Gary, it was my DSL modem's firewall, it was set on high. But still know why
all of the sudden it decided newgroups were off limits. I had to turn it off
to connect. Even a low setting wound not function. Windows mail was listed
on the modem's firewall allow access list. Took you advice changed over to
Windows Live Mail.

Thanks, Larry

"Gary VanderMolen" wrote:

> I had no problem connecting to news.windstream.net.
> Do you have any third party security programs that might interfere?
> A firewall is the most likely culprit.
>
> If you have the same problem with an XP system, look for a common
> factor, such as a router, or the same type of firewall.
>
> --
> Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)
>
>
> "Larry@Lost" <Larry@Lost@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:C89BE05F-5C47-472E-8ECC-AC0206F722B8@microsoft.com...
> >I have the same problem with windstream ISP newsgroups. I called Windstream
> > after an hour on the phone with two different tech's they finally said this
> > is a Microsoft issue.
> > "Unable to Connect to Server"
> > Account: news.windstream.net
> > Protocol: NNTP
> > Port: 119
> > Secure(SSL):0
> > Code:800ccc0e
> >
> > Does anyone have a cure for this problem? I'm using Windows Vista Ultimate
> > 32 but have the same problem with another PC running XP.
>