i tried putting in the SMTP settings and nothing worked- I foud in the class file a PHPMAIL file- so how does he email system work in HCL.  Does it use SMTP or PHP? And does anyone know of a bug or a fix

Sorry, I didn't have this problem but it sounds like it could be a server issue only because you said it worked once. Normally scripts don't just stop working out of the blue, that is, unless you made modifications to the script.

Have you tried contacting your hosting company to ask them about it? They might be able to evaluate this better for you since they have access to your site.

Good luck