Thank you for the suggestion, but I am not running any firewall other
than Windows now (and the hardware firewall in the DSL router). I got
rid of ZoneAlarm awhile back after the upgrade from free version to Pro
turned out to be a disaster.

I was able to fix the problem just now by uninstalling the Outlook
security update. I just found out that if you check the "Show Updates"
box at the top of the Add/Remove Programs list, then Office updates (at
least some of them) will be shown and can be removed individually. The
uninstall went fine and immediately solved the problem. Thanks again
for your response.


Brian Tillman wrote:
J-Man wrote:

After MUCH trial and error, I think I've figured out where the
problem is: Norton Firewall. After installing the Outlook security
update, the first time I tried to access Outlook, Norton asked me if
I wanted to permit Outlook to access the internet. Although I let it
do so, it seems to not want to let e-mails through. When I turn off
the Firewall, it works fine. Similarly it works fine with Windows
Firewall turned on, and Norton off.

Some of the updates to Outlook install a new OUTLOOK.EXE image. Any
firewall (including WIndows', I believe, but certainly ones like Kerio,
Sygate, and Zone Alarm) would see a new image as a new program. They don't
rely solely on the image name to determine whether or not the image should
be treated as an exception. So, when you install a new version of a
program, you must re-add it as an exception, possibly removing the old
version of the image that will still be listed in the exception list.

I wish Symantec would get their act together. Between this and the
problems LiveUpdate caused me last week, I'm more than ready to
permanently ditch any Symantec products.

The number of errors reported in the Outlook newsgroups alone have convinced
me that I'll never use a Symantec product.
--
Brian Tillman