Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

[Guest wonkywidget]

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 with Outlook 2002 being used for email.

When I try to send emails, they go to the sent box like they've been

succesfully sent, but the people I'm sending them to say they never

received the message. This happens with OE also; I even tried

Thunderbird and got the same thing, which seems to indicate a Windows

problem of some kind. Messages sent through the isp's webmail portal

have no problems. This happens whether the message is addressed to one

recipient or one hundred.

 

I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

needs to be corrected? AVG was installed, but without the email

scanning options. I even went so far as to take that off and still no

joy. I'm usually fairly capable but this has even me stumped! Thanks

to all for any help that can be offered.

[Guest PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Re: Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

 

Assuming email scanning is not installed or enabled and you can send

yourself emails OK, the problem isn't likely to be on your end...

> I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

> infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

> needs to be corrected?

 

....unless you have more work to do.

 

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

 

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log

to an appropriate forum.

 

Checking for/Help with Hijackware

http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878

http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm

http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html

http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm

http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

 

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2

(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use (in

conjunction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix anything on

its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove any

hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log to

http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0,

http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,

http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30, or another appropriate forum for review

by an expert in such matters, not here.**

 

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting this

isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and

independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.

--

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)

MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002

AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net

DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

 

wonkywidget wrote:

> I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 with Outlook 2002 being used for email.

> When I try to send emails, they go to the sent box like they've been

> succesfully sent, but the people I'm sending them to say they never

> received the message. This happens with OE also; I even tried

> Thunderbird and got the same thing, which seems to indicate a Windows

> problem of some kind. Messages sent through the isp's webmail portal

> have no problems. This happens whether the message is addressed to one

> recipient or one hundred.

>

> I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

> infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

> needs to be corrected? AVG was installed, but without the email

> scanning options. I even went so far as to take that off and still no

> joy. I'm usually fairly capable but this has even me stumped! Thanks

> to all for any help that can be offered.

[Guest wonkywidget]

Re: Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

 

On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:22:29 -0400, "PA Bear [MS MVP]"

<PABearMVP@gmail.com> wrote:

>Assuming email scanning is not installed or enabled and you can send

>yourself emails OK, the problem isn't likely to be on your end...

 

Sorry, forgot that little detail...the same thing happens even when I

send messages to myself! When I scanned for viruses, I had the hard

drive hooked up externally to another system to take away the

possibility of any background processes hindering my efforts. I

cleaned out all the temp directories prior to scanning. Some system32

files like, winlogon, userinit, explorer, lsass and svchost were

infected and needed to be replaced. After that it worked for a bit.

Then I put AVG back on(again minus the email options), again it

stopped working. Took AVG off, still no go. Outlook's safe mode

doesn't help, neither does booting into safe mode with networking. I

can try hijack this but I'm pretty confident my scanning method

removed everything. It'd be cool if there were a registry fix or

something *lol*

>

>> I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

>> infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

>> needs to be corrected?

>

>...unless you have more work to do.

>

>Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software

>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

>

>Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis log

>to an appropriate forum.

[Guest PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Re: Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

 

Repost:

> Run a *thorough* check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis

> log

> to an appropriate forum...

 

wonkywidget wrote:

> On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:22:29 -0400, "PA Bear [MS MVP]"

> <PABearMVP@gmail.com> wrote:

>

>> Assuming email scanning is not installed or enabled and you can send

>> yourself emails OK, the problem isn't likely to be on your end...

>

> Sorry, forgot that little detail...the same thing happens even when I

> send messages to myself! When I scanned for viruses, I had the hard

> drive hooked up externally to another system to take away the

> possibility of any background processes hindering my efforts. I

> cleaned out all the temp directories prior to scanning. Some system32

> files like, winlogon, userinit, explorer, lsass and svchost were

> infected and needed to be replaced. After that it worked for a bit.

> Then I put AVG back on(again minus the email options), again it

> stopped working. Took AVG off, still no go. Outlook's safe mode

> doesn't help, neither does booting into safe mode with networking. I

> can try hijack this but I'm pretty confident my scanning method

> removed everything. It'd be cool if there were a registry fix or

> something *lol*

>>

>>> I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

>>> infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

>>> needs to be corrected?

>>

>> ...unless you have more work to do.

>>

>> Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software

>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

>>

>> Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis

>> log to an appropriate forum.

[Guest Twayne]

Re: Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

 

> Repost:

>> Run a *thorough* check for hijackware, including posting your

>> hijackthis log

>> to an appropriate forum...

>

> wonkywidget wrote:

>> On Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:22:29 -0400, "PA Bear [MS MVP]"

>> <PABearMVP@gmail.com> wrote:

>>

>>> Assuming email scanning is not installed or enabled and you can send

>>> yourself emails OK, the problem isn't likely to be on your end...

>>

>> Sorry, forgot that little detail...the same thing happens even when I

>> send messages to myself! When I scanned for viruses, I had the hard

>> drive hooked up externally to another system to take away the

>> possibility of any background processes hindering my efforts. I

>> cleaned out all the temp directories prior to scanning. Some system32

>> files like, winlogon, userinit, explorer, lsass and svchost were

>> infected and needed to be replaced. After that it worked for a bit.

>> Then I put AVG back on(again minus the email options), again it

>> stopped working. Took AVG off, still no go. Outlook's safe mode

>> doesn't help, neither does booting into safe mode with networking. I

>> can try hijack this but I'm pretty confident my scanning method

>> removed everything. It'd be cool if there were a registry fix or

>> something *lol*

>>>

>>>> I ran a virus scan on the hard drive and cleaned off several

>>>> infections, maybe some unwanted modification was left behind that

>>>> needs to be corrected?

>>>

>>> ...unless you have more work to do.

>>>

>>> Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software

>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

>>>

>>> Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your

>>> hijackthis log to an appropriate forum.

 

You are probably scanning outgoing emails with your antivirus and/or

other programs. Turn that off and the problem will very likley go away.

Once a mail client hands the mail over to the AV for scanning, it

considers it Sent. If the AV fails to get it out in time, the window of

time closes and it fails to get sent.

 

HTH