Since December 2013,  Windows Live Mail on several of our machines (both Win 7 HP SP1 and XP; and using different IMAP mailboxes) has stalled with “Your IMAP server has not responded within 60 seconds, …” when receiving into their Inboxes. When we finally give up and terminate the connection, we get an 0x800C006F. For those WLM clients with several mailboxes from the same IMAP email provider, typically most Inboxes are fine; only one (or rarely two) 'jam'.

This isn’t network congestion, because once it has happened, it never recovers. Completely removing all traces of WLM (all registry entries and data files in addition to the usual Win Uninstall) and reinstalling makes no difference whatever. Neither does installing a different version of WLM (we have tried from V14 [build 14.0,8117.0416] through V15 and V16, although the latest versions don’t of course run under XP).  We have checked the three usual IMAP error culprits (machine date/time wrong, Hosts file entries and DLL registration). The problem still occurs with anti-virus and firewall software fully disabled and with a direct broadband connection (i.e. direct to the broadband modem, bypassing any router port or other blocking).

We am running out of options!   

Some machines get as far as retrieving mail up to a particular date. Others retrieve all headers but only bodies up to a particular date. Still others retrieve all headers but no bodies.

However, each apparently hosed Inbox is readable by webmail and by Outlook 2010 and 2013!

[In passing, WLM is used on those particular machines because they need to share contact lists and calendars via Microsoft ActiveSync so cannot easily use another mail client apart from (chargeable) Outlook, and for other reasons cannot use outlook.com webmail]

Has anyone else experienced this?