Further on Outlook has stopped sending messages

[Douglas O. Walker]

I am now at three days without being able to send an e-mail for the reasons
outlined below. I have tried reinstalling Outlook, tried to contact the ISP
about the problem, tried to contact Microsoft, and tried to contact the
computer manufacturer, all without success, in fact, all without actually
speaking with a real human being. I have run virsus-scanning software in
the unlikely event it might be traced to malware. I even contacted a repair
shop, who will not touch a problem like without a big up-front fee and no
guarentee of result.

I have no idea what is causing this problem nor what to do about it. My
work is paralyzed. It is difficult to know what to do in a situation like
this. Clearly, if I do nothing, nothing will change. On the other hand, if
I do something it might not do any good and even more time (and money) will
be wasted, time and money better spent on a new computer.

Right now this computer cannot perform a key task I need done. Before I
throw it out the window and start anew with a new one I would appreciate any
advice people might have about how I might overcome this problem.

Best to all,


Doug Walker



"I am running XP and Outlook 2007.

Following an automatic installation of system software, it appears that
Outlook has stopped sending messages from the Outbox.

Upon checking the accounts under "Tools" I chose "repair" and the connection
was checked but yielded the following message: "An encrypted connection to
your mail server is not available".

This is not the first time this has happened. The first time this happened
I inserted the Outlook 2007 CD and selected "Repair" and it seemed to fix
the problem. Now, however, repairing from the CD does not work.

I also mention that since the system software Outlook takes an extraordinary
amount of time to start. A four to five minute wait for anything to appear
on the screen is not unusual. My whole computer seems to have slowed
markedly.

Any ideas as to what to do?


Thanks for any help."

 

[K. Orland]

System software as in Windows Updates?
Is there a send/receive error message and/or number? Have you set the
correct authentication to your SMTP server?
Have you checked your Application Event Viewer for any Microsoft Office
errors?

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

Thanks for the response.

I am of course guessing but believe this might be related to a Windows
update, simply because it appeared to occur after an update was implemented.

Here is the message I receive from Outlook:
Task 'cdjwalker - Sending' reported error (0x8004210B) : 'The operation
timed out waiting for a response from the sending (SMTP) server. If you
continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or
Internet service provider (ISP).'

I also mention that when trying to repair this problem at one point I
received this message: "An encrypted connection to your mail server is not
available".

I have contacted the ISP and all SMTP settings are correct. The ISP says
this is a Microsoft problem, not theirs, as they claim they have introduced
no changes to my service.

Don't know what an Application Event Viewer is.

Again, thanks for the input.


Best,


Doug

 

[K. Orland]

There could be several reasons for this issue. One could be scanning incoming
and outgoing email with AV. This is actually not required and won't
compromise security since your real time scanner will still be active.

Check the following suggestions.

#1 Are you using Norton Personal Firewall software? If so, did you also
disable/uninstall it to test the issue?

#2 Reinstall NIS. Go to the Symantec website to check and install all
available updates for the NIS. Test the issue again.

#3 Add Outlook 2007 as the allowed software in the NIS.

#4 Check Outlook for any Norton Add Ins. You may want to uncheck them.

#5 Check Norton antivirus to see if you have the Office plug-in disabled.
You may have to toggle this on. If it's on, toggle it off and then on (kind
of like stopping and starting a service) to see if that makes a difference.

Please post back and let me know how you make out. Good luck!

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

I do not have Norton but did have PC-cillian in the past. I think I turned
if off. More importantly, I recently acquired Microsoft Windows Live
OneCare. This is the software I used to check for viruses after the problem
occurred but for all I know somehow caused this problem.

I looked at this software and turned off the firewall protection. Then I
tried to send a message. The message I received is the same timed-out
message as below. But I do not doubt that this could be the source of
trouble.

There are no Norton Add-Ins on this computer.

Thanks for your continuing help.


Best,


Doug

 

[Brian Tillman]

I am now at three days without being able to send an e-mail for the
reasons outlined below. I have tried reinstalling Outlook, tried to
contact the ISP about the problem, tried to contact Microsoft, and
tried to contact the computer manufacturer, all without success, in
fact, all without actually speaking with a real human being. I have
run virsus-scanning software in the unlikely event it might be traced
to malware. I even contacted a repair shop, who will not touch a
problem like without a big up-front fee and no guarentee of result.

First, what does "tried to contact" mean? Surely you know how to get hold
of your ISP support people and clearly it's easy to call Microsoft, since
the support number is readily available. How can you fail to be able to
contact someone?

Second, if the problem started occurring after you installed a Windows
update, why don't you simply back the update out or, at the very least, use
System Restore to put your O/S back in the state it was before you installed
the update? You did make a restore point before installing the update,
correct?

Third, why are you allowing Windows Update to install anything without your
approval, so that you can research the updates before they install and
possibly create issues for you?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I looked at this software and turned off the firewall protection.
Then I tried to send a message. The message I received is the same
timed-out message as below. But I do not doubt that this could be
the source of trouble.

Can you telnet to the server and port you've configured for your SMTP?

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

I am not sure what telnet is but I do use a wireless connection between this
computer and the computer directly attached to the ISP.

I have not changed any of the settings of the e-mail accounts defined on
this computer. I can receive e-mail with no problems. Also, my daughter,
who is on the other computer, can communicate with me through Microsoft
Messenger with no problems. For this reason, it could be a connection
problem but I doubt it.

Also, I checked the programs listed under the OneCare Firewall advanced
settings. Two versions of Microsoft Outlook are listed 12.0.6023.5000 and
12.0.6212.1000 under "allow".

OneCare provides the following information. The connection is a linksys
Wireless.Network.Conn and the status of the device is "connected". I note
however that the button "Clear unconnected" just below this listing is
unshaded, perhaps highlighted, but have no idea of its significance. I note
also that the Restore Defaults" button is also unshaded, which I suppose
means it could be pressed and something would happen.

Again, thanks for any insight into this problem.


Best,


Doug

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

The update occurs when I shut down the computer and the Shut Down icon shows
a smaller icon indicating updates will be installed.

I am not an expert on this matters and would pretend to be able to
differentiate a good update from Microsoft from a bad one. I suspect I am
not alone in this regard.

I did use system restore to restore my computer and the e-mail send
capability did work for a while after I did that. But again the icon
appeared when shutting down and I did not know then (and I still don't know
now) this was the source of the problem. I clicked the "shut down" option
the way I always do. By the way, whenever this update icon appears I do not
know how to prevent these updates from being installed, assuming I had a
reason to question them. This kind of update procedure occurs frequently in
my case, I would not doubt once a week or better, in batches of three or
four updates, one running after the other. I am simply in no position to
question them but must rely on the fact that they appear automatically and
are -- at least I think they are -- the result of my request to the
computer's manufacturer to install updates.

When the computer was started the next day the send e-mail capability was
lost again. I tried to do another system restore but now there are no
previous dates for restoration listed. Before I had many. Now I have only
those from today. I have no idea why this has occurred.

I tried to contact the computer's manufacturer, the ISP, and Microsoft by
hanging on the phone for an hour waiting for a human response and in one
case listening to some sexy voice tell me how to solve my printer problems,
probably the problem of the week or the day. In another place, I waited to
the sound of music for half an hour or more. Remember: I cannot send an
e-mail. I chatted with some guy from a PC repair shop but was not
impressed. I was able to have a brief live chat with my ISP using IE but
this ended in them telling me it wasn't their problem and they were not
allowed to give out advice about Microsoft software.

I have used this board in the past to good effect.

I pray it may give me some ideas of what to do. Perhaps the problem will go
away if I upgrade to Vista. Perhaps not. If you think it will let me know.
At least it's doing something.


Thanks for the comment.


Best,


Doug

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

Not knowing what I am doing, I checked the Add/Remove programs capability on
the Control Panel and noted that yesterday two Security Updates for Windows
XP were installed on my computer (KB943485 and KB943485)

When I tried to delete them to see if that had any effect on my problem, I
was warned that this and that might not work, so I backed off.

Question: Could this be the root of my problem, and what would be the
impact of my removing them?


Best,


Doug

 

[Brian Tillman]

Not knowing what I am doing, I checked the Add/Remove programs
capability on the Control Panel and noted that yesterday two Security
Updates for Windows XP were installed on my computer (KB943485 and
KB943485)
When I tried to delete them to see if that had any effect on my
problem, I was warned that this and that might not work, so I backed
off.
Question: Could this be the root of my problem, and what would be the
impact of my removing them?

I don't think they're the root of the problem, but it wouldn't be a big deal
to back them out and try. You can always reapply them if you want. Note
their KB numbers so you can find them easily again in the Microsoft
Knowledgebase if Windows Update doesn't realize you've uninstalled them.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I am not sure what telnet is but I do use a wireless connection
between this computer and the computer directly attached to the ISP.

Do you have a wireless router at all? It's unusual to have one machine
interface wirelessly to a second PC and access the Internet through that
second PC.

Open a command prompt window and enter:

telnet servername port

where "servername" is the name of your SMTP server and "port" is the number
of the port you need to use. An example would be:

telnet smtp.sbcglobal.yahoo.com 465

If you don't get a connection response, then the problem is with your
networking and not Outlook.

 

[Brian Tillman]

The update occurs when I shut down the computer and the Shut Down
icon shows a smaller icon indicating updates will be installed.

I'd advise you to change your update settings so that Windows asks you
permission to download and install updates and doesn't do it silently.
Settings are on the Security applet in Control Panel.

If you're happy with Windows XP, stay with it until you get a new PC and it
has Vista (or the O/S du jour) installed by the vendor.

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

We are making real progress.

I entered "telnet smtp.east.cox.net 25", where the 25 was taken from a box
on the "Advanced" tab of the Internet E-mail Settings display.

I received the following message in return: "Could not open connection t
the host, on port 25: Connect failed"

Can you make any suggestions of how I can check out this aspect of the
problem?

By the way, I checked periodically the signal strength of the Wireless
Network Connect and it always indicated a good connection. Anyway, I have
been receiving e-mail, so I thought the connection would not be the source
of my problem. Evidently it is, or likely could be anyway.

My best,


Doug

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

We are making real progress.

I entered "telnet smtp.east.cox.net 25", where the 25 was taken from a box
on the "Advanced" tab of the Internet E-mail Settings display.

I received the following message in return: "Could not open connection t
the host, on port 25: Connect failed"

Can you make any suggestions of how I can check out this aspect of the
problem?

By the way, I checked periodically the signal strength of the Wireless
Network Connect and it always indicated a good connection. Anyway, I have
been receiving e-mail, so I thought the connection would not be the source
of my problem. Evidently it is, or likely could be anyway.

My best,


Doug

 

[John]

Doug, are you connected to Cox network by any chance?

 

[Douglas O. Walker]

Yes I am.

Thanks for the question.


Best,


Doug

 

[Rojo Habe]

Upon checking the accounts under "Tools" I chose "repair" and the
connection
was checked but yielded the following message: "An encrypted connection
to
your mail server is not available".

This has probably been covered when speaking to your ISP bur I've not seen
it mentioned in this thread yet so here goes:

In the main window, click Account Settings on the Tools menu.
On the Email tab your email account should be listed in the box.
Double-click it.
At the bottom there's a checkbox labelled "Require logon using Secure
Password Authentication (SPA)". If it's checked, uncheck it and then click
the "Test Account Settings..." button. If it works, job done. Click the
Next button to complete the wizard. If it doesn't work, make sure you leave
it as you found it and click the Cancel button.

Like I say, this is a long shot, since you already mentioned you've not
changed anything. You never know, though: something could have happened to
corrupt this setting...

 

[Stealthdog]

I am now at three days without being able to send an e-mail for the reasons
outlined below. I have tried reinstalling Outlook, tried to contact the ISP
about the problem, tried to contact Microsoft, and tried to contact the
computer manufacturer, all without success, in fact, all without actually
speaking with a real human being. I have run virsus-scanning software in
the unlikely event it might be traced to malware. I even contacted a repair
shop, who will not touch a problem like without a big up-front fee and no
guarentee of result.

I have no idea what is causing this problem nor what to do about it. My
work is paralyzed. It is difficult to know what to do in a situation like
this. Clearly, if I do nothing, nothing will change. On the other hand, if
I do something it might not do any good and even more time (and money) will
be wasted, time and money better spent on a new computer.

Right now this computer cannot perform a key task I need done. Before I
throw it out the window and start anew with a new one I would appreciate any
advice people might have about how I might overcome this problem.

Best to all,

Doug Walker

"I am running XP and Outlook 2007.

Following an automatic installation of system software, it appears that
Outlook has stopped sending messages from the Outbox.

Upon checking the accounts under "Tools" I chose "repair" and the connection
was checked but yielded the following message: "An encrypted connection to
your mail server is not available".

This is not the first time this has happened. The first time this happened
I inserted the Outlook 2007 CD and selected "Repair" and it seemed to fix
the problem. Now, however, repairing from the CD does not work.

I also mention that since the system software Outlook takes an extraordinary
amount of time to start. A four to five minute wait for anything to appear
on the screen is not unusual. My whole computer seems to have slowed
markedly.

Any ideas as to what to do?

Thanks for any help."

It has EVERYTHING to do with the recent Microsoft update!!!!!!
installed the damn thing today and after system reboot my Outlook
2007 lost both the ability to connect to an Exchange server and send/
receive on POP accounts. This is outrageous!!!!!!!!!!
I installed 3 updates today:Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack
1 (KB110806); Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 1 (KB929300);
and finally the 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 1 (SP1). Now
I may be wrong, but this SP1 is probably the one causing the problem.
Microsoft, learn to make patches that work and don't ruin
things!!!!!!!!