e-mail disconnects from POP3 incoming server

[James Fonger, M.D.]

My e-mail runs well after booting up. I use Outlook 2003 with Windows SP2
firewall on and Norton anti-virus on my incoming mail. Our parental filter
does not filter e-mail. The machine goes through a router to a DSL
connection. The time out setting has been increased to the maximum 10
minutes.

The machine will lose the incoming POP3 mail server after several hours and
give that error message. Rebooting corrects the problem for awhile. Sending
normal size PDF file attaachments can also cause the problem and it seemed
worse when I had Norton Firewall 2005 installed so I removed it for the time
being. The problem happens on multiple desktops on this machine.

This is a very bothersome problem and I need to know what else to check or
adjust to get rid of it. Ideally I would like to re-install Norton Firewall
once the e-mail runs well without it. I anxiously await your suggestions.

 

[Jeff Stephenson [MSFT]]

My e-mail runs well after booting up. I use Outlook 2003 with Windows SP2
firewall on and Norton anti-virus on my incoming mail. Our parental filter
does not filter e-mail. The machine goes through a router to a DSL
connection. The time out setting has been increased to the maximum 10
minutes.

The machine will lose the incoming POP3 mail server after several hours and
give that error message. Rebooting corrects the problem for awhile. Sending
normal size PDF file attaachments can also cause the problem and it seemed
worse when I had Norton Firewall 2005 installed so I removed it for the time
being. The problem happens on multiple desktops on this machine.

This is a very bothersome problem and I need to know what else to check or
adjust to get rid of it. Ideally I would like to re-install Norton Firewall
once the e-mail runs well without it. I anxiously await your suggestions.

Are any of the Norton products scanning the incoming email? I know you
said the parental filter is not doing so, but what about the anti-virus
software? If so, disable that scanning - with Norton, in particular, this
seems to be a problem.

 

[Brian Tillman]

My e-mail runs well after booting up. I use Outlook 2003 with Windows
SP2 firewall on and Norton anti-virus on my incoming mail. Our
parental filter does not filter e-mail. The machine goes through a
router to a DSL connection. The time out setting has been increased
to the maximum 10 minutes.

The machine will lose the incoming POP3 mail server after several
hours and give that error message.

The most likely cause of this is:

I use Outlook 2003 with Windows
SP2 firewall on and Norton anti-virus on my incoming mail.

Scanning incoming (and especially outgoing) mail with an anti-virus program
is fraught with problems (and Norton AntiVirus is the worst offender) and is
the most likely cause of your lost POP connection. In addition to
introducing timing issues into the communication path, it usually doesn't
make you any safer than the on-access scanner already running as part of the
A-V program.

You need to disable mail scanning which, with Norton, usually means
uninstalling the product entirely and reinstalling without that option.

 

[James Fonger, M.D.]

There is a disable e-mail scanning screen in Norton Mananger for the incoming
and outgoing e-mail scanning. Do you feel strongly that this is not enough
and that I should uninstall and re-install without e-mail scanning? Is that
even a choice on installation - I can't remember from the install?

JDF

 

[Brian Tillman]

There is a disable e-mail scanning screen in Norton Mananger for the
incoming and outgoing e-mail scanning. Do you feel strongly that this
is not enough and that I should uninstall and re-install without
e-mail scanning?

At face value, it _should_ be enough, and you can certainly try to disable
it there, but from many other messages in this group, with Norton that may
not be enough.

Is that even a choice on installation - I can't
remember from the install?

Beats me. I've never used the product. But what's the worst case? You
uninstall the product and find it's not an option so you install it just the
way it is now. What have you lost except a little time?