Intermittent "Remote could not submit the message at the server" via VPN

[Roshan Qureshi]

I have a user running Outlook 2003 on Window XP SP2. Both are fully patched
and running fine other than the problem discussed here. When traveling, the
user connects to the Exchange 2000 Server via VPN (CheckPoint SecuRemote).
Occasionally (about 25% of the time), when doing a Send/Receive, all
messages in his Outbox are not sent and he gets a message in his Inbox that
says "Remote could not submit the message at the server.Network problems are
preventing connection to the Microsoft Exchange Server computer." However,
he receives msgs. from the server in his Inbox, so clearly he can connect to
the server. He experiences this issue on multiple foreign networks, but not
all the time on any network -- in other words, it is not a
network/location-specific issue.

I have many other users with similar setups, but who are running Windows
2000/Outlook 2000, and I have never had this problem connecting to this
Exchange server. This is my first WinXP/Outlook 2003 box.

 

[Guest]

This could be related to the Windows firewall that SP2 turns on. You would
have to allow Outlook.exe at the firewall or disable the firewall. If the
user is normally behind a business firewall then the XP firewall wouldn't be
required. Give that a try.

 

[Roshan Qureshi]

Thanks for the suggestion. Wouldn't this block traffic all the time, not
intermittently? Also, he is running the SP2-aware version of the VPN client
(where it sets up the rules in the Windows firewall to allow it to pass
traffic in/out). I will give it a shot w/ the Windows FW disabled.

thanks,
roshan