If you have Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus software, this is almost definitely the cause. As a troubleshooting step, try disabling Norton Anti-Virus and then try to send/receive your e-mail message again.

If this corrects the problem, visit the Norton web site to obtain the latest update for Norton Anti-Virus and/or contact Symantec for technical assistance. There are several known compatibility problems with Norton Anti-Virus and Microsoft Outlook Express -- this being the most notable of them. The problem is caused by the fact that some Norton versions physically intercept your connection to the mail server in order to scan for viruses. When this mechanism malfunctions, Outlook/Outlook Express believes that you are unable to connect to the mail server or have lost your connection.

If you are connected to the Internet using an ISP other than SVN, you will be unable to send e-mail using our outgoing e-mail server unless you first authenticate yourself. SVN uses a POP-based authentication system, which simply means that you must first "check" your mail before you can send. The process of checking/receiving your mail validates your identity on our server, at which point the server will allow you to send outgoing mail for a period of 30 minutes. After that, your mail will have to be checked again in order to reset this timer.

Please note that it may be possible that the provider you are connecting to is blocking outbound connections to TCP port 25 (the port used to send e-mail). Some large ISPs are doing this in an attempt to combat spam. If you have tried the above and still can not send e-mail, contact the ISP you are connecting to in order to determine the outgoing mail settings you should use to use their server. We are working on a new mail server architecture that will allow us to circumvent this problem, but it has not yet been implemented.

If you are unable to retrieve your e-mail after a previous retrieval was interrupted (disconnection, cancelled request, etc.), it may be possible that your e-mail box on our server is still locked by your previous connection. The server locks your mailbox when you request your e-mail so that a second, simultaneous connection to your mailbox will not try to download the messages that your computer is already in the process of downloading. If this locking did not happen, such a case would result in lost and/or fragmented e-mails.

The best solution to this problem is to wait 10-15 minutes, after which the lock will automatically clear itself, and then try again. If you experience this problem during our business hours, please feel free to call our office at (707) 781-9999 and we can clear the lock for you.