Re: Outlook is bugged--stops sending email.

From: Diane Poremsky [MVP] (dianenws_at_poremsky.com)
Date: 10/19/04 

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 08:37:02 -0400

It's a problem with NAV - we recommend disabling the email scanning,
especially if your version uses a pop proxy (outlook shows servers as
localhost if it's using pop proxy). If you also use the Norton firewall,
disable it (replace it with a different firewall if you don't have a router
acting as a firewall.) 

-- 
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com
Join OneNote Tips mailing list: http://www.onenote-tips.net/
"Stephen Porter" <stp@pobox.com> wrote in message 
news:MPG.1bde44f0a68a2a7b989683@msnews.microsoft.com...
> Help!  Strange things have begun happening to some of the
> computers on our small network.  There are 7 computers on a
> simple network.   All the computers involved are running Windows
> 2000 and Office/Outlook 2000. Outlook is not running on an
> Exchange server--each station has its own copy and receives all
> the mail for the company.  Norton Systemworks 2003 and the
> corresponding Norton Anti-Virus is running on all the machines
> and is set to scan both incoming and outgoing email.  Internet
> connection is via a DSL account.   There have been essentially
> no problems with Outlook/email on the network for the past
> several years.
>
> Recently two of the computers started timing out when sending
> email.   Error message indicated that "Connection to the server
> was unexpectedly broken" (paraphase).  These types of problems
> usually end up on my plate and when the problem persisted for a
> couple of days one of the users told me that the problem had
> started after he had opened an email from a client that had an
> attachment, which was one of those internet scam chain letters
> of the "I have 20 million dollars...." variety.   He said this
> particular email had been opened only on two machines and both
> those machines had lost the ability to get email sent out.
> (BTW, all other machines on the network were working fine, so I
> ruled out anything really being wrong at the ISP's SMTP server.)
>
> With the NAV outgoing email scan enabled, messages would
> *appear* to be sent--they would disappear from the Outbox and
> show up in the "Sent Items" folder, BUT, then the NAV scan would
> time out.  I checked all the normal settings and when nothing
> seemed to be wrong, I first disabled the NAV scan of outgoing
> email, but the only change there was that the attempted sends
> now stayed in the Outbox as unsent.   Then I completed
> uninstalled Norton Systemworks from one of the computers with
> the results the same--no send, messages remain in Outbox.
>
> I called Microsoft and paid for a support incident.   I have had
> very mixed results with them in the past and this time was
> extremely disappointing.   The tech rep seemed to have very
> little understanding of Outlook (even to ME!!!) but insisted
> that the error message had something to do with Norton Anti-
> Virus.  I told her that NAV was completely GONE from one of the
> computers experiencing the problem.   She said she would try to
> get someone with more ideas to call me back.
>
> Then I tried a "repair" install of Office 2000 on the computer
> without NAV, and voila!  Working again.  Feeling pretty good, I
> reinstalled Norton Systemworks and that seemed fine also.   I
> did the same thing with the second offending computer--did a
> "repair" install and that one started working again, even
> without un-installing Systemsworks/NAV at all.
>
> So I thought I had solved everything...until....
>
> Two days later the problem showed up on a 3rd computer, AND the
> original offending computer started acting up again.  (More
> background: all these computers were checked for viruses with
> Norton and two of them were also checked for Spyware as part of
> the "fix.")  The 2nd computer continued (and continues) to run
> fine.  I was able to get both of the malfunctioning computers to
> run again, but it was much harder than the first time.   I had
> to uninstall NAV/Sysworks completely, run the "repair,"
> reinstall Sysworks, then "Modify" Sysworks so that the only
> remaining component was NAV itself.   This was done on the
> theory that some other component in Sysworks was causing some
> problem that was corrupting Outlook.   Whether or not this is
> true, I dunno... but that's what worked.   On the second
> computer I just uninstalled NAV/Sysworks and ran the "Repair" of
> Office.   I then bought a brand new copy of NAV--without all the
> extra Systemworks stuff and installed that.   That one is
> working again.   So all three computers were running properly
> and under the protection (???) of NAV and I was hoping that was
> the end of it.
>
> But...today the manager called me from the office (closed on
> Mondays) and told me his computer, which had been working fine
> during all of this previous trouble was refusing to send out
> email.  He spoke with Microsoft under the same repair ticket and
> was told to open up Outlook in Safe Mode, disable some items in
> the the Add-In Manager, and the Com Ad-Ins, and also did some
> changes to the Registry.   He called me saying that everything
> was FIXED!!!  But even as we talked on the phone the problem
> returned...so that wasn't the entire answer, for sure.
>
> I've got to go back in tomorrow and I'll attempt my previous
> "fix" and hope that handles his computer also.   But I'm
> starting to think that something is amiss and am hoping for some
> ideas/help here.
>
> My current theory is that perhaps Norton SystemWorks, through
> LiveUpdate, is subtly changing something in Outlook's internals
> so that this problem manifests on a machine that has run
> LiveUpdate and been affected.   As I mentioned, there are no
> viruses or known Spyware showing up, but of course if Symantec
> is inadvertently causing the problem in the first place I'm sure
> they'd be the last to tell me.
>
> Bottom line is I have no clue as to what is actually causing
> this strange behavior, but I'd sure like to find out and get it
> stably handled.   Maybe my "Repair" install and installing a
> stripped-down NAV-only, will work.
>
> If you've read this far, well, thanks!   All pointers and
> suggestions appreciated.
>
> TIA.
>
> ------------------
> Stephen Porter
> Los Angeles, CA

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