BleepingComputer.com: Outlook Express Broken After Sp3 Service Pack Install

So, I installed Windows XP sp3 today, and now my Outlook Express cannot connect to the mail server.

I have Comcast Internet/phone/cable. They were no help.

My internet, phone, and cable all work properly, just no email with Outlook Express.

I can access my email from the Comcast website, but I much prefer an email program on my desktop.

Comcast suggested I contact Microsoft about this issue. I have had no luck getting a timely response on this issue from them.

Any ideas?

Hello Goldentee. Welcome to Bleeping Computer.

Do you get any error messages when you open OE? If so, paste the entire message here, along with any error numbers.

Edit to add: Try the following

Windows Mail, Outlook Express & Outlook 2000:

• choose Tools
  
• choose Accounts
  
• go to the Mail tab
  
• click on your Comcast account to highlight it
  
• choose Properties
  
• go to the General tab
  
• under Mail Account, enter whatever you'd like to call this account, like John Doe on Comcast
  
• under User Information, enter Name (whatever you want to appear on your messages)
  
• enter E-mail address (your full Comcast email address)
  
• check "Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing"
  
• go to the Servers tab
  
• "My incoming mail server is a" POP3 "server"
  
• Incoming mail is mail.comcast.net
  
• Outgoing mail is smtp.comcast.net
  
• enter your Account name or Email user name (your Comcast user ID, the part before "@comcast.net" in your email address)
  
• enter your Password
  
• check "Remember password"
  
• make sure “Logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is NOT checked
  
• check “My server requires authentication”
  
• choose Settings
  
• choose “Use same settings as my incoming mail server”
  
• click OK
  
• go to the Advanced tab
  
• check both boxes for “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)”
  
• change port number to 995 for incoming, 465 for outgoing
  
• bump up the Server Timeouts slider to the high end

Turn off whatever email scanning your anti-virus package is doing. Comcast already scans incoming email for viruses, and your outgoing email isn’t going to be infected unless your machine is already infected, so there’s no point checking it all the time.

I'm also going to direct you to the Comcast help forums. Those forums are provided to Comcast customers, and are a great resource for vendor specific issues. There are forums for computer issues, email issues, security, internet, cable tv, and CDV. (Mail settings above are from Comcast Email Forum)
Many times we, the users there, can provide answers tech support and customer service can't.

Click the link below, you'll be sent to the sign in page. Log in with your Comcast user ID (the part before .net) and your password. You will next see a first time forum users page, asking you to choose a screen name for use in the forums. Once you set that up, you'll be taken to the actual forums.

http://forums.comcast.net/comcastsupport/



If we can't get the issue resolved here, make a post in the email forum at Comcast.

This post has been edited by Queen-Evie: 22 May 2008 - 09:37 PM

Thanks for the response Queen-Evie!

It turns out that the problem was a Microsoft end problem.

After installing sp3, I had to again go to Microsoft Updates and install Office Updates sp3.

(Why this has to be done separately is beyond me .. but that is another issue for another thread)

Thanks for the quick help!

I love the work you all do here.