smtp server unreachable

[Samuel Monnier]

Hello,

I can't reach my smtp server. The server itself is up, but Outlook express gives me a "can't find server" error and I even can't find it with a telnet command.

I uninstalled my antivirus and my firewall, but it didn't change anything. I also replaced my "hosts" file by a blank one. So I'm wondering if the problem isn't coming from Windows XP itself.

I also noticed something interesting by looking at the connexions on my firewall. The connexion to the smtp server appears, but no data is exchanged (sent : 0 byte, recieved, 0 byte).

Any hint about what could cause this ? Note that the smtp server is the one from my ISP.

Thanks in advance and best regards,

Samuel Monnier

 

[Phil \(a.k.a. purplehaz\)]

Are you sure the server is not down or having problems? If you called the
isp and they said no probs, don't believe them all the time. Most call
centers are not allowed to tell you a server is down, until it is "official"
as reported by a tech at the server, even if its down and they know its
down, they cannot tell you. I worked in one before, this is standard
practice.
Can you ping the smtp server?
Do you have a web mail interface and does that work?
When did this start happening?

 

[Guest]

Hello,

First, thanks for the reply !

Can you ping the smtp server? No, I get no reply at all.
Do you have a web mail interface and does that work?

The web interface works well, so I doubt their server has a problem.

When did this start happening? It happened four days ago.
Are you sure the server is not down or having problems?

They said it has no problem. Is there a way to verify this ?

Thanks and best regards,

Samuel

 

[Phil \(a.k.a. purplehaz\)]

Hello,

First, thanks for the reply !

No, I get no reply at all.

Well could be set to not respond to pings. Can you ping anything else? Is
this smtp the only internet problem you have?

The web interface works well, so I doubt their server has a problem.

The web interface could be on different servers, who knows.

It happened four days ago.

Well 4 days would be a long time for a server to be down, so its probably
not down.

They said it has no problem. Is there a way to verify this ?

Not really.

Thanks and best regards,

Try this: delete your email account from outlook express in tools, accounts.
Write down the info if needed before deleting. Then close oe and re-open it.
Then enter the account back in and give it a try.

 

[NobodyMan]

Hello,

First, thanks for the reply !

No, I get no reply at all.

Then the server is down or your request is being stalled somewhere.
Try the tracert command to see where the problem is.

The web interface works well, so I doubt their server has a problem.

Not necessarily. Some ISPs duplicate the mail database on a separate
server for webmail, some don't.

It happened four days ago.

No indicators of the problem there.

They said it has no problem. Is there a way to verify this ?

Thanks and best regards,

Samuel

This problem is not a problem of XP, first off. OE is a separate
program and questions about it should be addressed in the appropriate
newsgroups. The OS has no native mail-reading functions, so this is
the wrong place to ask about that.

My read is the is a problem only your ISP can answer. Push them.

 

[Samuel Monnier]

Hi,

Try the tracert command to see where the problem is.

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know about this command. The signal reaches a server of my ISP and doesn't get further. So the problem seems to be there.

This problem is not a problem of XP, first off. OE is a separate
program and questions about it should be addressed in the appropriate
newsgroups. The OS has no native mail-reading functions, so this is
the wrong place to ask about that.

It's not a problem of OE either... but thanks for the help !

Samuel