Need help with an error message in Outlook Express

I'm trying to help out a lady with an error in Outlook Express.
When she tries to log into her email the following error appears almost immediately.

Error in full reads

The server responded with an error. Account nnnnnnnnnn (her Name). Server 'mail.bigpond,com' Protocol POP3. Server Response. '-ERR Cannot connect to POP server 144.140.10(144.80.10.110), connecting error 10061'. Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No.
Server Error: 0x800CCC90. Error Number 0x800CCC90

Her ISP is bigpond.net.au in Australia. I rang them and after a lot of stuffing around, they said it was a problem with her Anti-Virus clashing with OE.

I uninstalled Avast, ran CCleaner, downloaded and installed AVG.

Same problem with the AVG Anti-Virus running.
Her email works OK through Outlook Express when no Anti-virus is running.

This is only a recent problem as she has been sending and receiving emails via OE and Avast, without that error message.

Anyone with any ideas? Alternatively, can someone recommend another email program other than OE. I do not like the idea of her running her PC without an AV running.

Firewall is Zone Alarm Free and that has been working with OE and Avast until now.

I rang the ISP later after installing AVG, another operator, and went through all the same suggestions with her, with AVG, as I did with the earlier call to a male operator, when using ZA Free, OE and Avast.

Sorry this is so long but I spent nearly 3 hours there today with no solution.
Tomorrow morning I'm going back again, to try again.

OE Help files were no help, no matter what words I tried.

Hope someone can help.

Specs are XP Home, 256megs RAM, plenty of Harddrive space, Compaq Presario laptop (sorry I haven't got the model number handy).
Broadband through www.bigpond.net.au (major Australian ISP)
Bazza

 

First thing i would try even if the info is setup correctly is to remove the account from oe, and resetup it. Generaly this fixes most problems. Also as far as the email scanning, does her isp scan the email? I know at my isp we scan email, and you then should be fine disiableding the email sanning portions but leaving it installed to scan downloads and such, email scanning issues and email are a very tricky/common problem we run into.

 

Thanks, Colemanguy. I'll give that a go. Don't know if the ISP scan emails so will have to check that out as well.

Can anyone recommend another email send/receive program, other than OE?
FWIW, currently she has Internet Explorer as a browser. Bazza

===

 

You also might try leaving AVG running and disable ZA, see if she still gets the error. Might be one of these here,

http://forum.grisoft.cz/freeforum/read.php?3,33157,33944

Steve

 

Thanks Steve. I'd thought of that, but like even less to run a PC without a Firewall.

Surely there must be millions of users out there using ZA free, Outlook Express and Avast or AVG, without problems? That's what has me confused.

Will check out your link. Thanks again. Bazza

===

 

Not sure how familer you are on how the email scanning works, but basiculy its like a proxy, which redirects the mail through the avg program before deliviring to oe, its a very common problem, and even after talking with everyone i know in the tech world, we haven't come up with a reason this happens. Might disableding the scan. Doing an update, and renabling it, i have heard this suggested as a solution for nortons email scanning issues, might work for avg.

 

Thanks Colemanguy. I've spent over 5 hours, over 2 days, trying to solve this problem.

I've tried help desks and suggestions from here.
I've uninstalled Avast, installed AVG, updated it.
I've deleted and reloaded the user through OE.
I've attempted to run OE, with or without ZA, Avast (or AVG) and all combinations of both.

I still get the !@#$%^ error message as soon as I attempt to use OE.
I even downloaded and installed another email program, but neither of us liked it, so uninstalled that.

I give up, I quit.

So it's off to the shop for her laptop, today.
It'll cost her $$$$ probably, but they may be able to fix it.

What really annoys me is that she had this problem a long time ago and I fixed it then, but I can't remember how. Bazza

===

 

Dunno how, but I fixed it. Thanks for all your help.
Printed out the instructions form Bigpond again, re updating the email settings and it appears to have worked.
Bazza

 

The bl**dy annoying part is that I thought I had done exactly the same procedure more than once, with no results. Dumb machine, or dumb operator. Dunno which. Bazza

PS: Maybe oldtimers disease. LOL. Baz

===

 

Hi Bazza,
Does she still have this problem if she changes servers? Since the server had an answer for you (it conflicts with her AV program), it might be a problem at the server.
abri

 

Thanks Abri, but we (I) solved the problem. See #9.
As I said, I don't know how it got solved, as I thought I had carried out the exact same solution more than once before. I reloaded her email defaults, after deleting them, with exactly the same info as what was there previously, and it worked !!

Thanks for your query, though. I think the clash with her AV was a bum steer, as I have since deleted AVG and re-installed Avast, which originally caused the "problem", ( which I prefer) with no ill effects.
Strange. Bazza

===

 

Hi Bazza,
I know no one wants to think about this, but there is an underworld of machine life. I believe they sit in secret and discuss things when we aren't looking, and then fix themselves so they can laugh at the puzzled expressions on our faces. hehe
abri

 

I agree 100%. Many years ago, a knowledgeable bloke told me that something lived inside the old design of desktop boxes.

The boxes with the ventilation slots in the front.
That living thing peered out through the slots, at you, and when you were happy with your PC setup, it would throw you a "nasty", just to keep you on your toes. LOL.

I think it still lurks inside some PC's just waiting to get you. Bazza

===