Outlook 2003 connection issue

[Adrian Henke]

Hi all

I have a problem with Outlook 2003. It is configured to download pop3
e-mails on startup and every 10 minutes. Since a few weeks, almost every time
I start Outlook I hangs on 50% of the e-mail receive task and freezes the
process (not responding). I have to manually kill the process and restart it,
sometimes that helps. The same configuration works just fine on a different
computer.

I enabled logging and found these entries in the OPMLog.log file:

2008.08.26 07:53:06 <<<< Logging Started (level is LTF_TRACE) >>>>
2008.08.26 07:53:06 pop.xy.ch: Synch operation started (flags = 00000001)
2008.08.26 07:53:06 pop.xy.ch: UploadItems: 0 messages to send
2008.08.26 07:53:06 pop.xy.ch: Synch operation completed
2008.08.26 07:53:06 pop.xy.ch: Synch operation started (flags = 00000030)
2008.08.26 07:53:07 pop.xy.ch: DoPOPDownload(flags = 00000030, max msg =
ffffffff): full items
2008.08.26 07:53:08 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): Begin execution
2008.08.26 07:53:08 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): ========= Initial blob =========
2008.08.26 07:53:08 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): +B290798
[ removed multiple lines of the same type ]
2008.08.26 07:53:08 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): +B296935
2008.08.26 07:53:08 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): ===================================
2008.08.26 07:53:09 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): Port: 995, Secure: SSL, SPA: no
2008.08.26 07:53:09 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): Finding host
2008.08.26 07:53:09 POP3 (webmail.xy.ch): Connecting to host

"Connecting to host" is the last entry before it hangs. I also investigated
the log of the mail server, at this point (07:53) no connection is
established on the mail server, however 10 minutes later (after killing and
restarting Outlook on the client) it shows a correct pop3 conversation.

Any ideas what could cause this problem? As said, it works fine on a
different machine. Could this be caused by a Outlook related security patch
or something? Thanks for any suggestions..

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I have a problem with Outlook 2003. It is configured to download pop3
e-mails on startup and every 10 minutes. Since a few weeks, almost every
time
I start Outlook I hangs on 50% of the e-mail receive task and freezes the
process (not responding). I have to manually kill the process and restart
it,
sometimes that helps. The same configuration works just fine on a
different
computer.

I enabled logging and found these entries in the OPMLog.log file:

Open a command prompt window and enter

telnet webmail.xy.ch 995

What happens?

 

[Adrian Henke]

Open a command prompt window and enter

telnet webmail.xy.ch 995

What happens?

When I do this, it says for a short time "connecting.." and then shows an
empty prompt an a cursor. Nothing else..

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

When I do this, it says for a short time "connecting.." and then shows an
empty prompt an a cursor. Nothing else..

This indicates to me that your server has a problem. I would expect a
response announcing the server.

 

[Adrian Henke]

This indicates to me that your server has a problem. I would expect a
response announcing the server.

Thanks for the quick response. Ok I'll look into this. However when I telnet
to some big provider like pop.googlemail.com 995 I get the same empty screen,
isn't that a correct behavior? It tells me that the connection socket was
established, and I'm not sure if you can expect a response when using an ssl
channel (just guessing).

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Thanks for the quick response. Ok I'll look into this. However when I
telnet
to some big provider like pop.googlemail.com 995 I get the same empty
screen,
isn't that a correct behavior? It tells me that the connection socket was
established, and I'm not sure if you can expect a response when using an
ssl
channel (just guessing).

As was I. I just checked and, in fact, what you say appears to be true.
have you tried enabling diagnostic logging to see what's happening when
Outlook and the server talk to each other?

 

[Adrian Henke]

As was I. I just checked and, in fact, what you say appears to be true.

have you tried enabling diagnostic logging to see what's happening when
Outlook and the server talk to each other?

It seems diagnostic loggin works only on Outlook 2000, I set the required
registry settings but it didn't work. The only logging available for ol 2k3
seems to be this opmlog I already created.. it shows me the whole pop3
conversation in cases when the connection was successful. Hower when it fails
it just hangs on Connect()..

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

It seems diagnostic loggin works only on Outlook 2000, I set the required
registry settings but it didn't work.

Why would you consider messing in the registry?
Tools>Options>Other>Advanced Options>Enable logging is the correct way to
go.

Anyway, I must have been asleep when I suggested you enable logging
considering you started this thread with the contents of the log.

The only logging available for ol 2k3
seems to be this opmlog I already created.. it shows me the whole pop3
conversation in cases when the connection was successful. Hower when it
fails
it just hangs on Connect()..

Then you appear to have an intermittent networking issue, but who can really
say for sure? I apologize for directing you down a rathole because I wasn't
paying enough attention. However, as a shot in the dark, try deleting the
file %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook\<yourprofile>.srs or a new mail profile.