Outlook Express wont retrieve messages sent to self

[algrinch]

My sister came to me with a problem with Outlook Express. When she drafts an email she likes to send it to herself first to make sure it displays the way she intends it too. When she does this, outlook express won't retrieve the message from the server. If she logs onto the webmail for her internet provider the message is there.

I tried the same thing at home, (I use Outlook Express to get my gmail).
The same problem occurres. I send a message to myself. Outlook Express sends it to gmail. When I go to gmail the message is in the Inbox, but when I use the send/receive function OE doesn't download the message. It works for all other messages no problem.

I have tried google searchs and searchs of this forum. I am not sure I am searching with the right keywords.

I have looked through the options and haven't seen anything that I can see that affects this problem.

I tried the same experiment with Outllook (full version) and it worked fine. It sent and received the message to myself.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Al

[bill]

Just a guess..

For Outlook Express 6 try looking under- tools- message rules-mail. After the pop up window is displayed select cancel. Are there any rules that may be causing the problem?

[MediumRare]

When I want to check how a message looks I just save it as a draft, exit and open it again. That shows all the funny linebreaks and other formatting that OE performs.

G

[cfitz]

I tried the same experiment with Outllook (full version) and it worked fine. It sent and received the message to myself.

What ISP is your sister using, and what ISP did you use for your test with the full version of Outlook?


In the past I have always been able to send to myself and receive those same messages when using any version of Outlook Express. However, that was with traditional ISPs and not web-based email providers like GMail.

Just to test what was going on, I tried it again today to and from a Comcast account and to and from a GMail account. The Comcast account worked fine with Outlook Express 6, receiving the message I sent to myself. The GMail account, as you described, did not.

I turned on logging for Outlook Express to get a closer look, and this is what I saw for Outlook Express' conversation with GMail:

Code: Select all

POP3: 11:59:49 [tx] USER myemailaddress@gmail.com
POP3: 11:59:49 [rx] +OK send PASS
POP3: 11:59:49 [tx] PASS ******
POP3: 11:59:49 [rx] +OK Welcome.
POP3: 11:59:49 [tx] STAT
POP3: 11:59:50 [rx] +OK 0 0
POP3: 11:59:50 [tx] QUIT
POP3: 11:59:50 [rx] +OK Farewell.


The STAT command is the standard POP command to check for messages. As you can see, when Outlook Express sent it, GMail responded by saying there were zero messages with zero total bytes (+OK 0 0). After being told there are no messages, Outlook Express quit. I don't think you can blame Outlook Express for this. What else can it do if it is told that there are no messages on the server?

I also tested Thunderbird against GMail, and it exhibited the same behavior - it could not retrieve email sent by the GMail account to the GMail account.

Based on what I have seen this appears to be a problem with GMail, not Outlook Express. The only evidence otherwise is your report that it did work when using the full version of Outlook. I am hoping, however, that you will report that you tested the full version of Outlook against a provider other than GMail.

As for work-arounds, MediumRare suggested a good one. Another one is to open "Tools" -> "Options..." -> "Send" and uncheck "Send messages immediately". When you do this, anytime you hit the "Send" button for a message, it will go the outbox but not be sent to the remote server. You can then open the message from the outbox to see what it looks like, make any changes you need, then hit "Send" again to put it back in the outbox. When you are finally ready to really send it to the remote server, hit "Send/Recv" button in the top toolbar (or select "Tools"->"Send and Receive" -> "Send and Recieve All" or press Ctrl-M). I used to do this all the time when I had a dial-up account so that I could compose messages off-line.

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

another work-around:
sent it to another gmail account.
i've successfully sent an email, using Outlook Express 6, from one Gmail account to another.
just create another Gmail account for testing purposes (or any other purposes for that matter).

BTW what i do is what MediumRare said.

[algrinch]

BigMonkey
I checked and there were no mail rules in place.

MediumRare
I like your workaround, I will suggest that for my sister.

Cfitz
When I tested Outlook (full version it) was with the same ISP that my sister is using, I was going to test it with gmail, but when I put the settings in the program started bitching about some connection problem with gmail (I ended up deleting that account because I didn't have time to screw around with it). I will try again as I am now interested if it will act the same way as express. After reading the info from you, I expect it will.

My account with my ISP is the older email server and my sister's account is a newer email server with the same provider.

My sisters email settings required that Norton outbound email scanning be disabled. I think the ISP is teamed up with MSN. The guy at the ISP said that the Mailbox storage space was much higher for accounts that have been upgraded to the new mail server.

Being that Cfitz has never had this problem with Outlook Express, yet, experienced it with gmail. I am starting to think that tthe problem is caused by gmail and the new email server at my ISP.

Thank you very much for all who responded, I think I am on the right track. I will post any further results or information I find.

I always find a lot of great information in this forum, thanks

[algrinch]

Well, for those interested.....


I have now tested the problem with Outlook (full version) on my gmail account and it acts the same way. It will not retrieve a message sent to myself from the gmail server.

Or maybe better stated, the gmail server reports 0 messages when there are new messages addressed to myself from myself.

I think I can safely conclude that the problem is with the gmail server and with my ISP's new server.

The problem isn't really a problem, but its nice to know what is causing it to happen.

Thanks for your help folks

[dodecahedron]

i don't think this has anything to do with your ISP.
cfitz reported the same behaviour. i experience the same.

it's probably Gmail.

[algrinch]

dodecahedron

I think your right that it's gmail....

Outlook (full version) - has the problem with gmail
Outlook Express - has the problem with gmail
Thunderbird (as tested by cfitz) - has the problem with gmail

as well ....

Outlook Express - has the same problem on my ISP's new email server that my sister uses. This is the one that the ISP says is affiliated with msn.

the problem doesn't occurr for me with my ISP email because it is still on the ISP's old email server.

When my sister used the old email server she didn't have this problem, and now that she is on the new one she does.

The ISP guy said that they went to the new server (which I think is actually MSN) so they could provide more storage space on the server. I think it is up around 2 GB.

I am wondering if the MSN email is starting to use similar techniques to gmail, in an attempt to compete, hence similar behavior from the two email servers.


I think from the information on this string we should be able to say that it has nothing to do with the Outlook express software.... other than that I am only guessing.