Is everything else connecting okay? Your browsers?

I haven't used Outlook Express except as a test to try connecting my Gmail to a resident program. I have several free copies of things for my various email addresses.

Pegasus is good, as is Eudora and Mozilla's Thunderbird.

Chances are you need to examine your settings as far as your firewall scanning or restricting your email. I had that program a while back with a different operating system and firewall software. Sometimes just setting up a new email program allows you to see what the settings need to be for all programs. You can look at the Internet Options and Preferences and go back and reset what you need in Outlook. This is not a scientific approach, it's simply giving you a basis for comparison when it isn't clear what needs to be set.

SRS