Aggrevating 550 relay problem

[CryoGen]

I'm getting an annoying 550 relay error from Outlook XP. I'm running XP Pro and the SMTP server is disabled (if that means anything in this scenario ... I'm not convinced it is). Here's the problem:

When I reply to certain emails, the message will immediately fail and I will get an error message:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:	<whatever subject heading>
      Sent:	<whatever date>
The following recipient(s) could not be reached:

      'whoever@wherever.com' on 7/22/2004 4:46 PM
            550 5.7.1 Unable to relay for whoever@wherever.com

What's frustrating is that it doesn't happen all the time. It seems sporatic. It also only happens with specific people -- including everyone with a *.mil address, or with a dot-mil affiliated contractor (shouldn't matter, I know).

I'm fairly certain that the message never leaves the machine. Norton AV is running and scans messages prior to being sent, and I get a "scanning" popup whenever I send a message. On the messages that fail to be sent, there is no popup and the error message is instantaneous. I'm pretty sure I have an incorrect setting, but I have no clue where. This is a standard Office XP Pro installation.

I scanned this board for 550 errors, but none seem to fit the problem I'm having here. Any help is appreciated.

 

[ChrisAC]

550 errors are generated by SMTP servers, not mail clients. It's most likely the remote mail server is bouncing the email and generating the 550 response.

To check this take a look at the headers of the bounce message and you will see where it came from.

Chris.


**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[CryoGen]

At the risk of sounding ignorant, how do I do that?

 

[CryoGen]

OK, it has no headers. The error message is an email from "System Administrator" with a subject prefix that says "Undeliverable". When I right-click on the message and click Properties, there are no Internet headers at all. Nothing.

 

[ChrisAC]

Open the email, view > options > Internet headers:

Chris.


**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[CryoGen]

Please read my previous post. It has no headers.

 

[ChrisAC]

Right click on "System Administrator" and see what the email address is. It will either be the administrator from your LAN mail server, your ISPs mail server or the recipients mail server. The 550 will have been generated from one of these servers.

Chris.


**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[CryoGen]

OK, a right click reveals:

Display Name: System Administrator
Email Address: System Administrator
Email Type: SYSTEM

 

[ChrisAC]

Are you sending mail out through a local SMTP server or through your ISPs mail server?

Chris.


**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[CryoGen]

Mail messages go through my ISP's server. I have XP's SMTP server disabled.

 

[ChrisAC]

And what is "XP's SMTP server"?

Chris.


**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[CryoGen]

Forgive me if a misspoke ... I think I meant XP's SMTP service, which I have disabled.

I'm running XP Pro Media Edition, with XP Office Pro. Under Administrative Tools > Services > Simple Mail Transfer Protocal ... disabled.