Windows October Updates causing E-mail Problems?

I'm using IE on Windows XP (SP1) platform. After installing the recent
Windows updates as well as Norton Anti-virus updates, I've been unable to
retrieve and send e-mails from my main e-mail account. However, I'm able to
surf the net and use my free e-mail accounts. My ISP (Sprint / Rogers) tells
me it's not a connectivity issue; my connectivity settings are normal and
they're not having server problems. There's an update, MS Windows and/or
Norton, that's causing this.

I uninstalled the Norton WMI updates, rebooted, and tried to send an e-mail,
thinking this may have been the culprit...still can't send/retrieve e-mails.
When I ran Liveupdate, it didn't pick up the need to update WMI ( I had
previously uninstalled it).

Has anyone had any e-mail problems after the recent Windows updates? Any
ideas how I can resolve them? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mia