Goals Staff

Help Desk and Frequently Asked Questions

Fixing The Pop3 Server Error

If you are experiencing the Pop3 Server Error while using an email client such as Eudora, Netscape mail, or Internet Explorer mail, there is a straight forward and simple way to clear the way for you to once again receive your email.

There are a number of possible causes to the dreaded Pop3 Server Error. Most of the errors come from an INBOX that is too large or an attachment to an email message that the Pop server just can't swallow. If you experience this error please follow the following steps:

Click on this Removing Unwanted E-mail Messages link.

Another possibility exists that can trigger the Pop3 server error. If you are in the habit of dropping carrier without logging off properly from the server you may have a file in your account called Core.something. This file is quite large and is the system's way of giving you all the information that you might need to fix your programming error. This file is generated when you fail to logoff properly from the server. You should find this file in your home directory. The following instructions give an overview of how to delete this file.

1. Logon to the WCnet machine using either Telnet or by way of a terminal connection. In both of these cases you will be logging on directly to the WCnet server and you will be prompted for you username and password. These two processes are described elsewhere in the WCNET Help Desk web pages.
2. Once on the WCNET server you will be presented with an ASCII character representation of the Wood County Court House. Scroll down through the options until you find an option to manage your files, hit enter or a right arrow key to enter this option.
3. With luck the file management screen will show you the core dump file and all you need do is move the highlight to cover the file and select r for remove. The file manager will ask you if you really mean it and you should hit y and then hit enter for yes.
4. If the file is not in your home directory you will need to change to that directory and then remove the file.

One last possibility exists that may cause the Pop3 error. If you have filled your public_html directory with an abundance of graphics and html files and you have reached your quota you will trigger the pop error when the pop server tries to copy the mail for transmission. Clear out some of these files and give your self a minimum of 1 meg for the mail to work with. That only 25% of the space that is reserved for you on the server and it must satisfy all of your file storage needs both mail and html/graphical.