Microsoft KB Archive/284383

= OL2002: Outlook May Stop Responding; Error Message Refers to Hotmail Offline Mode =

Article ID: 284383

Article Last Modified on 4/17/2002

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q284383



SYMPTOMS
When you start Outlook 2002, the program may stop responding, and then the following error message may appear:

A connection to the server could not be established. http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp is now in offline mode.

Details: There may be server or network problems or your timeout interval may be too short. Please search Microsoft Outlook Help for [HTTP Mail troubleshooting]

When you close the dialog box, Outlook starts.



CAUSE
This behavior can occur if your Outlook profile contains a Hotmail account and you start Outlook when the Hotmail server is slow or not responding. Though it seems that Outlook is not responding, the program is fully functional. When the Hotmail server starts responding, the Hotmail e-mail account and folder list become available.



WORKAROUND
To work around this issue, after opening Outlook, do not immediately synchronize the Hotmail folder list by clicking the list or Send/Receive, but allow the automatic synchronization request to arrive. The first instance of synchronization may be slow, but subsequent synchronizations will be timely.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Keywords: kbbug kbnofix KB284383

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