Sent box says emails a go, recipients say no

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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