the problem
i cannot access my email, be it through outlook, netscape or thunderbird. this situation has been with me since 2005.12.09.
the message i get reads "cannot connect to server mail.xxx.com; connection was refused." that's it. no error number no nothing.
attempted solutions (not in chron order)
first thing was to disable norton is. no luck. restarted and disabled both. nope.
scanned w/adaware and spybot s&s. nope.
created new account using same (and correct!) settings as before. nope.
checked all settings, ensuring correct ports listed.
tried ipconfig. nope.
tried to ping mail server. success.
tried to telnet mail server via 110. nope.
checked w/isp. looks good on their end.
un/reinstalled norton. nope. included all registry keys when deleting.
checked to make sure windows fwall inactive. it was.
downloaded and ran .dlls to reset firewall settings and repair registry. nope
cycled modem (dsl), router and server. nope.
reinstalled/repaired xppro. nope.
forget name of native app, but disabled some classes of programs to not start w/win. restarted. no dice.
in conclusion
it seems to me that my machine is blocking port 110, but it is not coming from norton or msfw. every other machine in this building (20+) hums along; i sit in limbo.
thanks for your time and attention,
dAVe