[skysurfer]

I am on TalkTalk broadband and I am having intermittant trouble with emails sent to and from Outlook Express (6 I think) going missing.
The word intermittant is important because some days everything works perfectly and other days like now it is not.
Currently whenI send an email to myself it does not arrive when previously it comes in very quickly.
Strangely if I go onto TalkTalk webmail and send an email to myself, it arrives on Outlook Express.
Similarly a lot of emails I send to other people from OE don't arrive at their destination and other people have had trouble sending me emails.
Somebody has just sent me a non-delivery email they received when trying to send to me which I will try to paste on the end here.
I have spent hours on the phone to TalkTalk who checked all my email settings were correct. In the end they said it was noting to do with TalkTalk and there must be a software glitch in Outlook Express.
What I don't understand if it is NOT something to do with TalkTalk is why some days it should work, and other days not. If there is a software prob with OE, wouldn't it always be faulty?
Below is a failure notice somebody sent me:
I will delete the actual email addresses...
Thanks

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2008 9:57 PM
Subject: failure notice


> Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.
>
> <[email protected]>:
> Mail server for "talkalk.net" unreachable for too long
>
> --- Below this line is a copy of the message.
>
> Received: from [217.146.182.178] by n22.bullet.mail.ukl.yahoo.com with
> NNFMP; 13 Jun 2008 20:50:56 -0000
> Received: from [217.146.182.191] by t4.bullet.ukl.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 13
> Jun 2008 20:50:56 -0000
> Received: from [127.0.0.1] by omp105.mail.ukl.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 13 Jun
> 2008 20:50:56 -0000
> X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-5
> X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: [email protected]
> Received: (qmail 28486 invoked by uid 60001); 11 Jun 2008 13:12:00 -0000
> DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws;
> s=s1024; d=btinternet.com;
>
> h=Received:X-Mailer:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Message-ID;
>
> b=R5gb9CAolNExW6li5eufmOs/pm4YnhVnQo3lNg0SH3VG3XNM65QLjDYtabXSHM1PbT8mU7EmN6 J4sSzu4js9ER9C/fG+gFhVucvcIN4ZCfFGw1TEZ6ZkHf2EIwgBLSiCkIvJSxxUFbE TMJ516JjSDnPg1uBd8mzSg43SnjkMQXg=;
> Received: from [83.104.205.170] by web86613.mail.ird.yahoo.com via HTTP;
> Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:11:59 GMT
> X-Mailer: YahooMailRC/975.41 YahooMailWebService/0.7.185
> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:11:59 +0000 (GMT)
> From: Phil
> Subject: Tulpa or Tulku?
> To: Dave <[email protected]>,> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="0-1695682674-1213189919=:24988"
> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
>
> --0-1695682674-1213189919=:24988
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>

[Curlyben]

This appears to be an issue with Talktalk's mail server and not your settings.

I know they have been having issues recently and the helpdesk may not be aware of them.
If you continue to get these failure reports from known good addresses and the helldesk keeps insisting it's your machine, then it time to look for a better ISP.

[skysurfer]

Thanks for the prtompt response.
If it is TalkTalk's fault - how can I prove it and get something done.
Does that non-delivery report I included prove it?
And why when I send to myself and it doesn't arrive, do I not get a similar non-delivery report?
Has anyone in a similar position sorted this prob with TalkTalk?
Changing ISP is an enormous thing - and TalkTalk is cheap - surely there must be another way?

[twilcox]

Couple of things:

First, an easy test to determine if your problem lies with Outlook Express or TalkTalk: Download and install Mozilla Thunderbird. It's a completely free email client. See if you still get the same problems. If you do, then you know immediately that the problem is not with your mail client.

Second, you have to remember that most helpdesks are rarely populated by people who actually know anything about the topic they're helping you with. Most of the time, they're reading off a script, and if the problem isn't on their list of problems, it "must be a problem on your end." If you talk to them and they insist that it's a problem on your end, ask to speak with their supervisor, and keep climbing the chain till you get to someone who can actually get something done. Mentioning that you've been looking at other ISP's never hurts, either ;)

[skysurfer]

Hi twilcox
Thanks for your advice. I have followed it to the letter and although it's now 2am! I have downloaded and installed Thunderbird.
The good news is that it sends and receives successfully.
In other words I can send to myself and it actually arrives!
A couple of things - unlike Outlook Express, you can't access the address book from the address panel at the top of a new email so you are limited to three or four people to send to... I am sure I'm wrong but can't quite figure out yet how to multi-send.
The other thing I have noticed is that you either send or receive with Outlook or with Thunderbird - is that right?
What I mean is that although Thunderbird duplicates outlook express as it stands with x amount of emails and folders, if you send or receive stuff in Firefox and then go to Outlook , the emails will only be in Firefox. And presumably if you send or receive with Outlook, then the emails won't appear in Firefox.
Is that correct or is it a matter of settings.
I note they asked if I wanted to make Firefox the default email and I said .no. but maybe you do have to decide one or the other.
So in your opinion what does this now prove - that TalkTalk are crapola or Outlook Express is crapola?
It looks like I might stick with Thunderbird though if it's the only way to get a proper email service. And Thunderbirds search system is absolutely brilliant and makes it so easy to find any email.
Thanks a lot for your help

[twilcox]

A couple of things - unlike Outlook Express, you can't access the address book from the address panel at the top of a new email so you are limited to three or four people to send to.....I am sure I'm wrong but can't quite figure out yet how to multi-send.

It is possible to do this, look at the help file and it should be able to answer that question for you.

The other thing I have noticed is that you either send or receive with Outlook or with Thunderbird - is that right?
What I mean is that although Thunderbird duplicates outlook express as it stands with x amount of emails and folders, if you send or receive stuff in Firefox and then go to Outlook , the emails will only be in Firefox. And presumably if you send or receive with Outlook, then the emails won't appear in Firefox.
Is that correct or is it a matter of settings?

That's a matter of settings. When you're setting up your account, one of the options that is present, in both Thunderbird and Outlook Express is to leave mail on your server, with several configurable options.

I note they asked if I wanted to make Firefox the default email and I said .no. but maybe you do have to decide one or the other.

One or the other will be the default, the only difference this makes is letting the computer know which one to open when you click on a mailto link.

So in your opinion what does this now prove - that TalkTalk are crapola or Outlook Express is crapola?
It looks like I might stick with Thunderbird though if it's the only way to get a proper email service. And Thunderbirds search system is absolutely brilliant and makes it so easy to find any email.
Thanks a lot for your help

Outlook Express is provided free by Microsoft, which pretty much means that it's capable of doing the job, but doesn't give you a lot of features. Thunderbird is built to compete with Microsoft Office Outlook, and is full of all kinds of features. As far as which is crapola, I think it's too early to tell. Keep going with THunderbird for now, and post again if the problem presents itself again. If it doesn't, then OE was definitely the problem. If it does, then there's something else going on with your ISP.

Hope that helps, feel free to contact me by email or private message any time (both are on my profile).

[skysurfer]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK people - it looks like I may have the answer to my probs - but it creates some questions I wonder if folk can answer for me...
I discovered my C drive was virtually full - only 9 per cent left after tidying up... anyway after clearing out a little I find my OE emails work again fine.
Could it be that was my trouble - too little room on C?
If so, the reason is I am too stubborn to delete thousands of emails collected over many years - silly I know but they have huge sentimental and informational value to me.
Everybody says I can't save 'em to disc (except one at a time onto Word or something) so I have been stuck.
But after this prob as you know I set up Thunderbird email...
Question... all my emails are reproduced in Thunderbird - can I maybe save them to disc from here?
If not alternatively - if I delete all my excess emails from OE to create more space, will the emails still be on Thunderbird, in which case I seem to have an answer to my dilemma...
Forgive me cos I don't understand a lot of this stuff but does Thunderbird store my emails on my computer drive or are they on some memory in the sky like Hotmail or Yahoo webmail?
If they don't store in my memory then maybe I'll delete all my years of emails on my PC, get it working swish again and my emails will always be sitting there in Thunderbird for reference... does that make sense oh dear gurus?
Great sunny day here in Bournemouth...

[twilcox]

I'm not 100% on Outlook Express, but your emails are there on your computer and able to be copied to a disk. You don't have to do it one at a time. Thunderbird and OE are completely separate from each other. So long as you've downloaded all your emails onto Thunderbird, deleting them from OE shouldn't hurt the Thunderbird copies.

As far as the C drive being full, it's entirely possible that a lack of space was causing errors. If I might ask, how big of a drive do you have. Saying that you have 9% doesn't say a whole lot... 9% of my hard drive space is still several GB of space.

One final note, if you want a way to keep all your emails handy, try using G-mail. It's free and they give you a crap ton of space. Granted, that doesn't do much for the emails you have now, but at least it could be there for future emails.

Also, Outlook Express does have an option that lets you archive all your old emails, this will condense them down, but keep them on the hard drive for ready access. Be sure that Thunderbird is configured to download your emails off your Web space before you delete them all off Outlook, either that or make sure that Outlook doesn't delete them from the server when deleted from the inbox.

[skysurfer]

Hi Twilcox
Many thanks for your prompt response
Maybe I can respond between your comments below...

I'm not 100% on Outlook Express, but your emails are there on your computer and able to be copied to a disk. You don't have to do it one at a time. Thunderbird and OE are completely separate from each other. So long as you've downloaded all your emails onto Thunderbird, deleting them from OE shouldn't hurt the Thunderbird copies.

D This is good news - I have read and been told that you can't copy to disc from OE - Outlook yes but not OE. Could you maybe point to a link explaining how this can be done?

As far as the C drive being full, it's entirely possible that a lack of space was causing errors. If I might ask, how big of a drive do you have. Saying that you have 9% doesn't say a whole lot... 9% of my hard drive space is still several GB of space.

D My C drive has 25 GB used and 2.5 GB free - the problem seemed to solve after I compacted folders - although some wdn't compact because they said there was not enough space.

One final note, if you want a way to keep all your emails handy, try using G-mail. It's free and they give you a crap ton of space. Granted, that doesn't do much for the emails you have now, but at least it could be there for future emails.

Also, Outlook Express does have an option that lets you archive all your old emails, this will condense them down, but keep them on the hard drive for ready access.

D Again I did not know this - is there a link where I can learn how to do this please?

Be sure that Thunderbird is configured to download your emails off your Web space before you delete them all off Outlook,

D What does this mean? Do you mean I should try to access them and make sure they are all there? Or are you talking about some special settings.

Either that or make sure that Outlook doesn't delete them from the server when deleted from the inbox

D I didn't realise there was a possibility of OE keeping them on the server even though I delete the inbox or in my case, thousands of Sent items, contained in 30 folders called Sent 1 Sent 2 etc - some containing 2000 or more emails. I broke them up into folders because I was told the PC could handle them better than having one Sent box with all emails from several years ago.
Thanks so much for your help - I really appreciate it. Dave

[twilcox]

Again, I do not claim to be an expert when it comes to Outlook Express (I rather detest the program, actually), but a quick search of Google did reveal the following link that may be of some use to you.

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