ID: q154578
The information in this article applies to:
This article describes troubleshooting steps you can use to help you diagnose problems that may occur when you connect to your Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) or POP3 mail server with Internet Mail. For example, this article may be useful if you receive the following error message:
The connection to the server has failed.
Microsoft supports configuring Internet Mail to connect to one SMTP and one POP3 mail server. The default port addresses for SMTP and POP3 connections in Internet Mail are 25 and 110, respectively.
If you experience problems connecting to your mail servers, make sure that your SMTP and POP3 server port settings are correct. You can check your current port address settings or configure Internet Mail to use different port addresses using the following steps:
1. Click Options on the Mail menu in Internet Mail, click the Server tab,
and then click Advanced Settings.
settings as needed, click OK, and then click OK again.
Use ALL of the following troubleshooting methods to ensure that your configuration settings are correct and that your dial-up connection is functioning properly.
Method 1:
Test the integrity of your local Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack integrity, by pinging the appropriate (loopback)
Internet Protocol (IP) address. To do this, follow these steps:
2. Type the following command at the command prompt:
ping 127.0.0.1
If you cannot ping this address, remove and reinstall the TCP/IP
protocol.
For information about TCP/IP, click Start, click Help, click the Index
tab, type "TCP/IP" (without quotation marks), and then double-click the
TCP/IP topic you want to view.
Test your TCP/IP settings by pinging a known good Internet site. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
2. Type the following command at the command prompt
ping <server name>
where <server name> is the name of a known good Internet site.
If you can successfully ping the IP address in Method 1, but you cannot
ping this address, check your TCP/IP settings to ensure that TCP/IP
is properly configured.
For information about TCP/IP, click Start, click Help, click the Index
tab, type "TCP/IP" (without quotation marks), and then double-click the
TCP/IP topic you want to view.
Make sure that Domain Name Service (DNS) resolution is functioning by pinging the Microsoft FTP server. To do this, use the following steps:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
2. Type the following command at the command prompt:
ping ftp.microsoft.com
If you can successfully ping the IP addresses in methods 1 and 2, but
you cannot ping this address, check your DNS settings to ensure that
DNS is properly configured.
For information about DNS, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab,
type "DNS" (without quotation marks), and then double-click the DNS
topic you want to view.
Verify that mailer daemons are responding on their specified ports by using Telnet commands. To do this, use the following steps:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.
2. Type each of the following command and press ENTER after each one:
telnet <smtp_name> <port_number>
telnet <pop3_name) <port_number>
where <smtp_name> and <pop3_name> are the names of your SMTP and POP3
servers, and <port_number> is the port address used by your SMTP
and POP3 servers.
If you do not receive a "ready" response from these Telnet commands,
try to ping the host names of the SMTP and POP3 servers individually.
If you cannot ping the host names of the SMTP or POP3 server, try using
the numeric equivalents, if you know them.
If you cannot ping the numeric addresses, but methods 1 through 3 are
successful, contact your Internet service provider to verify that
the mail servers are available and that your mail server information is
correct.
Keywords : inetnews inetmail
Version : 1.00
Platform : WINDOWSLast Reviewed: August 20, 1998