Suddenly getting duplicate e mails

[dsimiller]

Hi,
Can anyone tell me why for the last couple of days or so,I am getting the same e mail two or three times instead of just once?
I have asked the senders if they have only sent the ONE message,and they confirm.This is happening to both commercial as well as private messages.
I'm on XP sp2 and using OutlookExpress.Do you think there is a O/E setting somewhere that has gone awry?
Thanks in anticipation,desi3026

[Buenchico]

There's nothing wrong with your PC. The fault almost certainly lies with your e-mail provider (or with their connection to the internet).

When someone sends you an e-mail, your e-mail provider's server sends a message back to the server which sent it, to confirm receipt. If no confirmation is received after a short period of time, the originating server sends the message again and, once again, waits for an acknowledgement. If no acknowledgement is received, the message is sent again and . . . (OK, I think you've got the idea). The number of attempts varies between different servers but eventually, if no acknowledgement is received, the sending server gives up and sends a 'bounced mail' message back to the person who sent it.

It seems that, for some reason, your e-mail provider's server is able to receive incoming mail but unable to reliably send the confirmations back. (So, the sending server thinks it hasn't arrived and sends it again). You could try contacting your e-mail provider to alert them to the problem but, usually, these problems are sorted out within a few days anyway.

Chris

(PS: The fact that you're only receiving two or three copies of each mail suggests that your e-mail provider's server is still able to return a confirmation message occasionally. I once had a friend send me mail when my e-mail provider had the same problem with acknowledging messages. Unfortunately, his e-mail provider had obviously set their server to 'unlimited tries'. Instead of giving up and sending him a (false) 'bounced mail' message, his server continued to send the mail over and over again - all 3000 copies of it!)

Chris

[dsimiller]

Thanks for that Chris,never happened before and wasnt sure if the fault was my end.
Regards desi3026

[JimmyK]

I had that with hotmail, where I was sending from hotmail to others and they were getting it twice: I didnt associate the fault with the recipient's email provider (receiving it and duplicating it) but with hotmail sending it twice.
so are the emails coming from hotmail?
its not happened to me recently... but you never know when it might again!

[dsimiller]

Hi JimmyK,
No its not hotmail,but OutlookExpress,still happening this morning,got three identical e mails from PC.Mag,but its not happening on every message.
I'll keep my eye on it for a couple more days,then think about what to do next.Its not affecting the computer at all,but its just annoying.
Thanks for your message
regards desi3026

[Snowy Owl]

I`ve been getting exactly the same, on and off, over the last few weeks. Not all mails and not all the time. Max I`ve had of one is 6, so not too bad there. Also had one arrive 3 days after it had been sent which almost caused a major hiccup. The latter came from the same isp as mine. Seems to be OK so far this week.

[dsimiller]

Thanks for your message Snowy Owl,I've been into O/E troubleshooting,but this glitch does'nt seem to be addressed at all.This seems to have started after the Tuesday update.I wonder...
Regards desi3026