how to make smtplib.SMTP('localhost') work on window xp

[zxo102]

Hi,
 I am trying to use python module smtplib to send my email out on
window xp (localhost).

import smtplib
server = smtplib.SMTP('localhost')

but I got the error information as follows:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
  File "c:\python24\lib\smtplib.py", line 244, in __init__
    (code, msg) = self.connect(host, port)
  File "c:\python24\lib\smtplib.py", line 311, in connect
    (code, msg) = self.getreply()
  File "c:\python24\lib\smtplib.py", line 355, in getreply
    raise SMTPServerDisconnected("Connection unexpectedly closed")
SMTPServerDisconnected: Connection unexpectedly closed

I am not sure what is wrong with it. Should I configure my window xp
somewhere to run smtplib.SMTP('localhost')?

Thanks in advance.

ouyang