Troubleshooting Error Messages That You Receive When Try To Send and Receive E-Mail in Outlook and In Outlook Express Print

SYMPTOMS

 

When you try to send and receive e-mail, you may receive an error message that is similar to one of the following:

 

1. No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
2. The server could not be found. (Account:account name, POPserver:'mail', Error Number: 0x800ccc0d)
3. Task 'server name - Sending and Receiving' reported error (0x800ccc0f): 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). The server responded: ? K'
4. Your server has unexpectedly terminated the connection. Possible causes for this include server problems, network problems, or a long period of inactivity. Account. account name, Server: 'server name', Protocol: POP3, Server Response: '+OK', Port: 110, Secure(SSL): N0, Error Number: 0x800ccc0f
5. Task 'SMTP server name - Sending and Receiving' reported error (0x80042109): 'Outlook is unable to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'
6. The operation timed out waiting for a response from the receiving (POP) server 0x8004210a
7. A time-out occurred while communicating with the server 0x800ccc19

 

You may also receive an error message that includes one or more of the following error codes:

 

1. 0x800ccc15
2. 0x80042108
3. 0x800ccc0e
4. 0x8004210b
5. 0x800ccc0b
6. 0x800ccc79
7. 0x800ccc67
8. 0x80040900
9. 0x800ccc81

 

CAUSE

 

These error messages may occur if Microsoft Outlook or if Microsoft Outlook Express cannot establish a connection with your e-mail server. These error messages are frequently caused by one of the following:

 

1. You are not connected to the Internet or a network, or your mail server is temporarily unavailable.
2. Your account settings are incorrect.
3. Your user profile in Outlook is damaged.
4. An e-mail item on your POP3 server is damaged.
5. The configuration of your AV software is incorrect.
6. Outlook Express was removed from the computer or the installation is damaged.
7. The configuration of your personal firewall software is incorrect.

 

WORKAROUND

 

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods, depending on your situation.

 

Method 1: Confirm that your e-mail server settings are correct.

 

For information about the correct settings for your e-mail server, contact your Internet service provider (ISP) or system administrator.

 

Note: Some ISPs do not permit message routing through another SMTP server while you are connected to their network. To resolve this problem, replace the SMTP server for the other ISP or the other e-mail account with the SMTP server that is associated with the ISP that you use to connect to the Internet.

 

If you notice that your account settings have been changed to "Localhost" in the Post Office Protocol (POP) server settings and "account name/pop server name" in the Account Name box on the Server tab and you are using Trend Micro PC-cillin antivirus software, disable the POP3 Scan feature (Pop3trap.exe) of the Trend PC-cillin software. To do this, follow these steps:

 

1. In the notification area of the taskbar, double-click the PC-cillin icon.
2. Click to clear the Enable POP3 Scan check box.
3. Reconfigure your POP3 e-mail account in Outlook with the correct settings.

 

Additionally, it has also been reported that you may have to turn off the PC-cillin Web-Filter option, the Web Security option, and the Enable POP3 Scan option.

 

Method 2: Check the configuration of your firewall software

 

Configure your firewall software to grant access to the Internet for the following files:

 

- For Outlook Express: msimn.exe

- For Outlook: Outlook.exe

 

By default, most e-mail clients have to have outbound access on port 25 and inbound access on port 110. For more information about the ports that communicate with your e-mail server, contact your ISP or system administrator.

 

Firewall software that has been known to cause this problem includes products by the following vendors:

 

• McAfee
• Symantec
• ZoneLabs
• Cisco
• Sygate
• Sonicwall
• Freedom Security Zero Knowledge

 

McAfee Personal FirewallCheck your configuration settings in the McAfee Personal Firewall program and make sure that Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Outlook Express has full access.

 

For more information about how to configure McAfee Personal Firewall, visit the following McAfee Web site: http://www.mcafee.com

 

Alternatively, you can remove and reinstall the McAfee Personal Firewall program. The reinstallation process recreates the program signature file that is used by the firewall. Additionally, this process makes sure that both Outlook and Outlook Express are included in the list of programs where Internet access is permitted.

 

Norton Personal Firewall (Symantec)

 

If you are running Norton Personal Firewall 2002, Norton Internet Security, or Norton SystemWorks software by Symantec, remove your Norton Person Firewall or Norton Internet Security software. If the problem is resolved, you can reinstall your Norton software and the problem should not happen again.

 

Method 3: Check your antivirus vendor's Web site for additional suggestions.

 

If your antivirus solution includes an e-mail scanning feature, you may have to do additional configuration to use Outlook or Outlook Express with the antivirus e-mail scanning feature.

 

Antivirus software that has been known to cause this problem includes products by the following vendors:For more information, visit the following Web sites:

 

1. Symantec (Norton)
2. McAfee
3. Trend Micro (PC-cillin)
4. Panda

 

Symantec: http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/

 

McAfee: http://us.mcafee.com/root/support.asp?cid=9045

 

Trend Micro: http://kb.trendmicro.com/solutions/default.asp?cType=3&prodID=0&versionID=0

 

Panda: http://www.pandasoftware.com/support/default.aspx

 

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

 

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

 

Method 4: Determine if your modem is functioning correctly

 

Contact the vendor of your modem to determine if there are any known issues or updates for the type of modem you are using.

 

TimeWarner RoadRunner cable service has confirmed that there is a known problem with the older Toshiba models of their cable modems.

 

Method 5: Verify the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size that is set on your router

 

The MTU size set on your router may not let packets larger than a certain size to pass through. These types of errors generally occur if you are connecting to the Internet through a Linksys BEFSR41 router, a Linksys BEFSR81 router, or a Linksys BEFW11S4 router. These routers have Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) problems that may cause timeout errors when you send e-mail messages.

 

To resolve this problem, change the MTU setting for your router. For information about how to do this, view the documentation that is included with your router, or visit the following Linksys Web site: http://www.linksys.com/support/support.asp?spid=87

 

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

 

Note: For additional information on troubleshooting "black hole" router issues, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: This problem may also occur if there is a misconfigured router or device between the user and their mail provider. These types of devices are known as 'black hole' routers.

 

314825 How to Troubleshoot Black Hole Router Issues

159211 Diagnoses and Treatment of Black Hole Routers

156438 Internet Mail or News Reader Software Hangs or Times Out

 

Method 6: Remove and then reinstall Outlook Express

 

If Outlook Express has been removed from your computer or the installation of Outlook Express is damaged, Outlook will not function correctly and may generate one of the error messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section. To resolve this problem, reinstall Outlook Express.

 

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

 

318378 How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP

263837 OLEXP: How to Manually Remove and Reinstall Outlook Express in Windows 2000

256219 OLEXP: How to Manually Uninstall and Reinstall Outlook Express 5.x and

 

For additional information explaining why Outlook Express is required to use Outlook, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

 

230076 Why Outlook 2000 Requires Outlook Express

 

Method 7: Create a new e-mail profile

 

You may be able to resolve these problems by creating a new e-mail profile.

 

Method 8: Delete suspicious messages from your mailbox

 

If there is a damaged message in your mailbox, you can resolve this by doing one of the following:

 

• Contact your service provider and ask them to delete any suspicious e-mail.
• Delete any suspicious e-mail by accessing your mailbox by using your ISP's Web-based e-mail program.

 

For more information, you may refer to Microsoft KB article as URL below.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/813514