timeout error when checking for new mail

[Chris Barnes]

Preface: I did do a Google search, as well as searching this newsgroup
prior to sending this message.


In my office, there are only a handful of folks who use Outlook as their
email client. Most of the others use Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.
Overall, there are approximately 400 total users. As I said, only a
handful use Outlook (maybe 5).

I have an error condition which seems to affect *only* the folks using
Outlook (they are now all using Outlook 2003). Note that this is an
intermittent problem - and the users do not all see it with the same
frequency - some may only see it once or twice per week while others see
it upwards of a dozen times per day.

The users will get a message which says "A timeout occurred talking to
the server". This usually happens when checking for new messages, but
can also occur happens when sending messages. What's worse, while
Outlook is trying to make the connection, the Outlook program takes up
100% of the system resources and shows "Not responding" in the Task
Manager.


The setup:
We are NOT using Exchange. The mail server is a Linux machine with pop3
& imap access. Some of the Outlook users connect with Imap; others
with pop3.

The fact that the problem is intermittent indicates that the problem is
NOT in the configuration of their account within Outlook. I have moved
the timeout in the advanced account properties from the default of 1
minute all the way up to 3 minutes. All this did was make it take
longer before it quit trying to connect (ie. Outlook remained in a "not
responding" for longer period of time.



Please, someone give me some advice on how to solve this problem.

--

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Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
(e-mail address removed) Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
Computer Systems Manager MSN IM: (e-mail address removed)
Department of Physics ph: 979-845-7801
Texas A&M University fax: 979-845-2590

 

[Chris Barnes]

The users will get a message which says "A timeout occurred talking to
the server". This usually happens when checking for new messages, but
can also occur happens when sending messages. What's worse, while
Outlook is trying to make the connection, the Outlook program takes up
100% of the system resources and shows "Not responding" in the Task
Manager.

User just gave me 1 additional bit of information. This timeout
condition only occurs when he is actively using Outlook - ie. going from
1 message to the next, sending a message, etc. It does NOT occur when
OL is running in the background (minimized) and does an automatic
send/receive.



--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
(e-mail address removed) Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
Computer Systems Manager MSN IM: (e-mail address removed)
Department of Physics ph: 979-845-7801
Texas A&M University fax: 979-845-2590

 

[Terry O. Brown]

I occassionally have a similar problem with Outlook. The problem is often the
result of one of two factors:

1. The virus program - try disabling Norton Antivirus or whatever program
you use for a short period of time to see if the problem goes away. Or try
changing to a different Anti-Virus program. I switched from Norton Antivirus
to AVG and the problem occurs alot less frequently.

2. I have two computers (a desktop and a laptop) trying to log on and
download e-mail at the same instance occassionally. One of them will be able
to log in, but the other will not and will get a time out error. If two of
your Outlook users are trying to log on to the same account at the same time,
then you may get that same error.

If neither of those work, try increasing the time that Outlook attempts to
download before triggering the error message. In large University or
business setting, you may be waiting on a University or company server to
allot you time for accessing the system to download your e-mail.

 

[Chris Barnes]

I occassionally have a similar problem with Outlook. The problem is
often the result of one of two factors:

1. The virus program -
2. I have two computers (a desktop and a laptop) trying to log on and
download e-mail at the same instance occassionally.

Neither of these are the problem. Neither user tries to check from
multiple computers. The AV program is Norton AV Corprate Edition (which
doesn't do email checking).

If neither of those work, try increasing the time that Outlook
attempts to download before triggering the error message. In large
University or business setting, you may be waiting on a University or
company server to allot you time for accessing the system to download
your e-mail.

Actually, I did that too - it doesn't seem to have helped. If it were a
busy server issue, the problem would be more widespread. But the
question remains why would the 2 users who happen to use Outlook have
this issue when a couple of hundred others who use some other email
program not have a problem?

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
(e-mail address removed) Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
Computer Systems Manager MSN IM: (e-mail address removed)
Department of Physics ph: 979-845-7801
Texas A&M University fax: 979-845-2590