Hello all

I'm probably barking up entirely the wrong tree here but it's worth a shot.
I've been seeing too many 'hop count exceeded, possible mail loop' errors
lately.  A large number of our subscribers are missing out on posts because
the torturous path of email through various SMTP servers triggers the error.
In an effort to reduce this number I'm trying to find ways I can smooth list
traffic through our own domain (which currently stands at 4-5 hops,
depending on origin).

We're using LISTSERV 1.8d on a Windows 2000 Server machine with the usual
pointers to an external MTA.  Now, I've read through the install guide and
the online FAQ and they say the same thing: 'For Windows 9x & NT do not use
an SMTP mailer on the same machine as LISTSERV.'  Accoding to the online
FAQ, "The reason for this is that, due to the lack of a true Internet mail
API for Windows systems, the SMTPL.EXE "listener" requires exclusive access
to the SMTP port for incoming mail."  Purchasing LSMTP at this point is not
an option.

What I'd like to know is:

1.  Does this still hold true for WIN2k?
2.  What about configuring the machine so that SMTPL.EXE can have port 25
all to itself for incoming mail and the Microsoft SMTP service can use port
26?
3.  Can LISTSERV hand off outgoing mail via port 26?

I appreciate all comments.

--
Chazzozz!!

Michael Shannon
Webmaster
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"Before you can grow old and wise you must first survive being young and
stupid." - Ancient Proverb

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