Connection failed, the server may not exist....

I sometimes run Outloook express in classic.

Ah... why? OE hasn't been touched by MS in years, and wasn't that good in the first place. If I had to use a MS mail client in Classic, it'd be Outlook or one of the older versions of Entourage, not Outlook Express.

I often
get the

"Connection failed, the server may not exist or is
not operational at this time. Check the server name
or IP address and try again"

OE is having a problem connecting to the Internet. It used to do that in OS 9 days, too. This is one reason why I kicked it to the curb.

message. This seems to serve very little purpose
except to sabotage Outlook express. Outlook express
stops responding and causes classic too stop
responding. If I force quit the app it force quits
classic and all classic apps that are open. I have
lost data frequently because of this. I have set up
many many many IMAP accounts on this app.

Mail does IMAP better. Not that this is difficult, even Eudora 6 did IMAP better, and that was in OS 9 days, and Eudora's IMAP support is notoriously poor.

It does not
surprise me that some servers don't respond. What I
do have a problem with is now the app crashes. Also
the app should not be polling a server unless I
specifically ask it to.

I suspect that what you have is a Microsoft problem. I further suspect that Microsoft no longer cares about problems with OE, given that the last update was in 2002. (Assuming, that is, that they ever cared about OE for Mac.)

Check your preferences and see if you requested a periodic check for mail. If you did, then OE will check. And if it can't find the Internet, it will crash.

I would like to disable this stupid message as it.

The message is not the problem. OE crashing is the problem. The message is telling you that OE is crashing.

I
would also like to know the reason for the crash.

OE is barfing because it can't connect to the Internet.

The above error message serves no particular purpose.

It's telling you that OE can't find the server.

I can't find what app and what servers are envolved.
Documentation and help on this issuse are scant and
in accurate.

N/a Mac
OS 9.1.x

iMacG5 2.1GHz 1.5GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.8) eMac 1.25 GHz 2 GB, assorted Windows boxes

These issues only exist when I run classic in OSX.

These issues are with MSOE and its interaction with Classic. MSOE has a problem seeing the internet. This is a known problem and existed as far back as 1999. MSOE 5.0.6, the very last version of MSOE, was released in very large part to fix this problem. Please see <http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/DOWNLOA D/OE/oe5.xml&secid=40&ssid=6&flgnosysreq=True> for more information. Perhaps you'll believe Microsoft.

MSOE has known problems and they will not be fixed. MSOE on the Mac was abandoned in 2002. It's dead. Move on.

The issue is with the OS and not the email client.

I'm afraid that the problem is with the email client.

The error message is the problem.

The error message is _informing you_ of the problem.

Again you offer no solutions.

I suggested trying a different client. I again suggest trying a different client. Qualcomm Eudora, MS Outlook, MS Entourage, and Apple Mail all do IMAP and handle it better than MSOE. Outlook and older versions of Eudora and Entourage run under OS 9. Newer versions of Eudora and Entourage, and Mail, run under OS X.

Mark,

Charles is trying to explain that you have causality reversed: The error
message does not cause the crash; it is merely the first consequence.

The crash is caused by Outlook Express being unable to "see" the server.
The message is telling you that Outlook Express has crashed. When you
try to make the message go away, the full consequences of the crash
become apparent: The Outlook Express crash takes Classic down with it.

And Charles is correct that your best solution is to move to a less crash-
prone email client.

-Wayne

Hello,
I recently got this same error message when simply trying to start Classic from the System Settings panel (in OS 10.4). This suggests that your problem, Mark, may not have to do do with the e-mail client as such. When I disabled AppleTalk in the Chooser the message disappeared and Classic did start.

Hello,
I recently got this same error message when simply
trying to start Classic from the System Settings
panel (in OS 10.4). This suggests that your problem,
Mark, may not have to do do with the e-mail client
as such. When I disabled AppleTalk in the Chooser
the message disappeared and Classic did start.

Unfortunately for that idea, I have Classic installed on both my iMac and my eMac, and AppleTalk is live on both. I don't get any such message, and have not since I kicked MSOE to the curb.

Sorry, but his problem is MSOE. I'd need more info to determine what your problem is.

Mark: To disable the error message, stop using Outlook Express. The error message follows the error — it does not cause it. To avoid the error, use a modern, functional, OS X-native email client application, instead of the bug-ridden old clunker you're fixated on.

The best of all possible reasons to use an OS X-native email client is that if it encounters an error, even one that causes it to crash or quit unexpectedly, nothing else goes down with it. Like many another OS 9-based application, but even more consistently than most, Outlook Express pulls down everything within reach whenever it runs into a minor problem — always has, always will. Trash it.

Apple Menu > System Preferences > Network > Show: Ethernet or Airport (whichever you use for your internet connection) > AppleTalk tab

Well there doesn't appear to be any solutions out
there.

There is a solution, a very simple one: don't use MSOE.

Nor is anyone concerned about finding a
solution.

Several people have tried to help you. You have insulted one and all. You are extremely unlikely to get any further assistance that way.

I am sad a diasppointed that once again
Apple should choose to sabotage there old users.

Apple is not sabotaging anything. The problem is MSOE, not any Apple product.

I am shocked that all I get is disinformation.

You have been given proper info. You merely don't like the info you have been given.

This
message is simply unnacceptable to blame this message
on any other application is a joke.

This particular error has been a known error with MSOE since long before there was an OS X. The last version of MSOE, v5.0.6, contained code designed specifically to fight that particular error, according to Microsoft's own site. They were not completely successful. They are no longer developing MSOE for the Macintosh at all, and especially are not developing anything for OS 9, so there will be no further updates of MSOE. In fact, Microsoft has dropped development of MSOE for Windows, as MSOE no longer exists in Windows Vista. Windows Mail, its replacement, is all-new. Microsoft simply got tired of fighting the old bugs and started from scratch.

It has nothing to
do with outlook nor any other app that I use this a
problem with the OS that needs to be fixed.

You are in error. This is a problem with MSOE, and it will never, ever, be fixed. Furthermore, if you were correct and this was a problem with OS 9, it would never, ever, be fixed either. And if it were a problem with Classic, which it is not, it is highly unlikely that it would be fixed... and the proper place to file bug reports is not here on this forum, so I rather doubt that anyone at Apple who is in a position to fix this, if it were an Apple problem and not a Microsoft problem, would even know about it.

i should
not get this message ever.

You get the error message because MSOE generates an error and the system does what it's supposed to and lets you know what the error is.

It serves no purpose but
to irritate and in many cases cause classic to get
stuck.

The error message does not cause Classic to 'get stuck'; the error causes Classic to get stuck. The error message is merely telling you about the error. You need to understand this, because in the event that you do file a bug report you need to file it properly... and if you say that the error message is causing the problem, you will be ignored because you will have demonstrated beyond any doubt whatsoever that you have absolutely no idea about what you're talking about. And, if you ever manage to file a bug report with Apple, they will look at your report and will conclude that the problem is with MSOE, not with their software, because they know as well as I do that MSOE has had this particular problem for the better part of a decade and will always have this problem because it will never be fixed because it is no longer supported on Macs and has not been supported for quite some time. If you get a reply at all (highly unlikely) you will be referred to Microsoft.

I think there should be more concern with stability
at Apple.

I have been running Classic on my Macs since I have been running OS X, which goes back to v 10.0.4. I have run Classic on beiges, b&ws, graphites, quicksilvers, windtunnels, iMacs, eMacs, G5s, PowerBooks, and iBooks. I am responsible for a half dozen Macs at home and several hundred at the office. Classic has been very stable on all of them... possibly because I don't run MSOE 'cause I know it breaks! (Well, Classic has been very stable so long as I don't run Quark, but then Quark also is known to crash. A lot.)

I would like to thank all those who tried
to help but that list is very short. I think I will
thank myself because I seem to be the only one who
see things the way they really are.

Ooo-kay.