Case resolved!
I removed all profiles and recreated them. However, this time, I did not rename them. That worked, though it does not make sense! I have no clue why because it asks me to 'Type the name by which you would like to refer to these servers..." but when I gave the accounts names I chose, 'Gmail' and 'Gmail-Business', it did not like it! I am totally puzzled. However, I did rename my Hotmail account years ago when I set it up in OE, and I have never had any errors! This happens only with Gmail, but I would be hard-pressed to find a way to contact them. Apparently, they want people to use their mail services but are not interested in supporting them.
Now things are back to normal.
Thanks to all who responded.
