Outlook Express problems sending mail

StudioZEL

Hi all.

I came home today to find a most unusual problem with my Outlook Express e-mail. I'm currently having no trouble recieving my e-mail, but whenever I try to reply I get this message almost immediately in my inbox. (I've placed x's inplace of the e-mail for safety)

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
SMTP error from remote mail server after MAIL FROM:<xxx@xxxxxxx.xxxx> SIZE=3798:
host xxx.xxxxxxxx.xxx [209.86.93.227]: 550 Dynamic IPs/open relays blocked. Contact <xxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx>.

I've tried this to an e-mail account from earthlink, yahoo, and aol. Can anyone tell me wtf magically happened to my settings (that I never ever touch) to stop me from sending any e-mail?

Omnicron9999

I actually just had a similar problem, not only was it not sending my e-mails, but I was not receiving some as well.

For me, it turned out to be a very nasty virus. It actually took me formatting and reinstalling Windows. I tried every antivirus program I had available to me, and none of them could get rid of it completely.

Might not be the same for you though, good luck.

StudioZEL

So Norton didn't work for you either?

Should I contact Microsoft and see if there's anything that can be done on their end?

Ruckus

You're probably using your ISP email address, and your ISP has changed from open SMTP relay to password only SMTP relay, meaning that you have to use your account username and password to send mail now.

It's a relatively easy setup, all you need is your ISP username and password.

Open up your Outlook, and go to tools>accounts

Select your mail service, and choose properties. On the Server tab, there will be a checkbox that says My Outgoing (SMTP) server requires authentication, which you should check.

You can double check this setup with your ISP helpdesk as well.

StudioZEL

Thank you for the advice Rukus, I'll try that first when I get home.

If that does not work, re-format here I come :-P

Muriden

StudioZEL wrote:

Thank you for the advice Rukus, I'll try that first when I get home.

If that does not work, re-format here I come :-P

:shock:
Formatting is going a bit far for right off the bat. Try installing another e-mail client like thunderbird or eudora first to make sure it's a setting within OE. I used to work a tech support call center and we would get stuff like this all the time, which makes me kind of bitter about OE.

Call your ISP's tech support line and make sure they haven't switched to an auth based SMTP system. If they haven't you know it's on your end. Install another e-mail client to make sure that OE isn't behaving badly. If none of the other e-mail clients work then you know there is something larger going on.

StudioZEL

Where can I find these other e-mail clients like thunderbird? Do they cost money?

Ruckus

googlesearch.

I've used Pegasus Mail before, it does pretty much everything.

StudioZEL

Another question. This virus that Omnicron9999 mentioned, does anyone know anything about the virus? Like it's name, so that I can try and search to see if it's actually on there if all else fails?

StudioZEL

Ok, it's got to be some sort of settings problem.

It's rejecting AOL, Yahoo, and Earthlink.

But sending mail to Hotmail accounts = no problem.

Any clues?

stigweard

It is a very low possibility, but it could be your isp got blacklisted as being an open relay. Once they are on that list, every smtp server that uses it will block any mail coming from it.

StudioZEL

How do I find out?

stigweard

I ran the ip in the op through the open relay test (Earthlink is your isp?) and it isn't an open relay. That doesn't mean they aren't on a list for some reason. It looks like you hsould be giving them a call if some sites are accepting the emails while others are bouncing it back. I'm a little unclear on your testing. Are all those differnt accounts setup through OE?

Feral

stigweard wrote:

I ran the ip in the op through the open relay test (Earthlink is your isp?) and it isn't an open relay. That doesn't mean they aren't on a list for some reason. It looks like you hsould be giving them a call if some sites are accepting the emails while others are bouncing it back. I'm a little unclear on your testing. Are all those differnt accounts setup through OE?

The IP in the OP isn't his mail server, it's the recipient's mail server. StudioZEL, who is your ISP?

stigweard

Feral wrote:

stigweard wrote:

I ran the ip in the op through the open relay test (Earthlink is your isp?) and it isn't an open relay. That doesn't mean they aren't on a list for some reason. It looks like you hsould be giving them a call if some sites are accepting the emails while others are bouncing it back. I'm a little unclear on your testing. Are all those differnt accounts setup through OE?

The IP in the OP isn't his mail server, it's the recipient's mail server. StudioZEL, who is your ISP?

It says from earthlink, not too earhtlink. This is why I am a bit confused over what exactly he is trying to do to figure out the problem.

StudioZEL

I have my own website, StudioZEL.com that I have through surpass hosting.

EDIT: Oh wait, you mean my internet connection. I have Charter Cable here .

Feral

StudioZEL wrote:

I have my own website, StudioZEL.com that I have through surpass hosting.

Does Surpass Hosting handle your outgoing email, too?

StudioZEL

I believe so, it always has in the past I'm pretty sure.

stigweard

StudioZEL wrote:

I have my own website, StudioZEL.com that I have through surpass hosting.

EDIT: Oh wait, you mean my internet connection. I have Charter Cable here .

So you are using a mailserver through whoever is running studioZEL then? It has likely been flagged as an open relay. You'll have to go through whoever runs it to get it closed and off the relay list.

edit: nope. I just tested studio-zel.com on an anonymous relay tester (it won't blacklist you should it be an open relay) and it is not allowing relays.

If you try from another machine, will it work?

StudioZEL

I've not tried from another machine... I guess I can try that when I'm on another machine...

StudioZEL

Ok, I just found out how to access my mail settings on the online server and here's what it says.

Manual Settings
Mail Server Username: zel+studio-zel.com
Incoming Mail Server: mail.studio-zel.com
Outgoing Mail Server: mail.studio-zel.com (server requires authentication)
Supported Incoming Mail Protocols: POP3, POP3S (SSL/TLS), IMAP, IMAPS (SSL/TLS)
Supported Outgoing Mail Protocols: SMTP, SMTPS (SSL/TLS)


So it looks like my outgoing mail, the server requires authentication. How do I do this?

EDIT: There's something here that says

Auto-Configure Microsoft Outlook Express® for POP3 Access

Should I do this?

Ruckus

Tools>Accounts

Click your mail account, properties of it, server, outgoing mail server, there is a checkbox that says "My outgoing mail server requires authentication" It should be checked and the subsettings should either say "use the same as my incoming mail" or have your username and password again.

StudioZEL

I just did that, it's still not working.

StudioZEL

Any ideas?

Muriden

Call suprpass and tell them the story. Since you have to connect to their smtp servers the problem is likely there.

Omnicron9999

Sorry StudioZEL, missed your reply to the topic.

Still not sure if you're having the same issue as I did. As you asked before, I do not remember the name of the virus from earlier. Sorry.

As it sounds right now, you still haven't checked all the possible avenues for virii.

Might be worth a check, as I did all of the aforementioned fixes for my box, to no avail. I was told by many that it is an SMTP problem, but it completly turned out to be a virus.

Not that it is true in your case.

Try both I guess,

good luck...

StudioZEL

Well I've tried just about everything I can think of on my end with OE, I'm working with Surpass now, but they seem to be having difficulty finding a solution too...

It may very well *be* a virus...