and make sure "work offline" isn't checked.

Also, just for good measure, try uninstalling your anti-virus, just to see if that helps. Obviously, you'd reinstall your anti-virus after the test.

Besides that, definitely look at the log to see what it says. If it's still an authentication error and everything else is correct on your system and settings, it might mean the username or password is indeed not correct in Opera. Maybe your password has a character that Opera doesn't like? Maybe change your live.com password, update it in Opera and then check.

Another thing you can try is to make a standalone installation of Opera Mail on someone else's computer, set it to connect to the outlook pop server in it and test. If things work fine there, then it's something on your computer. After done testing, you can just shift + delete the installation folder to delete the standalone installation and all its settings and copies of messages etc.

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

The frustrating part is that I was able to create accounts for my gmail address and a couple others.......it's jsut my Hotmail.com that is giving issues.....

Yes.

Would the first one allow that?

Yes, if you use the "Standalone installation" option in the installer like suggested.

I have tested, deactivating the email scanner of my anti-virus system. Nothing changed.

Ok.

it's jsut my Hotmail.com that is giving issues

I don't know if it matters, but I'm in the U.S.

But, check this. Do you have two-step verification set up for hotmail? Go to account.live.com and goto security and privacy. Then, goto "more security settings" and make sure two-step verification is off. Then try things again.

So, if I am understanding your directions correctly, you are suggesting I install a /2nd/ Opera Mail desktop app? Would the first one allow that?

I have tested, deactivating the email scanner of my anti-virus system. Nothing changed.

I have already ownloaded and installed the Opera Mail installer. That is what I have been working with all this time

Understood, but with those directions, you can installer another Opera Mail to test with without interfering with your normal Opera Mail. That way, you can rule out corruption of the mail folder.

and how do I check if POP3 is enabled at Outlook.com?

At outlook.com, click the gear at the top right of the page, goto "options" and then click on "Connect devices and apps with POP". There you can enable POP if it isn't enabled.

And would that affect my Hotmail.com inbox?

It should as going to outlook.com and hotmail.com both redirect to the live.com mail servers (just like mail.live.com does).

Instead of pop-mail.outlook.com for the pop server though, you can try pop3.live.com if you want. But, they might use the same mail server now.

I also tested Opera Mail with my @hotmail.com account with pop-mail.outlook.com (on port 995 with TLS checked) and it works fine and fetches messages from the inbox.

If it works fine there, there's something wrong with the profile (probably the "mail" folder) for your normal Opera Mail.

For your normal Opera mail, in the "mail" folder is a "pop3" folder. In it is a numbered uidl file for each account. See accounts.ini for what number the account is. Anyway, you can delete the file for the account to have Opera Mail refetch all messages in the Inbox. Something you can try if you want.

Or, better yet, use the exact same settings that worked in Thunderbird.

what am I doing wrong??

If I am setting up the POP3 style (/not/ IMAP), do I still need to go into that 'Mail' folder?

No.

Also, if you're using IMAP, close down Opera and edit incomingN.txt in the mail folder where N is the number for the account as seen in accounts.ini. In there, set Force Single Connection to 1. That might fix it.