[jeffgrant]

Email servers sometimes have "lock files" that are set when an email client accesses a person's mailbox.

Basically, when your email client starts to connect, it will look to see if a lock file exists (on the server side), and if not, then will create one and continue the process of checking your email.

When your email client is done, the email server will remove that lock file.

If, on the other hand, the server finds that the lock file is there (on the server side) when you go to check your email, it usually means some other client is already accessing your mailbox, so it throws that generic message back at you, and won't let you continue.

Think of it as a "do not disturb sign" for your mailbox.


Sometimes, mail servers get "confused" and lock files might not get cleared up as well as they should, or it takes a little longer than immediately, so it's not necessarily the case. (Really, it only means "I found a lock file", and there could be multiple reasons for it being there other than "someone is hacking my email").

The "Outlook" part of the message is probably there because that's the email client that a vast majority of people use, but really it just means that "a" mail client may already be accessing your email.


It "could" be that someone else is accessing your email, but odds are not.

Make sure you don't have multiple computers checking mail at the same time, and see if it happens again.

If you find that some email messages show up as having been read, when you haven't, that kind of thing, I'd tend to be a bit worried.

If you only got this message a couple of times and never again, I wouldn't worry about it.


Still, wouldn't be a bad idea to change your password.

And make it a good one.


$0.02