Problem using Outlook 2003 with Windows 7

[equuscycle]

Actually I can't send or receive anything. So there's something wrong. I always save my changes after reading (and trying) the suggestions in this post, but my email never goes through and when I pull up email on my phone I always have several messages waiting. That's why this is all so frustrating.

 

[DavidE]

I understand it's frustrating for you, so I'll throw out an idea for a different approach to consider.

If you can't get Outlook working with your Comcast account consider using a different (free) Email provider such as Google or MS.
You would need to see if you can automatically forward email from the Comcast account.
I don't have Comcast so I can't test/verify forwarding (or settings to work with Outlook).

I don't like using an ISP email account because it locks you into the ISP.
If you ever want to or have to switch ISP's, you must get a new email address/provider.
To me the big problem with that is getting everyone that has your current ISP email address switched over to a new address.

i.e.
If you move and Comcast is not available at your new home, you will be forced to get a new ISP and ISP email address.
If a new provider such as Verizon FIOS becomes available to you, it makes switching ISP's more difficult.

Other providers also offer more options such as IMAP that Comcast does not offer.
IMAP can be better for accessing email from multiple devices, and it seems Comcast only offers POP3.

I assume you can access Comcast mail on their email website...and that's how you get email on your phone...

 

[equuscycle]

You are correct - I can access Comcast mail on their website, but I don't like doing it (or the phone - hard to read) and we are looking at moving into an area which does not offer Comcast (can't remember the company who rules that area). I used to use both Hotmail and Yahoo, but I had such a problem with spam - with my Comcast account I receive very little spam. Is there a good email provider out there that uses IMAP that I should be looking at? I'm getting ready to create new business cards, anyway, so if there's something out there that's good I may just switch and notify my friends.

Or, maybe there's another email program out there other than Outlook that I can look at. I like Outlook because I can organize the messages I need to save, can create tasks and maintain my calendar all in one place. But I balk at upgrading my Outlook to 2010 (which I believe is the latest - could be wrong) because $139 is such a steep price to pay for a software program that will only be supported for a short time - I'm not one to keep up with all the latest technology out there. (Case in point - my desktop system is over 10 years old and still running XP - and it does everything I need it to do.....only purchased a new laptop because my old one -- also running XP -- just didn't have the memory it needed and I got a great deal on a new Lenovo).

Suggestions will be much appreciated!!!!! And I want to thank everyone again for helping me - it's just a bummer that I haven't been able to get this working.....

Tina

 

[DavidE]

The free email clients that I know are Mozilla Thunderbird and MS Windows Live Mail (WLM).
Mozilla Thunderbird
Windows Essentials: Other Programs

I prefer Outlook because it has the most features and I've been using a long time so I know it better.
I have been using WLM a lot lately on my TEST box and it works fine for my needs.

Gmail (Google Mail) is free and offers IMAP, POP3, and web access.

I don't see a big problem with spam with Gmail or Hotmail.
Maybe their spam filters have gotten better, or maybe my habits have improved...dunno
You also said you had a malware problem - maybe your email address was compromised causing a lot of spam...again dunno.

Anyway, all of these are free options, so the only cost for you is the time and effort testing them.

I do have Outlook 2010 setup with Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, and at&t accounts and they work.

You could sign up for a free Gmail account and set it up in Outlook.
See if you can forward the Comcast email to that account.
Test drive it and see how you like it.
Just don't distribute your new email address until you're sure you want to keep it.

 

[equuscycle]

Thank you!

Thanks, DavidW7ncus. I have a gmail account that I never used - had to sign up with my iphone. I'll check into forwarding Comcast mail and I'll also look at WLM to see if I can use this in place of Outlook.

Tina

 

[equuscycle]

O.K. - now this is really bizarre..... I set up my Outlook with my gmail account. Everything worked - I received the 3 messages sitting in my gmail account on my Outlook. Then I researched if I could forward my Comcast emails to my gmail account - answer is yes, so I set that up. Then went back into Outlook - all my messages had disappeared. Had to involve Comcast support because emails weren't forwarding - now they are, but I still don't have anything in Outlook. However, if I log onto gmail the messages are there - and new ones are forwarding. So something is really fishy with my Outlook. Has anyone ever run across anything like this before?

 

[DavidE]

Hi Tina,
You're really having fun with this aren't you ?

How did you setup the Gmail account in Outlook, as IMAP or POP3 ?

 

[DavidE]

Log into your Gmail account on the Gmail website.
Review and adjust your settings for POP3 and IMAP.
I use Gmail with IMAP protocol...
The screen print highlights how to get to these settings, and things you should check.
If it's not clear, let me know.

If you ever do post screen prints, make sure you black out any email address's or personal info!
Never show an email address in any forum post...

HTH,
David

 

[DavidE]

Did you ever get this working?

 

[equuscycle]

David,

Sorry to have not responded earlier - family medical emergency. I have gmail set up in outlook using the settings I found at email.about.com - IMAP, username = full gmail address, imap.gmail.com, smtp.gmail.com, server requires encrypted connection checked under both Incoming and Outgoing server, port 993 for Incoming and 465 for Outgoing (also tried 587 for Outgoing).

I also logged onto my gmail.com account and made sure the settings matched what you show - they do.

Spending so much time helping a family member has made me decide to pay someone to fix this for me. My frustration level was high - now with the added responsibilities I'm not sure I want to continue pulling my hair out. I found someone who will fix my Outlook issues for $35, which I think is reasonable. Maybe it will only take him 10 minutes, but I've spent several hours over more than a week and I haven't been able to fix it.

I really appreciate all the help you and everyone else has given me. I've never had a problem setting up my Outlook before, so I'm not sure what the issue is here (and I'm not ruling out operator error!), but I'm crying "uncle"!

Tina

 

[equuscycle]

David - you won't believe it, but I got it working! I decided before I ran off to someone else I'd at least import my .pst file from my old laptop and pull it into Outlook (so at least I could see my older mail and calendar). Then I went back through all the replies on this post and decided to try ONE LAST TIME using the original instructions. And this time for some reason it worked! I still don't have the emails sitting in my gmail account showing up in Outlook, but at least I can send and receive new email from my Comcast account (which is what I use)!!!!

Thank you again, everyone!!!! I don't know what I did differently this time, but I'm just thrilled to death that it worked!

Tina

 

[Irene]

Tina, if you find out what was causing the problem, we would love to know.

 

[DavidE]

Hi Tina,
I'm sorry to hear about your family emergency and i hope all is going well for you and your family.
Glad to hear you got Outlook / Comcast working! That's great
David

 

[equuscycle]

Well, it WAS working - I received my email. I had used the settings in the link that Irene had posted and received an error that the account doesn't support SPA, so unchecked that box and everything was working fine this morning. Now I have email sitting out in my comcast.com account that can't come through because of this error: [image text removed]

Since receiving that message I've logged onto Comcast.com and viewed the email that won't feed through to Outlook. My Outlook settings for Comcast email are:

POP3, my full email in the Username, mail.comcast.net and smtp.comcast.net;

However, I can evidently SEND email, even though I'm receiving this error - I just can't RECEIVE it. And my gmail is now coming through Outlook without any problem. I may be back to forwarding my comcast email to gmail. Any ideas why this would work for a bit and then stop working?

Tina

 

[equuscycle]

Yikes!

I guess I can't just take a screen print of something and post it without doing something else to it, because what came across is UGLY! Let me try again to convey what I was attempting to show you:

I had used the settings in the link that Irene had posted and received an error that the account doesn't support SPA, so unchecked that box and everything was working fine this morning. Now I have email sitting out in my comcast.com account that can't come through and I'm getting an error: Task 'Tina - Receiving' reported error (0x800408FC) : 'The server name you entered can not be found on the network (it might be down temporarily). Please verify that you are online and that the server name is correct.'

Since receiving that message I've logged onto Comcast.com and viewed the email that won't feed through to Outlook, so I have internet connection and comcast isn't having a problem. My Outlook settings for Comcast email are: POP3, my full email in the Username, mail.comcast.net and smtp.comcast.net;
Under More Settings: Outgoing Server tab = box is checked for authentication; Advanced tab = neither box checked, Incoming = 110; Outgoing = 587.

However, I can evidently SEND email, even though I'm receiving this error - I just can't RECEIVE it. And my gmail is now coming through Outlook without any problem. I may be back to forwarding my comcast email to gmail. Any ideas why this would work for a bit and then stop working?

- a very confused Tina

 

[DavidE]

You are not the only one that reports this error.

Try changing the incoming server name to the IP address.
This article shows 76.96.26.11 for the IP address.
Receiving error 0x800408FC - Comcast Help and Support Forums

I get these address's when I run the command nslookup mail.comcast.net
68.87.26.158
76.96.40.158

See if any of these work, or run the nslookup mail.comcast.net command to see what address's you get.

You can do a Google for 0x800408fc comcast email to find more threads about this...

You can edit your previous post to delete all that text for the IMG.
You can also delete that whole post if that's easier for you.

To insert an image in a SF post:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

 

[equuscycle]

Fixed!

David, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!! I had an IT person come over today and he was stumped until we discovered that my Belkin router was causing the problem. We knew that there was a work around, but I wasn't able to contact Belkin today so I was going to order a new router. But now I don't have to! The IP address that worked is 68.87.26.158.

Now, I had everything working once before and then it quit working. We also got it working once today and then it quit again - because as soon as we rebooted the laptop the router would interfere again. So.....I'm going to reboot my laptop and I'll report back in as to whether this fix is permanent or only another temporary solution....

Tina

 

[equuscycle]

It's truly fixed

David,

Thank you again. I had googled that error code and tried 76.96.26.11 without success. Since there was much that I found that I just didn't understand, I gave up and had someone I know come over. It cost me $35, but I didn't know what else to do. When he was stumped I mentioned what I had found during my research about my Belkin routed possibly being the culprit - and then we found through several tests that it really was causing an issue. But we couldn't find a decent work around that would continue to work after a reboot. So I was going to buy another router - but 68.87.26.158 DID work - and continues to work! So now I don't have to shell out more money right away! Thank you SO MUCH!!!! I just can't thank you enough!

Tina

 

[equuscycle]

How to edit a post

I tried to go back and edit the post where I tried to insert a screen shot, but couldn't figure out how to do that. I'd love to clean up this thread, but I did a search and came up empty handed. Can someone give me instructions on how to edit my post (or delete it completely, since the information was repeated in a new posting when I realized that my screen shot wasn't inserted correctly).

Thanks!
Tina (an obvious newby to forums.....LOL)

 

[DavidE]

In the lower right corner of your posts you should see an Edit button.
Click on that and you can edit or delete your posts.



If you don't see the Edit button, in the upper right corner of the posts there is a "Report Post" icon.
You can click on that and it will open a window where you can enter a message.
Ask for the post to be deleted.
This will get the attention of SF administrators, and they will have authority to delete it.