Outlook 2003 Suddenly Won't Send & Receive

[Stevo]

I am using Outlook 2003 SP2 with all of the latest updates applied, and
have a PC workstation running XP Home edition.

Two days ago Outlook started to experience problems sending and
receiving email. I have not changed any of the account settings or
installed any new software in the days leading up to this. I am using a
copy of Entourage on my Mac laptop and am having no problems sending
and receiving emails on the same wireless network, with the same email
accounts and the same settings. This makes me think that the problem is
with Outlook 2003 itself.

Here's a brief overview of the error messages I get when testing the
account settings and when trying to send test emails:

POP3 - The server was found, but there was no response
SMTP - Could not connect to the outgoing server

The only other message I get - mostly when restarting Outlook from a
cold reboot - is that the 'Personal Folders' file was not
shut-down properly last time I exited the programme. It runs a
diagnostic for damage to the file then loads as normal. I have no idea
if this is the cause of the fault or simply a symptom of it!

To rectify the situation, I have tried the following:

Checked account settings
Rebooted DSL modem, wireless transmitter and wireless receiver
Run >Help>Detect and Repair from the menu
Disabled Norton Internet Security (Anti Virus and Firewall - both of
which have worked alongside my installation of Outlook 2003 without
obvious problems for several years)
Downloaded and installed the latest updates for Outlook 2003
Rebooted the PC
Restated Outlook 2003

At the moment, I am fresh out of ideas. This problem has happened in
the past, but it has usually resolved itself (inexplicably!) within a
few hours. The fact that the Mac laptop, using exactly the same
wireless network and email accounts, can still send and receive without
problems makes me think there's something going on with the PC.

Any and all help, advice, suggestions would be appreciated

TIA

 

[mwdavis]

I had the exact same problem and it took me three days to fix it! I also use
Outlook 2003 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I tried almost every
recommendation from both Microsoft and Symantec and here's what finally
worked for me:

Close Outlook
Open Norton Internet Security
Click on "Personal Firewall"
Click on "Turn Off"
Click on "Configure"
Click on "Programs" tab
Scroll down and highlight "Microsoft Outlook"
Click on "Remove"
Click on "Add"
Find and highlight Outlook.exe file. (Mine was located at c:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\Office11)

Click "OK"
Click "Turn On"
Close Norton Internet Security
Open Outlook

Voila!! Mine works now!!!

I know how frustrating it is--hope this helps!

 

[HaggisKiwi]

I had the same problem with my email accounts via Outlook 2003 &
NIS2005. This all came about after I applied the latest Live Updates in
December 2005.

I contacted my ISP and they suggested contact Symantec

I contacted Symantec who gave me a whole host of solutions from their
website and suggested if none of the worked I should call my ISP.
The best one was solution was to disable NIS2005 and retry Send/Receive
from Outlook.
This worked, but once enabled the issue recurred.
Even though send/receive worked with NIS2005 disabled, Symantec refused
to believe that the issue was theirs!
They then suggested, the big cop-out of, contacting Microsoft.

I'll try your suggestion, but hope that Symantec have released a fix to
cure their earlier cock-up!

 

[dmager]

Dude, you totally rock... you saved me 3 days of hassle!

thx