Error 10061 Connection Refused

Please Help!

On a network with 25 Win2K workstations and two Win 2K servers, three of
my users get "Connection Refused" error messages when trying to receive
or send their email. This happens on an intermittent basis, and it
doesn't discriminate based on email client either. This has occurred on
these machines when using Outlook, Mozilla, and Eudora.

The other 22 workstations all connect to the the same mail server (a
pop/smtp server outside of our network), have the same DNS settings, run
the same log on scripts, etc. They all check mail every 15 minutes. This
"Connection Refused" error never occurs on any of them.

So far, the only solution I can find for this problem is a system
restart. But it's still an incredible annoyance, as one of the users
(lucky me -- it's the company owner) has to restart his system 3 times a
day!

All other network connectivity is unaffected. All mapped drive
connections work perfectly, as does basic web surfing.

I tried pinging the server and get the usual 4 responses, but when I try
(as instructed by the email vendor) to telnet servername 25 or telnet
servername 110 i can't connect on the affected PCs. Other computers
connect fine though.

Also of note is that one of these users connects to multiple email
servers, and when a "connection refused" error emerges, he can't send or
receive on any of his email accounts until a reboot.

I am entirely out of ideas, and most of the stuff I was able to google
simply said to make sure the servername is typed correctly (it is).

Does anybody have any idea what I can do?

Thanks!

Jonathan

PS: If this is the wrong forum, where should I post? Thanks!

If the DNS settings are correct, is there maybe an antivirus or firewall on
those 3 pcs?

--
Steven Cooke


"Jonathan S." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Please Help!
>
> On a network with 25 Win2K workstations and two Win 2K servers, three of
> my users get "Connection Refused" error messages when trying to receive
> or send their email. This happens on an intermittent basis, and it
> doesn't discriminate based on email client either. This has occurred on
> these machines when using Outlook, Mozilla, and Eudora.
>
> The other 22 workstations all connect to the the same mail server (a
> pop/smtp server outside of our network), have the same DNS settings, run
> the same log on scripts, etc. They all check mail every 15 minutes. This
> "Connection Refused" error never occurs on any of them.
>
> So far, the only solution I can find for this problem is a system
> restart. But it's still an incredible annoyance, as one of the users
> (lucky me -- it's the company owner) has to restart his system 3 times a
> day!
>
> All other network connectivity is unaffected. All mapped drive
> connections work perfectly, as does basic web surfing.
>
> I tried pinging the server and get the usual 4 responses, but when I try
> (as instructed by the email vendor) to telnet servername 25 or telnet
> servername 110 i can't connect on the affected PCs. Other computers
> connect fine though.
>
> Also of note is that one of these users connects to multiple email
> servers, and when a "connection refused" error emerges, he can't send or
> receive on any of his email accounts until a reboot.
>
> I am entirely out of ideas, and most of the stuff I was able to google
> simply said to make sure the servername is typed correctly (it is).
>
> Does anybody have any idea what I can do?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jonathan
>
> PS: If this is the wrong forum, where should I post? Thanks!

There is no local firewall. There is a hardware firewall that protects
the entire network.

There is antivirus software installed (Norton AntiVirus 2003). However,
that's standard load and is on all the PCs in the building.

Jonathan



Steven Cooke wrote:
> If the DNS settings are correct, is there maybe an antivirus or
> firewall on
> those 3 pcs?

-- Steven Cooke "Jonathan S." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

>> Please Help!
>>
>> On a network with 25 Win2K workstations and two Win 2K servers, three of
>> my users get "Connection Refused" error messages when trying to receive
>> or send their email. This happens on an intermittent basis, and it
>> doesn't discriminate based on email client either. This has occurred on
>> these machines when using Outlook, Mozilla, and Eudora.
>>
>> The other 22 workstations all connect to the the same mail server (a
>> pop/smtp server outside of our network), have the same DNS settings, run
>> the same log on scripts, etc. They all check mail every 15 minutes. This
>> "Connection Refused" error never occurs on any of them.
>>
>> So far, the only solution I can find for this problem is a system
>> restart. But it's still an incredible annoyance, as one of the users
>> (lucky me -- it's the company owner) has to restart his system 3 times a
>> day!
>>
>> All other network connectivity is unaffected. All mapped drive
>> connections work perfectly, as does basic web surfing.
>>
>> I tried pinging the server and get the usual 4 responses, but when I try
>> (as instructed by the email vendor) to telnet servername 25 or telnet
>> servername 110 i can't connect on the affected PCs. Other computers
>> connect fine though.
>>
>> Also of note is that one of these users connects to multiple email
>> servers, and when a "connection refused" error emerges, he can't send or
>> receive on any of his email accounts until a reboot.
>>
>> I am entirely out of ideas, and most of the stuff I was able to google
>> simply said to make sure the servername is typed correctly (it is).
>>
>> Does anybody have any idea what I can do?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>> PS: If this is the wrong forum, where should I post? Thanks!