Greetings Samina,
Are you using ZoneAlarm? If so, try putting it into the "Medium" setting and then see if the
problem disappears. Other third-party firewall applications (like Norton Internet Security,
Sygate, etc.) should have Messenger set to 'Permit All' or 'Allow All'.
If you're using a router, make sure you have the latest firmware from your router
manufacturer. As well, you might try setting your computers local IP into the routers DMZ
setting (see documentation on how to do this).
This can also happen due to a lack of bandwidth. If you have Kazaa, WinMX, GNUtella or some
other file sharing-type application or something else that takes considerable amounts of
bandwidth, you may want to shut it down and see if that helps the situation (even if you're
using a high speed connection, these applications can use most of the resources of your
connection).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources -
http://messenger.jonathankay.com