Completely off topic - I need help.

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

And if IMAP, make sure your ISP even has that enabled.

Both IMAP and POP. I understand iPads etc will not work with POP.

you understand wrong.

however, pop should not be used, as it's obsolete.

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

The affected computer used Thunderbird.

that's likely the problem, if not a major part of it.

That's what I thought at first, but first I updated Thunderbird and
then I stripped it right out using Revo Uninstaller and gave it a
completely fresh install. When the problem remained I switched to
using the W10 mail client (I previously accidentally wrote 'mail
server') and it cant connect to my ISP's mail server for receiving
either.

sounds like it could be a networking issue.

is there any type of firewall running, incoming or outgoing? if so,
disable and test.

does the other win10 computer use thunderbird?

Nope. It uses 'Agent'.

that is further evidence against thunderbird (not that there needs to
be anything additional).

Since the problem started I
also switched to the mail server built into Windows 10. It won't work
either. The symptom is that the mail server times out and presumably
is failing to connect. The mail remains on server and can be accessed
by other devices but not this particular computer.

mail server doesn't mean what you think it means.

what you're describing sounds like a mail *client*.

I got that wrong. 'Mail Server' means what it says

the mail server should be your isp's mail server.

i don't think you mean a mail server on win10.

and I've tried both
IMAP and POP3.

don't bother with pop. it's obsolete. imap can do everything pop can do
and a whole lot more.

this is particularly true with multiple devices, where pop becomes a
maintenance nightmare.

The 'mail client' (both T Bird and W10) is on my
machine at home.

tbird claims to be a mail client. w10 is not.


I've run out of ideas as to what the problem might be. Any polite
suggestions will be welcome.

compare the settings of each device. every single one. one of them is
not like the others.

My Agent installatiuon is running POP3 while T Bird and whatever they
call the one built into W10 are running IMAP. There are all sorts of
combination of security and ports (both default and non-standard) and
I have tried all that anyone can think of.

again, don't use pop. it's obsolete. imap can do everything pop can do
and much more, and with multiple devices, imap is pretty much required.
pop is a huge, huge pain in the ass with multiple devices.

however, change that after you figure out what's wrong with the other
machine,

there is mail on the mail server, right? because if your agent system
pulled it down, the other computer won't see anything.

you could do a packet trace to see what's being sent and received but
that's probably overkill and a pain in the ass too.

It's still a good idea. I find I get strange results if I try
'tracert'. These are complicated by having to find their way through
my home network. I will follow this up further.

packet tracing is best done with a separate machine watching the
traffic go by, but either way, it's way overkill.

something is misconfigured somewhere.

or you're finding out just how much of a piece of **** thunderbird
really is.

On Sun, 21 May 2017 16:47:37 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

On Sat, 20 May 2017 20:05:11 -0700, Bill W
wrote:

On Sun, 21 May 2017 13:43:49 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

I have two Windows 10 computers in my house, two iPads and two
iPhones. All of these use the same mail server. On the 6th May my
older W10 machine lost the ability to download mail. It can send but
it can't receive. All other devices continue unchanged.

The affected computer used Thunderbird. Since the problem started I
also switched to the mail server built into Windows 10. It won't work
either. The symptom is that the mail server times out and presumably
is failing to connect. The mail remains on server and can be accessed
by other devices but not this particular computer.

I have spent hours on the phone with my ISP and have tried every
combination of connection that there is including password security
and ports. Nothing works.

I've run out of ideas as to what the problem might be. Any polite
suggestions will be welcome.

Are you using a VPN?

Nope.

If so, try turning it off temporarily. How about
anti-virus? You can try turning that off, along with any firewall you
might be using.

McAfee. Tried that. Didn't help.

Also check you IMAP or POP settings, and make sure
whichever one you're using is using the current correct settings for
that ISP.

Tried all their standard and non-standard settings.

And if IMAP, make sure your ISP even has that enabled.

Both IMAP and POP. I understand iPads etc will not work with POP.

If it
is, it uses different port numbers than POP. You can usually Google
the correct port numbers for any ISP.

Tried all that. That's why I'm asking for help.

I assume that you can connect to all sites on the internet, right? I
would also try using POP only on the troubled PC, but make sure you
change the server name, and the ports to the correct ones for POP.

What exact error message are you getting? And does your ISP have web
access to your email? Have you tried logging in through their website?
If you can't log in there, it's nothing to do with your email.

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

If so, try turning it off temporarily. How about
anti-virus? You can try turning that off, along with any firewall you
might be using.

McAfee. Tried that. Didn't help.

for antivirus? toss. windows defender works well.

On Sun, 21 May 2017 00:59:42 -0400, nospam
wrote:

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

The affected computer used Thunderbird.

that's likely the problem, if not a major part of it.

That's what I thought at first, but first I updated Thunderbird and
then I stripped it right out using Revo Uninstaller and gave it a
completely fresh install. When the problem remained I switched to
using the W10 mail client (I previously accidentally wrote 'mail
server') and it cant connect to my ISP's mail server for receiving
either.

sounds like it could be a networking issue.

is there any type of firewall running, incoming or outgoing? if so,
disable and test.

I've done that with the one in the computer. There is another in my
router but it isn't stopping any other traffic and I don't know
anything that has changed it in the last year or so, let alone 15 days
ago.

does the other win10 computer use thunderbird?

Nope. It uses 'Agent'.

that is further evidence against thunderbird (not that there needs to
be anything additional).

The native W10 mail client on that compter also has the same problem.

Since the problem started I
also switched to the mail server built into Windows 10. It won't work
either. The symptom is that the mail server times out and presumably
is failing to connect. The mail remains on server and can be accessed
by other devices but not this particular computer.

mail server doesn't mean what you think it means.

what you're describing sounds like a mail *client*.

I got that wrong. 'Mail Server' means what it says

the mail server should be your isp's mail server.

i don't think you mean a mail server on win10.

and I've tried both
IMAP and POP3.

don't bother with pop. it's obsolete. imap can do everything pop can do
and a whole lot more.

this is particularly true with multiple devices, where pop becomes a
maintenance nightmare.

The 'mail client' (both T Bird and W10) is on my
machine at home.

tbird claims to be a mail client. w10 is not.


I've run out of ideas as to what the problem might be. Any polite
suggestions will be welcome.

compare the settings of each device. every single one. one of them is
not like the others.

My Agent installatiuon is running POP3 while T Bird and whatever they
call the one built into W10 are running IMAP. There are all sorts of
combination of security and ports (both default and non-standard) and
I have tried all that anyone can think of.

again, don't use pop. it's obsolete. imap can do everything pop can do
and much more, and with multiple devices, imap is pretty much required.
pop is a huge, huge pain in the ass with multiple devices.

however, change that after you figure out what's wrong with the other
machine,

there is mail on the mail server, right? because if your agent system
pulled it down, the other computer won't see anything.

you could do a packet trace to see what's being sent and received but
that's probably overkill and a pain in the ass too.

It's still a good idea. I find I get strange results if I try
'tracert'. These are complicated by having to find their way through
my home network. I will follow this up further.

packet tracing is best done with a separate machine watching the
traffic go by, but either way, it's way overkill.

something is misconfigured somewhere.

or you're finding out just how much of a piece of **** thunderbird
really is.

..... and the Windows 10 mail client.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On Sat, 20 May 2017 22:00:14 -0700, Bill W
wrote:

On Sun, 21 May 2017 16:47:37 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

On Sat, 20 May 2017 20:05:11 -0700, Bill W
wrote:

On Sun, 21 May 2017 13:43:49 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

I have two Windows 10 computers in my house, two iPads and two
iPhones. All of these use the same mail server. On the 6th May my
older W10 machine lost the ability to download mail. It can send but
it can't receive. All other devices continue unchanged.

The affected computer used Thunderbird. Since the problem started I
also switched to the mail server built into Windows 10. It won't work
either. The symptom is that the mail server times out and presumably
is failing to connect. The mail remains on server and can be accessed
by other devices but not this particular computer.

I have spent hours on the phone with my ISP and have tried every
combination of connection that there is including password security
and ports. Nothing works.

I've run out of ideas as to what the problem might be. Any polite
suggestions will be welcome.

Are you using a VPN?

Nope.

If so, try turning it off temporarily. How about
anti-virus? You can try turning that off, along with any firewall you
might be using.

McAfee. Tried that. Didn't help.

Also check you IMAP or POP settings, and make sure
whichever one you're using is using the current correct settings for
that ISP.

Tried all their standard and non-standard settings.

And if IMAP, make sure your ISP even has that enabled.

Both IMAP and POP. I understand iPads etc will not work with POP.

If it
is, it uses different port numbers than POP. You can usually Google
the correct port numbers for any ISP.

Tried all that. That's why I'm asking for help.

I assume that you can connect to all sites on the internet, right? I
would also try using POP only on the troubled PC, but make sure you
change the server name, and the ports to the correct ones for POP.

What exact error message are you getting?

..... Slingshot mail timed out.

And does your ISP have web access to your email?

Yes.

Have you tried logging in through their website?

Yes, and it works.

If you can't log in there, it's nothing to do with your email.

Agreed. It is something between the affected computer and the mail
server.

--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On 5/21/2017 12:36 AM, Eric Stevens wrote:
On Sat, 20 May 2017 22:43:11 -0400, Neil
wrote:

On 5/20/2017 9:43 PM, Eric Stevens wrote:
I have two Windows 10 computers in my house, two iPads and two
iPhones. All of these use the same mail server. On the 6th May my
older W10 machine lost the ability to download mail. It can send but
it can't receive. All other devices continue unchanged.

The affected computer used Thunderbird. Since the problem started I
also switched to the mail server built into Windows 10. It won't work
either. The symptom is that the mail server times out and presumably
is failing to connect. The mail remains on server and can be accessed
by other devices but not this particular computer.

I have spent hours on the phone with my ISP and have tried every
combination of connection that there is including password security
and ports. Nothing works.

I've run out of ideas as to what the problem might be. Any polite
suggestions will be welcome.

Thunderbird's server settings are the likely source of your problem. I
have experienced similar issues at times, and for some reason the
problem is more frequent under Win10 if one is connecting to multiple
email servers. Usually, the problem can be addressed by manually setting
all incoming and outgoing server port and protocol settings to match
your other device settings. The worst-case (but least frequent) scenario
is that the damaged account needs to be deleted in order to force
Thunderbird to reestablish all server connection criteria.

HTH.

See my reply to nospam.

I looked at it, but saw nothing that addresses what I've written, above.
One difference is that my comments are based on similar experiences and
how I resolved them, not WAGs about what might be going on. If my
suggestions don't help to resolve your problem, I haven't anything else
to offer.

--
best regards,

Neil

"Eric Stevens" wrote

| Thunderbird's server settings are the likely source of your problem. I
| have experienced similar issues at times, and for some reason the
| problem is more frequent under Win10 if one is connecting to multiple
| email servers. Usually, the problem can be addressed by manually setting
| all incoming and outgoing server port and protocol settings to match
| your other device settings. The worst-case (but least frequent) scenario
| is that the damaged account needs to be deleted in order to force
| Thunderbird to reestablish all server connection criteria.
|
| See my reply to nospam.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see anyplace where
you either mentioned any error message or mentioned
the TB settings.
Neil's point is the next thing to try after ruling out
obstacles like AV and firewalls. With TB, especially, there
can be problems. 1) It's poorly designed, separating POP
and SMTP server settings. 2) It tries too hard to
be helpful, often guessing at what settings you need.

It may be that your settings are fine, but as Neil
said, that's the next thing to rule out. Protocol?
STARTTLS is not equivalent to SSL/TLS, for example.
Port? STARTTLS will use a different port from SSL/TLS.
Format of username? Some ISPs want to see eric while
others want to see . POP address?
some ISPs want mail.someisp.com while others want
smtp.someisp.com. You need to confirm you have those
correct and also confirm that TB didn't screw them up
trying to be helpful.

"Eric Stevens" wrote

| I have spent hours on the phone with my ISP and have tried every
| combination of connection that there is including password security
| and ports. Nothing works.
|
Did you also try a search? The first item turned up
when I did a search was an interesting one: Someone
turned out to have a password too long, with questionable
characters. It didn't interfere with SMTP but did interfere
with POP.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1045102

A longshot, but....

On Sun, 21 May 2017 20:10:13 +1200, Eric Stevens
wrote:

On Sun, 21 May 2017 00:59:42 -0400, nospam
wrote:

In article , Eric Stevens
wrote:

The affected computer used Thunderbird.

that's likely the problem, if not a major part of it.

That's what I thought at first, but first I updated Thunderbird and
then I stripped it right out using Revo Uninstaller and gave it a
completely fresh install. When the problem remained I switched to
using the W10 mail client (I previously accidentally wrote 'mail
server') and it cant connect to my ISP's mail server for receiving
either.

sounds like it could be a networking issue.

is there any type of firewall running, incoming or outgoing? if so,
disable and test.

I've done that with the one in the computer. There is another in my
router but it isn't stopping any other traffic and I don't know
anything that has changed it in the last year or so, let alone 15 days
ago.

As unlikely as it is, it can't hurt to plug the affected PC directly
into the modem, and bypass the router.

But here's something even better: 15 days ago is about when my PC
crashed from a Windows update, and a quick Google search showed email
issues arising from previous updates. This is one fix that seemed to
work for a couple of people:

Yep, same thing happened to me on 2 computers. You would think
Microsoft would have at least it's own programs sorted for the launch.
Anyway, here is the fix:
1. Open a command prompt from the start menu as Administrator.
2. type sfc /scannow
3. Windows will scan your system files and repair corrupted ones (why
they are corrupted who knows).
4. Do a reboot and I am sure your emails will work again.

You might have to do this repeatedly until all errors are repaired.