buffer problem.

[muchwyza]

A friend emailed me with this problem and I don't have a clue what to tell her. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks loads.

**********************
After my computer has been on for a couple of hours, and I go to check for mail, an error message pops up:
Could not connect to "pop3.norton.antivirus" Cause: no buffer space available (10055)
After this happens, I cannot connect to the Internet at all, so it is not simply e:mail that is
affected.
My husband and I have computers connected by Ethernet Hub 10Base-T, and this never happens on his. We have a cable Internet connection..
My operating system is Windows95, and I use Qualcomm Eudora E-mail. (And, by the way, I'm maxed out on adding any more
RAM.)
It matters not whether I have used other programmes or not, nor does it matter whether I've had Eudora up and running during this time, or shut down. I
have tried to lower the buffer space amount on the Eudora settings, down from the 4096, which is standard, but this does not solve the problem.
I have no problem for about the first two or three hours after I have turned on the computer in the morning, or after I have "re-started" it, (which I have to do
several times a day!).
What is "buffer space", and how I might overcome this problem?
Thanks so much for any help.
********************

[WyllyWylly]

First things first: I don't think this is a Norton-specific issue. The error you are receiving is the result of a shortage of resources on your PC. You may have plenty of RAM but how it's used by Windows and the applications that run on it are a different story.

First, upgrade your Winsock software. Winsock is the TCP/IP (network) layer for Windows operating systems and has undergone sugnificant changes since the release of Windows 95.

You asked about the buffers. Buffers are memory spaces that hold information for programmes and other system processes until they need to use it. By using the buffer to hold things, resources are freed for other processing tasks. Buffers can be overrun, or in your case, it appears that they simply don't have the resources required. Lack of buffer space is usually caused by running too many applications at the same time, or by programs that do not release memory properly (known as a memory leak).

If you have any means of doing so, it would be wise to upgrade your operating system to Windows 98. 95 is no longer a supported operating system and many known issues with it were resolved with Win98. Not a must, but WIndows 98 is far more stable than 95. Avoid ME....avoid it like the plague. Something to consider.