# My email wont work

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 27, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692 "2007-03-27T15:34:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/1 "2007-03-27T15:34:54Z")

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I have a Comcast cable modem and Outlook Express for email.

I can recieve, but not send.

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**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/2 "2007-03-27T15:38:31Z")

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[QUOTE=Enola Straight]  
I have a Comcast cable modem and Outlook Express for email.

I can recieve, but not send.  
[/QUOTE]

I just had a similar problem and it turned out that Trend Micro was set to scan outgoing messages yet it wasn’t actually sending them. I turned off the function that makes it scan outgoing.

I’m not a computer whiz so that’s all I got. Sorry. ☹

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**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/3 "2007-03-27T15:44:37Z")

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Could be one of several things.

Configuration, port setting, secure outgoing connection, without that we can’t do much.

Suggest you call your ISP and ask them for the email settings.

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**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/4 "2007-03-28T03:00:02Z")

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First thing that comes to mind is to check your mail settings. More specifically, your SMTP settings. If you’re using another party’s email (i.e. your email address doesn’t end with “[comcast.com](http://comcast.com),” then you need to specify them in your settings as the outgoing (SMTP) server.

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**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/5 "2007-03-28T11:54:36Z")

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Also, some SMTP servers require authentication before you can send to prevent anonymous connections. I’m not sure about Express, but in regular Outlook, go to

Tools\>Email Accounts\>View or change Existing email accounts

Select the account, click “change”. Click “More Settings”, go to Outgoing Server tab, and check “My Outgoing Server requires authentication.”

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-wont-work/397692/6 "2007-03-28T13:08:33Z")

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Here is how to configure Outlook Express for your Comcast account:

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>
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