Outlook - 0x800ccc69

Asked By Pau

10-Nov-07 03:32 AM

Can anyone help me with this error message "An unknown error has occurred.
Subject 'Fw: Sps. Paul Eric Uytengsu-PN205', Account: 'mail.charter.net',
Server: 'mail.charter.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '550 Message
identified as SPAM - Please visit http://www.charter.com/postmaster', Port:
25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 550, Error Number: 0x800CCC69", my ISP is
telling me that it is the OE that has the problem.  I can receive e-mails,
but cannot send out e-mails and when I do, I get the above error message.  My
mom who uses a different computer and is on  the same home network uses OE
and she does not have a problem sending or receiving e-mails.  I tried using
my IPS's web base e-mail program and I was successful in sending or receiving
e-mails, but, encountered a problem in sending e-mails after a few more test
messages.

10-Nov-07 03:49 AM

Your ISP's mailer system seems to be identifying your email as potential
spam.

It is possibly you may have "authentication" turned off in OE. Most
mailer daemons will now refuse mail unless you authenticate your email
account information with the server.

Click on Tools > Accounts > Mail Tab > Your Email Account > Properties >
Servers Tab > (Outgoing Servers area) checkmark "My Server Requires
Authentication" > Click Settings next to this > Dot the choice that
reads, "Use Same Settings as my incoming mail server" > Apply/Ok out of
the menus.

10-Nov-07 06:46 AM

It tells you what's wrong:
'550 Message identified as SPAM - Please visit
http://www.charter.com/postmaster'
Did you read the page at the link?
Oops, looks like the page was removed.

One possible reason would be that you are not connected to Charter but to
some other ISP.

--
Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM
www.fjsmjs.com
Do not send email

10-Nov-07 10:46 AM

I did what Ron instructed me, I still get the same error message.  But, if I
change my settings for the incoming and outgoing servers, I do not get the
error message, but, the e-mail remains in the outbox and I do not receive the
test e-mail at my alternate e-mail.

10-Nov-07 12:36 PM

I don't think this is your problem, if you have authentication turned
on. At this point and from the error message you posted, I think the
fault lies with Charter. Charter's email server is blocking your
messages as spam. The error you posted, is explained on Charter's
postmaster page. You have to fill out the form at the link posted near
the end of this error message FAQ:

http://www.charter.com/postmaster

550 Message identified as SPAM

The email was flagged as spam by Charter anti-spam detection system.
Charter uses several different tactics to determine if a message is
spam. The primary tactic is using an industry leading anti-spam
filtering application, corroborating feedback from the Internet
community and Charter subscribers. A message will not be accepted by our
mail servers if it is flagged as spam.

If you believe the message was mistakenly flagged as spam, please click
here.

http://protectionalert.charter.net/550/unblock_form.php

10-Nov-07 01:18 PM

I did contact Charter and informed them of the error message.  They told me
that it is not their server that has the problem, since I can use Charter's
webmail in sending and receiving e-mails, then it is not their server.  They
suggested that I contact Microsoft or switch over using Charter Webmail
instead of OE.  They told me that this has been a common problem with the
other customers using OE.

10-Nov-07 02:33 PM

Ok, I found a reference to a Windows Vista Mail user having the same
type of 550 spam error issue with Charter, and they fixed the problem,
by changing a setting in their Windows Mail program. This may or may not
work for Outlook Express, but it is worth a try to see if it will help.

In OE, Click on Tools > Options > Security Tab > In the Virus Protection
area > under "Select the Internet Explorer Security Zone to Use" >
Checkmark INTERNET ZONE > Apply/Ok out of the menus.

Restart OE and see if that will help.

Here is the thread I referenced regarding this issue:

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-mail/94293-can-t-send-pics-jpg.html

10-Nov-07 02:35 PM

Have you done a google search on 0x800ccc69?

10-Nov-07 03:06 PM

OK, this is what I have done.  I followed Ron's instruction and made the
change on the OE security tab, then I did what "unknown" suggested by
searching it in Google and found a solution by 1st deleting the old unsent
bad messages in the OE outbox.  From there, I sent out a new e-mail and was
successful in sending it out, but, when I tried forwarding 1 particular
existing e-mail in my inbox, I get the same error message, then I tried
sending out a new e-mail and got the same error message again, so both
messages remained in the OE outbox.  So, I deleted both messages from my
outbox again and sent out a new e-mail and was successful, I even tried
forwarding another existing e-mail in my inbox and it went out successfully.
This is weird, any comments?  It looks like this 1 particular existing e-mail
could not be forwarded or else it can cause this particular problem.

10-Nov-07 03:02 PM

DO NOT PUT OE IN THE INTERNET ZONE! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM!
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.org/

10-Nov-07 03:12 PM

The Charter Support Tech doesn't know what he's talking about: When you send
mail using OE, you're not sending via the same outgoing mail server as you
are when sending from the webmail page.

If the account's configured per
http://www.charter.com/Visitors/Support.aspx?SupportArticleID=1661&LINK_PAGE=Email_Top_Requests,
use this form to contect your postmaster:
http://protectionalert.charter.net/550/unblock_form.php

NB: The above assumes you were connected to the internet via Charter.net
when you received the error AND that you weren't attempting to send an email
to an excessive number of recipients.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.org/

10-Nov-07 03:20 PM

That actually defeats a security safeguard for the MS mail clients. I would
try that as a troubleshooting technique, but I would continue to examine the
problem for a better solution. Having the MS mail client in the "Internet"
zone would allow a number of scripting permissions which should not be
permitted in an email client.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

10-Nov-07 03:15 PM

PS: This is not an unknown problem with Charter.net.

cf.
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=charter.net+%2B+spam+%2B+550+group%3Amicrosoft.public.*&start=0&scoring=d
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.org/

10-Nov-07 03:27 PM

Just for testing, go to Tools > Options > Send, and change the radio button
in the "Mail Sending Format" to "Plain Text", and try sending with that
setting. If you can send email that way, something about the Charter mail
server does not like the way that MS Outlook Express codes outbound email
with HTML allowed.

Whatever the problem, it is with the Charter servers. They probably don't
want to adjust their servers because of spam issues; a lot of spam uses HTML
content, and they are most likely scanning for same.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

10-Nov-07 04:10 PM

Thaks for all your help.  But, I think it could have been a particular
existing e-mail that I was trying to forward and when I do forward it, I get
the error message and any succeeding new email that is being sent out will
encounter the same problem.  I've notice that when I do not forward this
particular e-mail and delete all unsent messages in my outbox, newly created
e-mails can be sent out with no error messages, I even tried forwarding other
existing e-mails and it works.  So, I think the cause could be this
particular existing e-mail I received months ago that I was trying to forward
to a friend that cause the problem.

10-Nov-07 04:30 PM

You nailed it.

10-Nov-07 04:35 PM

For safety's sake, follow these instructions:

1. Move any messages that you want to keep out of Sent Items, and Deleted
Items folders and into other folders you've created for archiving (saving)
such messages.

2. Write down the location of your identity's store
(http://www.insideoe.com/files/store.htm#storemain).

3. Close OE.

4. In Windows Explorer, navigate to your store folder, find & delete the
files Outbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx, and Deleted Items.dbx.

To avoid such problems in the future:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages.  Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [not available in SP2] and frequently
perform a manual compact of all OE folders while "working offline".  More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm

- WinXP SP2 only: Do not shut down your machine while Windows is
automatically compacting your message store.

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption.  Disable it.  It provides no additional protection.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.org/

11-Nov-07 10:09 AM

Are you connected to Charter?
Web mail uses different servers that OE, so the Charter tech doesn't know
what he's talking about.
Are you sure port 25 is correct?

--
Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM
www.fjsmjs.com
Do not send email

11-Nov-07 01:25 PM

Charter's email service is notoriously quirky, due to their efforts at spam
control by filtering outbound email. And email going out through web mail
servers does not take the same path as email going out through SMTP message
submission servers. If you can identify what is unique about this one
message you are trying to forward, maybe you should just remember to not use
Charter's SMTP message submission servers for that type of email. Or just
get email service from a provider other than Charter. Most ISPs offer email
service as a "value added" product, and don't support it well. Their hope is
that you will not consider changing ISP because of the hassle in notifying
everybody in your contact list that you have a new email address. By using a
third party E-mail Service Provider, you will be independent of your ISP
when it comes to deciding to change providers.

Charter does have a support forum here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/charter

The consensus of Charter users is that Charter email is pretty useless. They
also recommend using a third party E-mail Service Provider. AOL Mail, Google
Mail, Windows Live Hotmail are all possible choices. If you are willing to
pay you can add Yahoo! Mail Plus, or register your own domain and find a
hosting provider with email services. Some domain registrars will provide
email hosting a part of the domain registration package.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

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