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Sudden limit on # of email addresses

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7 replies

by gralfus

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I apologize up front for the lack of detail, the PC is in another state, so I'm troubleshooting without seeing the error messages.

I'm working on a friend's computer who recently had XP installed. He has been able to send emails to about 100 people at a time (newsletter, not spam). But in the past few days, it suddenly has limited him to only a few at a time, claiming that there is either something wrong with the addresses (which there is not), or possibly other issues. He didn't have this issue when running W2K, and XP was working for about a month.

Have there been any security updates recently that might think emailing multiple addresses is indicative of a spammer or email worm? If so, how can this be corrected? Any other ideas? He is bringing the PC to me, so I will get to work on it, I'd just like a clue to start with.

7 replies

by thechas

Well Muppet fan, (love the graphic)

I would start by recreating the mailing list a step at a time.
The suspicion here is that the address file for the mailing list became corrupted.

Next, check with the ISP. They may have updated hardware or software and are working out bugs with large email lists.
Or, they are attempting to stop a spammer who is on their network.

Since everything was working, the address list and address book along with the ISP are the prime suspects.

I can't think of any updates that could cause this kind of behavior.

Chas

by hal 9000

While Chas is correct about the possible computer problems that could have happened I would first be asking his ISP. The most likely thing here is that it is being blocked by the ISP in an attempt to stop spam.

If you read the ISP agreement you'll find that Bulk Mail isn't accepted as a long term thing by most and if they have had a complaint about another person or people doing this or are even trying to track down spoofed accounts they are the most likely culprits and they will be blocking things like this from occurring.

Your friend will have to have a talk to his ISP and make arrangements to allow his bulk mail through this shouldn't be much of a problem as they can isolate him from their inquiries or investigations.

Of course if your friend has been messing with the computer there could be anything at all wrong now and that might take a bit of fixing once the ISP has been sorted out.

Col

by sgt_shultz

i would check him out thoroughly for spyware, prefereable from his place, before he brings me the pc. i would have him download, install and update Ad-aware se and hijack this from www.downloads.com then have him disconnect from interente and boot in safe mode and scan, reboot in safe mode and rescan until nothing found. start by scanning with adaware, you might not need hijack, save it and see...
anyhow, once you get 2 clean scans with adaware in safe mode, connect to internet and reboot normally. do some browsing then rescan with adaware. see what has come back. see if the symptoms of email are gone.
if you have persistent infection, try hijack this.
post back with whatever clues you find

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