Handling Junk Mail


As mentioned in the section on attachments, one way that computer viruses spread is through email. You should purchase and use an antivirus program to scan and check not only email attachments, but other documents that you share (for instance, via a floppy disk).

Another downside to email is the amount of electronic junk mail (called spam) that you receive. You can easily get unwanted messages from people and companies. To handle this type of mail, you can block senders and use an antispam program.

Blocking Senders

Outlook Express enables you to block mail from certain senders. If you receive an email message from someone on your blocked list, it is placed in the Deleted Items folder. The message is in boldface type so that you can find and review the message. If it's not spam, you can undelete it. (Sometimes, messages get tagged as junk mail by accident.)

To block a sender, follow these steps:

1.

Select a message from that sender.

2.

Open the Message menu and click the Block Sender command. You are then asked how to handle existing messages in your mail folders.

3.

Click Yes to delete all the messages or No to keep the messages but block the sender.

If you want to unblock a sender, you can remove him or her from your Blocked Senders List. Click Tools, Message Rules, Blocked Senders List. Select the sender and then click Remove. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Using an Antispam Program

Outlook Express's spam features are not that extensive, so you may want to use a special program for handling junk mail. Many antivirus programs or Internet security suites include features for dealing with junk mail. For instance, if you have Norton Internet Security, you can use Norton AntiSpam to handle junk mail. This program adds an icon to your mail program, and you can use this program to flag certain messages as junk mail.

note

It's virtually impossible to get rid of all unwanted mail. One thing you can do to keep spam at a minimum is to carefully check any information you agree to when you visit a site or purchase an item online. For instance, some sites include a check box (which is usually checked) that in effect says "go ahead and send me information about new services and products." After you are on one mailing list, your name pops up on many other lists. Uncheck any invitations for free newsletters or product information. Also, be careful when submitting personal information such as your address.


When it receives messages it thinks are junk mail or that have been flagged as junk mail, Norton AntiSpam places them in a special junk mail folder. You can open this folder and review and delete messages as needed.

If you have an antispam program, follow the specific instructions for turning on and configuring that program. Figure 7.16, for instance, shows the options for turning on Norton AntiSpam. You also can create a blocked sender list (like in Outlook Express), and you can create rules that will find and flag certain messages as spam. To do so, create mail rules from the Spam Rules tab. Figure 7.17 shows the first step in creating a spam mail rule. You enter the text to match and in the subsequent steps select what to search (entire email, sender's name, subject line, recipient, and/or body text) and how to classify the message (as spam or not spam).

Figure 7.16. Norton AntiSpam offers a range of spam filtering levels.


Figure 7.17. You can tell Norton AntiSpam what phrases to look for in your incoming messages.




    Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP
    Absolute Beginners Guide to Windows XP (2nd Edition)
    ISBN: 078973432X
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 176
    Authors: Shelley OHara

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