can't receive e-mails in Windows Mail

[monopoly]

To All:

Over the last month, I have noticed a steady deterioration of my ability to
get my e-mails when I open Windows Mail. It's gone from working 3 times out
of 4 to not working at all tonight.

It always starts normally: I get the words "Authorizing" and "Checking
Mail" down near my clock, and I get the little window with the "receiving
messages" line, that fills from left to right with the blue line; but then,
after the blue line is all the way across, there's a long delay, and I get a
window with an error message with the number 0x800CCC13. When I look that
error message up on the Microsoft site, it says that means:

0x800CCC13 IXP_E_SOCKET_WRITE_ERROR Unable to read Winsock reply

Interestingly, even though the new messages don't come in, everything else
works fine. All the menus and functions are A-OK. I can still compose new
messages or replies to earlier messages, and send them out, and they go out
just fine. But then, after the new compositions are sent, the program
automatically tries to bring in (receive) new messages, and sometimes it
succeeds, but sometimes it just runs into the same error message.

I've contacted my server and they claim that there is nothing wrong at their
end. They think it is a flaw in my Windows Mail program. (On my computer
upstairs, which has a later version of Vista and Windows Mail by about one
year, Windows Mail works fine.)

I've considered the following options:

1. Use System Restore to go back a few months, and see if that puts Windows
Mail back to normal.

2. Try to download a new Windows Mail program compatible with my version of
Vista (if it's possible to download Windows Mail separately).

I'm worried that if I use the second option it will wipe out all my mail,
which is too important for me to lose.

Any suggestions?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

There is only one version of the Windows Mail program, which has not
received any development since July 2006. Two years ago Microsoft
declared Windows Live Mail to be the replacement for WM. You are
welcome to upgrade to Windows Live Mail:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

The error number by itself doesn't mean all that much. Please post the
complete error message which will include the server name and port
number.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

Did you search TechNet for 0x800CCC13?

 

[Gale]

I was getting the same error message on my windows mail, I thought I had lost
it for good. I clicked on tools and went to Synchronize All. I can now
receive mail.

 

[monopoly]

Thanks, Gary.

The full error message is:

Account: 'pophm.sympatico.ca', Server: 'pophm.sympatico.ca', Protocol: POP3,
Port: 995, Secure(SSL): Yes, Error Number: 0x800CCC13

I get this now about 9 times out of ten when I open the program. After that
I can read, compose, etc., as normal, but I don't have the new mail. Oddly
enough, sometimes I come back to the computer an hour later, and some new
mail comes in on its own.

--
monopoly

There is only one version of the Windows Mail program, which has not
received any development since July 2006. Two years ago Microsoft
declared Windows Live Mail to be the replacement for WM. You are
welcome to upgrade to Windows Live Mail:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

The error number by itself doesn't mean all that much. Please post the
complete error message which will include the server name and port
number.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

That error is usually caused by interference from an antivirus program.
Which antivirus are you running?
As a minimum, email scanning in the antivirus should be turned off,
although that may not be sufficient to eliminate all bad effects.
In a worst case scenario, your antivirus may need to be uninstalled.

Email scanning in any antivirus should be disabled, for reasons
explained here:
http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm

If no improvement after disabling email scanning, consider upgrading
to Windows Live Mail, because it is less prone to suffering bad effects
from overly intrusive antivirus programs:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/VanderMolen

Thanks, Gary.

The full error message is:

Account: 'pophm.sympatico.ca', Server: 'pophm.sympatico.ca', Protocol: POP3,
Port: 995, Secure(SSL): Yes, Error Number: 0x800CCC13

I get this now about 9 times out of ten when I open the program. After that
I can read, compose, etc., as normal, but I don't have the new mail. Oddly
enough, sometimes I come back to the computer an hour later, and some new
mail comes in on its own.

 

[monopoly]

Gary:

Thanks, but it's still not working. I switched off the antivirus search on
e-mails and it made no difference.

Bear in mind the following:

1. I have Windows Mail on the computer upstairs (identical anti-virus
program, identical server, identical settings, etc.), and it works fine. The
two computers are wireless networked. The computer that works fine has the
router. The one that is having the problem with Windows mail receives the
signal.

2. I accept all the upgrades that Windows sends to the computer that is
having the problem. The only upgrade I have not accepted is Service Pack 1.

3. This only started happening to the computer downstairs over the last 3-4
weeks, suggesting some change in either hardware or software over the last
few weeks.

4. I have not loaded any new software or changed my Windows Mail settings
during that period, though I have, as indicated above, accepted all automatic
updates to Vista that Microsoft sends.

Could it be a hardware issue? Could there be some little tiny physical
glitch in the hard drive where the Windows Mail files reside? Is it possible
to move the Windows Mail files to some other part of the hard drive, to test
that? Or is there some hard drive clean-up or repair function that I can
activate?

Finally, what do you think of the suggestion of Gale below, that I try
"Synchronize All"? I have no idea what "Synchronize All" in Windows Mail
does, and the help menus (as is usual in Vista) are useless. If I try
"synchronize all", will I be messing up my mail folders in any way, or doing
anything irreversible?

And what do you think of my idea of using "System Restore" and going back to
a date of, say, two months ago, before the WinMail problem started? Could
that solve the problem? What would I lose if I did that? Would I lose all
my Windows Vista updates since the restore date? Would all my e-mails and
e-mail folders still be safe?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

You didn't answer my question about which antivirus you are running,
so at this point I can only offer general advice.
Antivirus-related problems with Windows Mail are hit or miss. Sometimes
it happens quickly, other times it takes many months for it to show up.
Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro antivirus products are especially prone
to causing interference even after the antivirus email scanning is disabled.

No, it's not a hardware issue. Also, doing a system restore may or may not
provide temporary relief, but the problem will come back since you haven't
removed the cause.

Unfortunately, we sometimes have a few unqualified individuals offering
questionable advice here. It is best to ignore that, and go only with the
advice from the regular responders who have been working here daily
for many months if not years.

 

[monopoly]

Dear Gary:

Thanks for your efforts to help. I did discover the cause. I had over
20,000 e-mails on my server! Once I deleted about 1,500 of the oldest ones,
I was able to receive my e-mails fine. (Since then I've deleted thousands
more, so it won't happen again.)

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

I'm surprised that deleting emails from the server fixed this problem
since this issue affected only one computer, and your other (upstairs)
computer had normal mail function. To be sure, having that many emails
in the Inbox folder on the server is not a good thing. Using webmail access
you can move older messages to a different folder. That will prevent the
performance hit on POP3 downloads.