Darookan,
many thanks for your response.
I think that you may have identified an important factor.
As I mentioned above it appears that on my system Webshield (ashWebSv.exe) does not get involved with the http-dav transactions for downloading Hotmail messages. It appears that, for me, OE has a direct session to the Hotmail http-dav server.
I guess I shall have to perform some IP logging since it is so fast for me I may be missing something.
If Webshield is getting involved in the http-dav traffic, and since http-dav is not "standard" http then it could well be that delays or, perhaps, complete blockage could occur.
I think that something worth trying, until the Avast team arrives at a solution may be:
Terminate the Webshield provider.
In the avast4.ini file (probably in the equivalent of Program Files\Alwil Software\Avst4\DATA folder) look for the section headed [WebScanner]. Within that there is probably a line IgnoreProcess=avast.setup. Let's add Outlook Express to the ignored process list so the line would be edited to look like:
IgnoreProcess=avast.setup,msimn.exe
Save the avast4.ini file
Restart the Webshield provider.
Does that make any difference in downloading Hotmail with OE?
Do you have any proxy involved in your web access?
