Suddenly Outlook can't find server

[Howdego]

I use outlook 2003 on two computers. Suddenly, one of the programs on my XP
laptop cannot find the Cox (my ISP) server. The program on my other
computer, running Outlook 2003 on vista, sorks fine. I have made no changes
to any settings. i retyped the settings just in case, but not change. The
account test fails too. Outlook Express works fine on that computer. Did a
virus check, but none found. Cox doesn't support Outlook, but I don't think
they could help anyway.

Any thoughts on the problem? Is there something else that i should check?
Could the program have become corrupted? If yes, and I need to install it
again, will I lose the PST file?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I use outlook 2003 on two computers. Suddenly, one of the programs on
my XP laptop cannot find the Cox (my ISP) server. The program on my
other computer, running Outlook 2003 on vista, sorks fine. I have
made no changes to any settings. i retyped the settings just in
case, but not change. The account test fails too. Outlook Express
works fine on that computer. Did a virus check, but none found.
Cox doesn't support Outlook, but I don't think they could help anyway.

Did you install the Office updates from Microsoft that were issued on
Tuesday? There are some reports of those symptoms with this recent set up
updates.

 

[DL]

Check the account settings, they are the same as Express.
Have you installed any winupdates? Is your firewall blocking OL?
The exact err.msg in the accounts test might help

 

[Howdego]

Getting messages like Receiving reported error, or, sending, reported error.
Operation timed out. 0X8004210B. for all accounts Yes, my computer added
a Microsoft update yesterday. If that is the problem, is there any fix? I
guess I should not allow the update on my Vista machine?

 

[DL]

If you use ZoneAlarm theres a patch on their site

 

[Brian Tillman]

Getting messages like Receiving reported error, or, sending, reported
error. Operation timed out. 0X8004210B. for all accounts Yes, my
computer added a Microsoft update yesterday. If that is the problem,
is there any fix?

There are several ways to address it. My approach would be to create a
restore point before ever installing any update, then restoring that restore
point if things don't work correctly or by, perhaps more simply, just
uninstalling the update(s).

I guess I should not allow the update on my Vista machine?

Not blindly, anyway.

DL's correct about ZoneAlarm, but it affected Windows XP only and it
destroyed all Internet connectivity, not just Outlook's. The update that
caused the problem was KB951748.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP (OneNote)]

The good news is that Windows Update should have automatically created a
restore point for him before installing the updates. So it should be
easy to back it out.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
http://www.officeforlawyers.com
Author - The Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Outlook 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/5m3f5q

 

[Howdego]

I uninstalled the update, but the problem persists. I use PC Cillin. I have
never had to use the restore point capability. Why do you think the
uninstall didn't work? How do I return to the pre update point?

BTW, does anyone know what exactly is causing the problem?

 

[howdego]

Just noticed that the sustame added two updats to Outlook on July 9th,
Kb953432 and 953465. Might either of these two be the problem?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Just noticed that the sustame added two updats to Outlook on July 9th,
Kb953432 and 953465. Might either of these two be the problem?

If you restore to a point prior to the updates, it shouldn't matter. All
updates will be removed.

 

[Howdego]

One more thing. I just noticed that I have XP sp2, not sp3. Afraid to
update til this problem is solved. Anyway, after i find how to get back to a
restore point, I will have wiped out 1 or more updates. How then can I then
get the fixes? Still no work from Microsoft as to what the problem is and
whether I can just fix Outlook ?

 

[Howdego]

The account settings are the same. There were three updates from Microsoft
in the last three days, . Some say KB951748 is the problem, but the others,
Kb953432 and 953465, are direcly for Outlook. I remaived 748, but no help.
Some say I should remove all the updates and/or reset the system to before
the updates. But that means I don't get the benefit of the updates. I'm
trying to find out excly what the problem is and fix it in Outlook. But, I
am also afraid to upgrade to SP# until this is settled.