i dunno what i'm doing wrong.
under accounts, everything is set up correctly as far as pop3 and smtp servers go. my username and pw are correct, but when i try to get mail, it just time-outs. i called my isp tech support and they confirmed everything being ok on their end and mine yet couldnt expain why it wasnt working. i even turned off my firewall, and NOTHING. i tried with Outlook 2000 as well with the same result.

what the hell am i doing wrong?! note: outlook express has never been used on this computer.

 

Are you authenticating with the SMTP server with your username and password?

 

no

 

are you able to ping these servers from your machine? also i wouldnt think the smtp authentication would have anything to do with getting the mail, but if they say to do it that way, then make sure and do it.

 

how do i ping and what do i ping?

 

go to a command prompt START > RUN > type CMD and hit enter

once the prompt comes up, type PING SERVERNAME and hit enter. SERVERNAME is whatever your POP server is like mail.domain.com. if you get a request timed out, that may mean a few things. another thing to try is a tracert. at the command prompt type TRACERT SERVERNAME, again SERVERNAME is you POP server. also what is your pop server, maybe we could try and ping it also and see what we get.

 

pop.rcn.com
smtp.rcn.com

 

when i pinged it, the request timed out on both servers. tech support said cuz they have firewall
is that bad? whats that mean?

 

Moses -

You probably need to authenticate to the SMTP server.

I'm not sitting in front of a WinTel machine, but where you create your account settings, there will be another tab perhaps the "advanced" tab, and there will be an option to "authenticate" or soemthing similar to the server. You have a user name/password, correct? All the authentication does it uses that password so you can log in to get your mail.

Otherwise with no authentication, anyone with your username could log in and get your mail.

 

tried that too.... dump OE6 and reinstall????

 

If you cannot ping the servers they may be blocked from being able to be pinged. However, if they are having firewall issues then that would explain why you can't get mail

 

yea i wasnt able to ping them either, they may have blocked ICMP requests or what not. i would try setting them up on another pc also just to make sure. try reinstalling, it has helped in the weirdest cases so you never know.

 

anyone know where i can download Outlook Express 6????

theres nothing on MS site for downloading just OE. they usually bundle it w IE so i downloaded that but all it downloaded was some setup program...

 

i dont think OE is a separate program anymroe, you have to get it with IE. when you download that setup file, just run it. it will then walk you through the setup and download.

 

damn... so should i just uninstall then reinstall IE6?

 

reinstall should be fine, i dont think you would need to uninstall first. it won't hurt though.

 

dude, the fockin shit wont work. ima bout to throw the computer out the window. i checked my firewall and its allowing outlook express to access the internet. i tried using outlook 2000 to get onto the server and i get the same error message i get from express: "A time-out occurred while communicating with the server. Account: 'pop.rcn.com', Server: 'pop.rcn.com', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800CCC19"

i'm going crazy here! i was on hold with DELL for 1 hour and 20 mins before i hung up... this is just nuts... all i want is email... i can access it thru Webmail tho

 

Both servers are not responding to pings because they are blocking incoming ICMP packets. The servers are reachable..I telnet'd to the 110 port on pop and the 25 port on smtp and they seem to be responding.

pop.rcn.com: +OK Mirapoint POP3PROXY 3.2.2-GA server ready

smtp.rcn.com: 220 smtp02.mrf.mail.rcn.net ESMTP [NO UCE] RCN Exim 3.35 #4 Mon, 08 Sep 2003 00:
51:32 -0400

I have a feeling the problem may have to do with your use of SSL. I used to have RCN and I don't recall using SSL. Try disabling SSL encryption and then try to connect.

If however they DO use SSL now, you may have to upgrade your SSL encryption to 128 bit in order to communicate with the mail servers. Download and install the high encryption pack here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...it/default.asp

If these suggestions don't work, try using windows update on your start menu to download the latest version of outlook/internet explorer...or got to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

if that doesn't work, get a hotmail account and enter your POP mail server into it's mail setup options; hotmail supports POP email retrieval. At least you'll be able to get your mail.

 

when i was on the phone w their shitty cust serv reps, they said i need not click to logon using SSL, so i'm assuming they dont support it.

all my updates are current. i'm already on IE 128bit.

i'm starting to think it has SOMETHING to do w my firewall protection, yet i've disabled it and ran OE to no avail.

should i throw my comp out the window now?

 

...so it doesn't connect with SSl disabled?

 

nevermind, i just reread the error you got above...earlier I thought it looked like it was attempting SSL.

So yah just toss that biatch out da window, but make sure you don't hit any dogs/people/etc. If you want a copy of office xp with the full version of outlook PM me and I'll chuck one in the mail to ya...express blows.

 

nice. u got pm