Microsoft Outlook network connection and timeout problems

Sometimes you may have a case where Microsoft Outlook has problems sending or receiving messages and you'll see errors like "There may be a problem with your Internet connection. Please try again shortly." This message is often misleading. What is usually happening is the mail server is not responding as fast as Outlook is expecting it should and Outlook is timing out. This is often caused by antivirus software; they typically scan all incoming and outgoing messages and on a slow computer this can create a delay that Outlook interprets as a network problem.

There is a simple fix. You can adjust the timeout settings in Outlook to make it more patient. Here's how.

Outlook 2007

1. Click on the Tools menu and then click on Account Settings.
2. In the email tab, click on the appropriate email account and then click Change.
3. Click More Settings and then click on the Advanced tab.
4. Increase the Server Timeout field to five minutes.

Outlook 2002 and 2003

1. Click on the Tools menu and then click on E-mail Accounts.
2. Select View or Change Existing E-Mail Accounts and click Next.
3. Select the account you wish to change and click Change.
4. Click More Settings and then click on the Advanced tab.
5. Increase the Server Timeout field to five minutes.