Why Does My Outlook Express Fail to Connect and My PC Require DEL to Boot?

[aychamo]

Two small computer problems :)

Hey guys, I'm having two small computer problems.

They are on a 1.6(ish... I can't remember)ghz Dell Dimension desktop. I just reformated after a long time and reinstalled Windows ME.

First problem is that my outlook express is not resolving (or finding, or whatever) my mail servers host name. I know for sure that it is mail.cox-internet.com, but it can't find it. It is weird, because on my same network my laptop can access the mail server (exact same settings in outlook express) perfectly, but the desktop wont. Can this be some network protocol setting or something? The web, etc, works fine, just the mail server won't connect.

This second problem is a really annoying one. This happened when I FDISKed my partion and reformated. When my computer reboots, it does the BIOS stuff and then shows the primary disk, 2ndary disk thing, then my CD ROM drive, and then it says "Hit <DEL> to continue" and when I hit DEL it goes on and boots up windows. It *never* displays an error, it just wants me to hit DEL for fun apparently. Maybe it's because the computer is a dell? :). I'm assuming this has somehting to do with that I FDISKed my computer. It boots up fine, just with that small problem.

I would really appreciate some help with this, it's just a few small hitches I'm dealing with, nothing big :) Thank you in advance,

AYCHAMO

 

[aychamo]

Hey, I just wanted to add some information to my problems. For the first one, I can even go to a command prompt and ping my mail server and it works fine, but when I use OutlookExpress to connect, it just gets stuck at "Resolving Host." It can't find it in that program. I don't have a firewall on either (yet..

With the second problem, I do have QuickBoot and QuietBoot turned on in BIOS. I've also turned them both off and it still does the "Hit <DEL> to Resume."

What it seems to do, is it shows me the first two fixed disks, then my cdrom drive. Like, it shows all my drives and then wants me to hit DEL then it continues to boot. What coudl cause this?

 

[aychamo]

Hey guys! I just wanted to update that I solved the problem regarding the email problem. When I imported my outlook express server settings, it set my incoming mail port at like 38455 or something instead of the normal 110. I changed that and it works fine now :)

But I still have the BIOS problem :( May anyone offer a suggestion?

 

[megashawn]

I'm not real sure about that one, it is kinda odd. I'd look into the bios settings and see if you see anything about pausing it like that. Have you contacted customer support? Perhaps they can explain, proprietary companys have been known to do some strange things.

Anyhow, best I can tell you've still got two problems, Dell and windows ME. :)

 

[BoulderHead]

Regarding the second problem;
I have experienced something similar (with a Dell, too). I played around with more BIOS settings then I care to remember. When I finally gave up I removed all power, including the CMOS battery. Afterward the problem was gone.

Good luck !

 

[DarkAnt]

In all serious, get rid of windows ME. Its nothing but bad news