No notification of new mail (not a simple so hid icons fix :( )

[Nino]

ive upgraded to outlook 2003 when i installed Office 2003
and ive been having a few problems:

1: the send and recieve is rather random i have mine set
for 2 minute when i mailed myself to check this it took
15minutes for outlook to pick it up

2: i have no notifications at all, nothing, no envelope
in the sys tray, no sound, no cursor blinking no desktop
item display.

all these options are enabled on the single and default
account (hotmail) im at a loose end as to what should be
causing this.

i have also checked the task bar for hiding new icons and
theres still nothing

Many thanks

Nino