Eventually all administrators will have a user come to them and complain about not being able to send email. They will find that while they can’t send email they will still be able to receive email messages. There are many reasons why this can happen and I have posted about many of those reasons already. One such error code that you’ll most likely see in these situations is the 0×800ccc7d error. The error message will usually say that it is a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) related error.

Remember that when you set up Exchange Server to use Secure Sockets Layer for Internet protocols such as Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3), and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), you may want to use a certificate that you obtain from another source, such as Verisign. It is possible that an SSL error is related to a corrupted certificate. But most of the time the error is related to configuration settings between the email client and the server.

This is the error message you might see:
Server Response: ‘250 HELP’. (Account ‘mail.<servername>.com’, SMTP Server: ‘mail.<servername>.com’, Error Number:0×800ccc7d).

Another variation on the error message produced will be a short message such as “Unknown Error: 0×800CCC7D”. This will happen when a user tries to send a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message in Outlook 2002.

The 0×800CCC7D error code usually indicates a problem with the settings not being in agreement for the Secure Sockets Layer protocol between the email client and the email server. The problem is most likely that SSL has been enabled on the email client but that the email server does not support SSL.

An administrator can fix this problem by disabling SSL. The administrator should open Outlook and then perform the following steps:

1. From the “Tools” menu click on email “Accounts”.
2. Select the email account then click on “Properties”.
3. Choose the “Advanced” tab.
4. From here uncheck the boxes “This server requires a secure connection” for both Outgoing and Incoming mail.

As a result of having SSL turned off you might get asked for a password by the server.

The reason why an administrator needs to make these changes is because the outgoing SMTP server does not support secure connections.

Another scenario that you should be aware of is that there is a possibility that there’s been a breach in security. You might be receiving these error messages if a hacker or someone on the inside has broken into the system and modified the SMTP settings such that all subsequent connections are redirected to another server. This is a technique that some hackers have used to obtain usernames and passwords.

It is also possible that your email client is experiencing interference from an antivirus program. If you suspect this is the case then an administrator can try shutting down the antivirus (A/V) application.

To be absolutely certain that there is no interference from the A/V software an administrator can take the extreme measure of uninstalling the software, rebooting the system and then checking for errors when sending email messages. If this was the issue then the administrator will need to contact the A/V vendor and request an upgrade to a version that presents no incompatibilities on the system. As a last resort disabling the email scanning option can also be tried.

If all of the recommendations listed above do not correct the problem then another alternative is to change the port number to 587 for the “Outgoing server (SMTP)” and to place a check mark in the box labeled, “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)”. The port number 587 is recommended but it can also present its own problems.

For instance, if you are using Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003 (SP1) then using the value of 587 can produce error messages that are similar to the error message: “Sending reported error (0×800ccc7D): Your Outgoing (SMTP) server does not support SSL-secured connections…”.

Note that there is a Microsoft hotfix for Outlook 2002 and that there is also a Microsoft hotfix for Outlook 2003.  More information about these hotfixes can be found in Microsoft Article 839629.

If you are still having communication problems with the server after applying those hotfixes then the administrator should try the following steps:

1. You can use the well-known port number 25. SMTP is specified for outgoing mail transport and uses port 25. If this doesn’t work then it is probably because port 25 has been blocked as a means to prevent unwanted anti-spam email from being transmitted.
2. Another port number that can be tried if port number 25 does not work is to try using a non-standard port number of 465 that also known to be supported in the industry.