Common E-mail Problems
E-mail has made communication faster and easier for people all over the world. However, there are bound to be glitches. Listed below are some of the most common problems and fixes people face when using e-mail.
Error: Are you getting duplicate copies and not receiving all of your messages?
This happens if your connection to the mail server ended before you downloaded all of your messages. If you get an error: “Connection timed out” then it is likely that the message has in some way become corrupted and may need to be deleted directly from the mail server.
If you do not get an error message than you probably have a very large e-mail. Email messages that have pictures or other large files attached to them can take fifteen minutes or longer to download. If this is the case, the only thing you can do is wait until the message has completed downloading. If you are an ADI customer, you can use our WebMail interface and go directly to your account and see which email is causing the problem and delete it from there.
For ADI Web Mail go to: https://webmail.adiis.net.
1. Enter your username and password.
2. Select possible problem message by putting a check in the box next to it. HINT (if you are on dial-up, look for ones that are 500k or more, if you don’t need it, now’s the time to delete it)
3. After you select it, go to the top left and click on “Delete”. This will put a line through all selected messages. After this is done, go to the top right and click “Purge”. This will permanently remove the selected messages from the server. Remember to take care when doing this because messages deleted this way cannot be recovered.
Error: Can’t find server.
This can happen when you lose your internet connection before you check your email. Make sure you are still connected. To do this, open up you web browser. If you get the error “This page cannot be displayed” on more than one page, you are not connected to the internet. You will need to reconnect to receive your messages.
Another reason this happens is if messages that you are trying to send get stuck in the "Outbox". If this happens, the next time you open your email program or try to Send/Receive email you may get an error saying it can't locate the server on port 25. Remove or delete any messages that are in the "Outbox" and try sending or receiving again. If these don’t fix your problem, call your ISP for further assistance.
Error: Can’t open attachment.
This error occurs because you aren’t using the same software that the program was written in. Common ones are Word, Excel, and Power Point. Ex: You are using MS Word as your word processor and the person you are sending it to uses MS Works. Before sending an attachment or having someone send one to you, make sure you are both using the same software to avoid this issue all together.
Error: “OE removed access to the following unsafe attachments in your mail.”
Outlook Express, due to virus threats, has put in a new security feature automatically removes the ability to open attachments.
To undo this feature, open up Outlook Express.
1. In the upper left hand corner, click on “Tools”. This will bring up a drop down box, go to the bottom and click on “Options”. This will bring up the Outlook Express Options page. 2. Select the “Security” tab on the Options page. At the top of this window where it says “Virus Protection”, uncheck the box next to where it says, “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus.” You should now be able to open your attachments. (HINT: You may need to restart OE for the settings to take effect.)
Error: Message won’t send.
If you are having problems sending an email, it is usually because it’s too large. You want to keep e-mails under 1Mb or problems sending will occur, especially if you are on dial-up.
Error: Message is “Undeliverable”.
This occurs for multiple reasons. But the most common one is because the e-mail address was typed incorrectly. Make sure to double check the recipient address to make sure it’s typed in correctly. Another common reason is that the recipient has a reply to address that isn’t functional. In Outlook and Outlook Express everyone has the option of entering an additional reply to address that is different from the sending address. If they make a configuration mistake or are unaware that they need a separate account set up for this function, the mail will be undeliverable. If this is the case, contact the person and tell them what going on. If neither of these fixes your problem, call your ISP. The issue may need further investigating.
Error: It’s always asking for my password.
1. Make sure you are typing in the proper account name and password. Try deleting your username and password and retyping them in.
2. Also, you could have received a large email message that could be "clogging" up your mail spool. To fix this just wait about 30 minutes for the server to reset and then try to check your mail again.
3. When you set up your account, you didn’t check remember password. Go back into you e-mail account settings and make sure the remember password box checked.
Is your computer acting up? Browse through our help section. The problem may be easier to fix than you think.