Downloading mail in XP stops

I have Windows XP and Windows98SE installed in separate primary partitions,
using a boot manager. Lately (for some months) I have experienced problems
downloading mail in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and Outlook2000, when in XP. I
get a message that I have, say, 30 messages waiting, but after 5-8 messages
the downloading seems to successively slow down to a crawl, and then finally
stops with a timeout error message after a long spell of inactivity. This
process is the same in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and Outlook2000. In Win98SE
downloading the mail usually goes without any problems in both the
Outlooks, however. This problem has grown a lot worse after installing
XP-SP2, but was also present earlier, with XP-SP1. If I don't try to fetch
the mail with any of the Outlooks after booting XP, however, but start the
Mozilla Firebird mail client instead, downloading is usually completed
without any problems. However, if I first do a failed download with one of
the Outlooks, Mozilla Firebird won't download either, so it seems the
problem must be with some basic, (common) mail communication driver(s) that
gets locked up by the Outlooks for some reason. I have the ZoneAlarm pro
firewall and a 704/128 kbs ADSL connection to the internet. I have
complained to my ISP about the mail problems several times, and they have
repeatedly checked their mail servers and my account mail box without
finding any problems with either, and now says it must be a Microsoft
software bug issue with either XP or the Outlooks. Since the mail works fine
in Win98SE, my hardware is probably properly connected. Are there any
special XP system settings I should try to fix this problem?
Trond Ruud
Norway

Trond Ruud wrote:
I have Windows XP and Windows98SE installed in separate primary
partitions, using a boot manager. Lately (for some months) I have
experienced problems downloading mail in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and
Outlook2000, when in XP. I get a message that I have, say, 30
messages waiting, but after 5-8 messages the downloading seems to
successively slow down to a crawl, and then finally stops with a
timeout error message after a long spell of inactivity. This process
is the same in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and Outlook2000. In Win98SE
downloading the mail usually goes without any problems in both the
Outlooks, however. This problem has grown a lot worse after
installing XP-SP2, but was also present earlier, with XP-SP1. If I
don't try to fetch the mail with any of the Outlooks after booting
XP, however, but start the Mozilla Firebird mail client instead,
downloading is usually completed without any problems. However, if I
first do a failed download with one of the Outlooks, Mozilla
Firebird won't download either, so it seems the problem must be with
some basic, (common) mail communication driver(s) that gets locked up
by the Outlooks for some reason. I have the ZoneAlarm pro firewall
and a 704/128 kbs ADSL connection to the internet. I have complained
to my ISP about the mail problems several times, and they have
repeatedly checked their mail servers and my account mail box without
finding any problems with either, and now says it must be a Microsoft
software bug issue with either XP or the Outlooks. Since the mail
works fine in Win98SE, my hardware is probably properly connected.
Are there any special XP system settings I should try to fix this
problem?
Trond Ruud
Norway

Do you only have the one store folder for Outlook Express, but have it
configured in both operating systems with the same account/s?
--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (IE/OE)

In ,
Kath Adams wrote:
Trond Ruud wrote:
I have Windows XP and Windows98SE installed in separate primary
partitions, using a boot manager. Lately (for some months) I have
experienced problems downloading mail in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and
Outlook2000, when in XP. I get a message that I have, say, 30
messages waiting, but after 5-8 messages the downloading seems to
successively slow down to a crawl, and then finally stops with a
timeout error message after a long spell of inactivity. This process
is the same in both OutlookExpress 6.0 and Outlook2000. In Win98SE
downloading the mail usually goes without any problems in both the
Outlooks, however. This problem has grown a lot worse after
installing XP-SP2, but was also present earlier, with XP-SP1. If I
don't try to fetch the mail with any of the Outlooks after booting
XP, however, but start the Mozilla Firebird mail client instead,
downloading is usually completed without any problems. However, if I
first do a failed download with one of the Outlooks, Mozilla
Firebird won't download either, so it seems the problem must be with
some basic, (common) mail communication driver(s) that gets locked up
by the Outlooks for some reason. I have the ZoneAlarm pro firewall
and a 704/128 kbs ADSL connection to the internet. I have complained
to my ISP about the mail problems several times, and they have
repeatedly checked their mail servers and my account mail box without
finding any problems with either, and now says it must be a Microsoft
software bug issue with either XP or the Outlooks. Since the mail
works fine in Win98SE, my hardware is probably properly connected.
Are there any special XP system settings I should try to fix this
problem?
Trond Ruud
Norway

Do you only have the one store folder for Outlook Express, but have it
configured in both operating systems with the same account/s?

No, there are separate XP and Win98SE folders for Outlook Express (but with
the same accounts), but have tried to share a common .pst file for
Outlook2000 in XP and Win98SE in order to be able to access the same mail in
both operating systems. I use Outlook Express mainly as a newsreader and
Outlook2000 as the mail client in both operating systems.
--
Trond Ruud

"Trond Ruud" wrote in message
...
Do you only have the one store folder for Outlook Express, but have it
configured in both operating systems with the same account/s?

No, there are separate XP and Win98SE folders for Outlook Express (but
with the same accounts), but have tried to share a common .pst file for
Outlook2000 in XP and Win98SE in order to be able to access the same mail
in both operating systems. I use Outlook Express mainly as a newsreader
and Outlook2000 as the mail client in both operating systems.
--

Are you getting any error message? The problem could be a "stuck" message
in your INbox at the ISP, but it most likely related to using an antivirus
program to scan incoming email which leads to timeout errors.

813514 - OL: Error 0x800ccc0d or 0x800ccc0f When Receiving and Sending
E-Mail:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=813514
--
Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express
Please reply only to newsgroup.

In ,
Jim Pickering wrote:
"Trond Ruud" wrote in message
...
Do you only have the one store folder for Outlook Express, but have
it configured in both operating systems with the same account/s?

No, there are separate XP and Win98SE folders for Outlook Express
(but with the same accounts), but have tried to share a common .pst
file for Outlook2000 in XP and Win98SE in order to be able to access
the same mail in both operating systems. I use Outlook Express
mainly as a newsreader and Outlook2000 as the mail client in both
operating systems. --

Are you getting any error message? The problem could be a "stuck"
message in your INbox at the ISP, but it most likely related to using
an antivirus program to scan incoming email which leads to timeout
errors.
813514 - OL: Error 0x800ccc0d or 0x800ccc0f When Receiving and Sending
E-Mail:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=813514

Well,
I have Norton 2003 in XP and McAfee 6.0 in Win98SE, so there /is/ a
difference there. But I assume that Norton also monitors my mail downloads
in Mozilla Thunderbird in XP, without the same download problems as in the
Outlooks. I have also logged into my ISP's mail server "web mail" service,
cleaning out the inbox, to get rid of any 'stuck' messages, without that
ever having had a lasting effect. One thing I should have mentioned before,
however, is that I have installed Sunbelt Software's "I Hate Spam" spam
killer program in both XP and Win98SE, and since that program scrutinizes
all incoming mail too the combined effects of Norton and Sunbelt might hold
up the download process, perhaps (?)
But the McAFee+ Sunbelt combination in Win98SE has no such disruptive
effects, so I'm not sure that this can be the reason (Also, I have checked
the "Protect against timeouts" option in Norton 2003 in XP)
As for error messages it's always the "timed out" message when everything
stops: (I tried to copy'n'paste it here, but the copy-paste function seems
to have stopped working as before SP2(?))
--
Trond Ruud

If you're getting timeout errors, then the problem is with either the SPAM
screener or the antivirus program scannning email. Without disabling both
and checking for results, all you'll do is wonder about inconsistencies
until you prove it to yourself. You can increase the timeout slider on the
particular account in Tools/Accounts/Mail tab, double clicking the
individual account, then clicking the Advanced tab and moving the timeout
slider, but I think your problem is with one or the other scanning options
and I'd disable both of them and test.

You will still be protected by your antivirus program since it will warn if
you attempt to open an infected file and even Norton offers instructions on
how to disable email scanning:

http://web.archive.org/web/200403031...sv=&osv_ lvl=
--
Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express
Please reply only to newsgroup.



"Trond Ruud" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jim Pickering wrote:
"Trond Ruud" wrote in message
...
Do you only have the one store folder for Outlook Express, but have
it configured in both operating systems with the same account/s?

No, there are separate XP and Win98SE folders for Outlook Express
(but with the same accounts), but have tried to share a common .pst
file for Outlook2000 in XP and Win98SE in order to be able to access
the same mail in both operating systems. I use Outlook Express
mainly as a newsreader and Outlook2000 as the mail client in both
operating systems. --

Are you getting any error message? The problem could be a "stuck"
message in your INbox at the ISP, but it most likely related to using
an antivirus program to scan incoming email which leads to timeout
errors.
813514 - OL: Error 0x800ccc0d or 0x800ccc0f When Receiving and Sending
E-Mail:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=813514

Well,
I have Norton 2003 in XP and McAfee 6.0 in Win98SE, so there /is/ a
difference there. But I assume that Norton also monitors my mail
downloads in Mozilla Thunderbird in XP, without the same download problems
as in the Outlooks. I have also logged into my ISP's mail server "web
mail" service, cleaning out the inbox, to get rid of any 'stuck' messages,
without that ever having had a lasting effect. One thing I should have
mentioned before, however, is that I have installed Sunbelt Software's "I
Hate Spam" spam killer program in both XP and Win98SE, and since that
program scrutinizes all incoming mail too the combined effects of Norton
and Sunbelt might hold up the download process, perhaps (?)
But the McAFee+ Sunbelt combination in Win98SE has no such disruptive
effects, so I'm not sure that this can be the reason (Also, I have checked
the "Protect against timeouts" option in Norton 2003 in XP)
As for error messages it's always the "timed out" message when everything
stops: (I tried to copy'n'paste it here, but the copy-paste function seems
to have stopped working as before SP2(?))
--
Trond Ruud

In ,
Jim Pickering wrote:
If you're getting timeout errors, then the problem is with either the
SPAM screener or the antivirus program scannning email. Without
disabling both and checking for results, all you'll do is wonder
about inconsistencies until you prove it to yourself. You can
increase the timeout slider on the particular account in
Tools/Accounts/Mail tab, double clicking the individual account, then
clicking the Advanced tab and moving the timeout slider, but I think
your problem is with one or the other scanning options and I'd
disable both of them and test.
You will still be protected by your antivirus program since it will
warn if you attempt to open an infected file and even Norton offers
instructions on how to disable email scanning:

http://web.archive.org/web/200403031...sv=&osv_ lvl=

(...)

Thanks!
Seems you're right.
After disabling scanning of incoming mail in Norton 2003, I've been able to
download mail normally in both Outlooks again.
But, what about bugs embedded in html format messages?Won't that pose a
potential threat when scanning of incoming mail is disabled in Norton and
only attachments are scanned? Or is the html virus variety no longer
considered a threat?
Regards
Trond Ruud

In your version of Outlook Express, click on Tools/Options/Security tab and
you will see a box to check to exclude external content; check it. This
will block web bugs and bring up a "Infobar" to allow you to download
external content in an HTML message if it comes from a trusted source. It's
the same as working offline and is an added security feature in XPSP2. See
this article for other changes in SP2:
Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2: Part 4:
E-mail Handling Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../sp2email.mspx
--
Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express
Please reply only to newsgroup.



"Trond Ruud" wrote in message
...
In ,
Jim Pickering wrote:
If you're getting timeout errors, then the problem is with either the
SPAM screener or the antivirus program scannning email. Without
disabling both and checking for results, all you'll do is wonder
about inconsistencies until you prove it to yourself. You can
increase the timeout slider on the particular account in
Tools/Accounts/Mail tab, double clicking the individual account, then
clicking the Advanced tab and moving the timeout slider, but I think
your problem is with one or the other scanning options and I'd
disable both of them and test.
You will still be protected by your antivirus program since it will
warn if you attempt to open an infected file and even Norton offers
instructions on how to disable email scanning:

http://web.archive.org/web/200403031...sv=&osv_ lvl=

(...)

Thanks!
Seems you're right.
After disabling scanning of incoming mail in Norton 2003, I've been able
to download mail normally in both Outlooks again.
But, what about bugs embedded in html format messages?Won't that pose a
potential threat when scanning of incoming mail is disabled in Norton and
only attachments are scanned? Or is the html virus variety no longer
considered a threat?
Regards
Trond Ruud