Dennis wrote:
> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>> - What DOES happen when you attempt to receive new mails (assuming
>> there are any or you have used the webmail client to verify there
>> are some).
>
> Nothing happens when i hit send/receive. Nothing. no error messages
> nothing. I can go to the email client and see the emails sitting
> there. when i compile an email and hit send, it goes to the outbox
> and out and i can confirm receipt on the other end.
Does "go to the email client and see the emails sitting there" mean you
used the webmail interface to your account and saw *new* e-mail items
there (where new means they have not yet been retrieved into Outlook
since only the e-mail client tracks what is new to itself)?
Have you used their webmail interface (SmartZone) to move all items out
of the Inbox folder into a temporary user-created folder, and then sent
a new e-mail to your account to see if it starts working again?
Sometimes a item becomes corrupt and the mail server pukes on it with
the result that your e-mail client can't download any items from your
account. If that doesn't work, call Comcast's tech support and ask
them to reset your account. They may ask for your password. Don't
give it to them. Instead tell them to reset your password along with
resetting your account. Afterward, have them give you the password
they used. Then login using the webmail interface and use their
password to go through the process of changing back to your original
password. They don't need your password to reset the account but it
just eliminates the step to change your password to make it easier for
them. After they reset your account, and after you logout of their
webmail client, send a test e-mail to your account and see if you can
retrieve it okay. If that works, use their webmail client to move the
items out of the temporary user-defined holding folder back into the
Inbox folder, logout of their webmail client, and see if you can
retrieve those items using Outlook.
>> - The COMPLETE error message when retrieving e-mail fails.
>
> None
If the mail server sends back a null list from the e-mail client
sending it a LIST command, the e-mail client is being told there are no
items in your mailbox up on the mail server. So your e-mail client
doesn't get an error because it never saw one. The problem might be up
on the mail server. If an item in your mailbox is corrupted, their
scripts to offer that item might error (that only they could see) with
the result that it aborts and generates no list of items to report to
the e-mail client. Moving items out of the Inbox and retesting or
having them reset your account and retesting is how you get around that
problem. However, if the cause was due to a corrupted item, putting in
back in the Inbox could reinstate the problem. So unless you actually
need all those new items to get into Outlook, read them using their
webmail client that are in the temp user-created holding folder and
then delete them. Don't move them back into the Inbox folder.
>> - What security software you installed that interrogates your web
>> traffic (anti-virus, anti-malware, HIPS, firewall, etc).
>
> Symantec Antivirus
Have you yet tried disabling its e-mail scanning feature?
Interrogation of e-mail traffic will always incur a delay, and delays
can cause timeouts. Usually a timeout in the e-mail client or server
will result in an error that will be seen in the e-mail client.
However, some AV products don't merely interrogate the e-mail traffic
on-the-fly as would a transparent proxy. Some actually pretend to be
the mail server or the e-mail client. When sending e-mail, they accept
the entire e-mail as though they were the mail server and send back a
good status to the e-mail client. However, when they are done
interrogating the e-mail, they then send it to the mail server while
pretending to be the e-mail client (well, they are the e-mail client at
that point). That transmission could fail but your e-mail client won't
know it. Similarly, they may accept all of an e-mail from the mail
server while pretending to be the e-mail client and only after they are
done interrogating that e-mail do they send it on to the e-mail client
that connected to them and is waiting for some traffic. If their
intermediary inspector (acting as client or server) screws up, those
that connect to it (e-mail client and mail server) won't know it
screwed up and each of them got a good status back from the
intermediary.
Disabling e-mail scanning in an AV product doesn't necessarily get rid
of its transparent proxy. E-mail traffic will still pass through their
proxy but it will no longer inspect the contents. To get rid of their
proxy (which might be what is screwing up), you have to uninstall their
program and then do a *custom* install where you choose NOT to include
their e-mail scanner component.
>> - What was the change on your computer after which Outlook no longer
>> could retrieve any new e-mails delivered to your mailbox up on the
>> server?
>
> I did not make any changes. one day it was working fine and the next
> day it was not and i didnt even turn the computer off.
When you install programs, do you leave enabled their auto-update
feature? If so, they will change the state of your host when they
choose to update.
How is Automatic Updates configured in your Windows installation? Do
you let it automatically download and install updates? If so then you
have chosen to let Microsoft change the state of your host whenever
they decide to do so. Change AU to only *notify* you of new updates,
then you can choose if and when to install them.
> Again the weird thing is that when i look at the email settings and do
> a test, it all checks out fine, but still no emails coming in. A
> friend suggested i copy all the settings into a new email account.
> what do you think?
Go into Send/Receive Settings to disable the account(s) you already
defined. Then create a new account and retest. I doubt it will help
but sh*t happens.
Similarly you could create a new mail profile, add your account under
it, start Outlook and select that mail profile, and see if a miracle
happens.
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