[Closed] Any computing boffins in today? Problem..

The IMAP server is the thing at the email end. Whatever is dropping the connection could be at your end - normally I'd assume you're supplying the wrong credentials or something? Have you recently changed your password?

This just in from Yahoo! Answers:

The imap server is the mail system that runs web mail, rather than client based mail like Outlook Express. If you get this while logging in it means your server does not authorise your connection. If it happens after a while reading your mail, it is caused by a security timeout used to protect the server against people leaving their machines permanently connected and raking up all it's resources.

Caveat: I know nothing about computers.

I'm a bit of a guru.

Turn it off and then on again.

😉

I'd assume you're supplying the wrong credentials or something?

This seems the most likely.

The IMAP server is the email server that you are trying to read your email from.

Either:
- it has forcibly dropped the connection because it doesn't like you (wrong password, credentials)
- it has gone tits up and dropped all connections.
- your own internet connection was lost and it just looked like the email connection dropped.

It has gone tits up (phoned the company)...

I tried googling the phrase "ERROR: Connection dropped by IMAP server."
and got a load of technical help in what might just as well have been Martian, so that "Yahoo answers" thing looks really useful.