Anti-Spam Software

If anyone hates spam, I hate spam! I’m not alone in this. In fact, there’s even an anti-spam program named “I hate spam.”At one point, my inbox was regularly flooded with hundreds of junk email messages per day. Part of this was due to the fact that my email address was posted on the company’s website where it was quickly harvested by spammers. In addition, the company hosting this particular website and its related email features offered limited spam filtering. Dealing with hundreds of spam messages each day put a real damper on my productivity. And let’s not even talk about what happened when I went on a two week vacation. Let me put it this way: the lettering of the delete key on my keyboard rubbed off completely due to overuse.

At first, I tried filtering out spam on my own using the Message Rules feature in my email client. Every time I received a junk email, I’d add keywords to my message rules such as: Viagra, sex, XXX, porn, mortgage, debt counseling, enlargement, and so on. While this worked on a small scale, it took a great deal of effort on my part and it barely made a dent in the flood of spam. In addition, unless I was careful, it affected my legitimate emails.

For example, what if I listed my house for sale and my real estate agent sent me an email with the following message: We have a buyer who has pre-qualified for a mortgage. Call me right away! I’m at the Sussex office today.

According to my message rules, it would be deleted! This example represents a legitimate email containing the words “mortgage” and “sex” (Sussex) but I would never have seen it using my rough spam filtering system.

Anti-spam programs helped me solve my problem. These programs are far more sophisticated than I’ll ever be (at least in the realm of spam control). Most use algorithm analysis and learning engines to determine whether a message is legitimate or spam. Content-based anti-spam programs look at the contents of a message and compare their findings to a database. Since spammers are notorious for changing their tricks to work around spam filtering, these algorithms and databases are constantly updated.

In addition to content filtering, most anti-spam programs also let users mark messages as spam (part of the learning engine) as well as trust or block senders. For example, a “whitelist” of trusted senders is a list that you create. If I were to place the real estate agent in the whitelist, I would receive any message sent regardless of content. Likewise, I could block a sender and never receive a single message from that “blacklisted” sender ever again.  

Anti-spam software isn’t perfect. Sometimes, legitimate email messages are marked as spam and routed to the “junk mail” folder. While it is possible to browse the junk mail folder and look at all of the spam in search of legitimate emails, I don’t really see the point. If I wanted to look at all of that spam, I wouldn’t have invested in an anti-spam solution! The fact is that I don’t want to look at emails hawking Viagra and debt relief counseling. That’s why it’s critical to choose an anti-spam program that is efficient and good at accurately filtering spam. Look for a program that has adjustable filtering levels. It takes a little bit of tweaking to find the right balance. However, with an efficient anti-spam program, white and black lists, and the appropriate filtering level, your spam problems will be a thing of the past.   

Download Top Email Recovery Tools

• Data Recovery PRO of Paretologic - Download
• RecovermyEmail of GetData - Download

So, you’ve reformatted the hard disk or partition containing your emails?

I can’t say I’ve done that yet but I do know that your emails are likely just fine.

Reformatting media such as hard disks, Memory sticks, flash drives, and floppy disks doesn’t actually destroy the data. All reformatting does is clean up the tables and indexes containing the addresses and references to the data. The data remains on the disk - until new data comes along and replaces it.

When you reformat a media device, it “looks” like the device is empty. After all, all of your software and data is gone. However, if you had a tool that can look at the actual contents of the media device, you would see that the data remains. I’ve tested this myself by reformatting a Memory Stick and then looking at the Memory Stick in three different ways. First, I looked at it in my digital camera where it was as empty as could be. No pictures. No video files. Nothing. Next, I inserted it into my computer where it showed up as the H: drive. Once again, no pictures or video files. Just a blank Memory Stick awaiting new data. Finally, I scanned it with a data recovery tool (ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro) and what did I see? All of my recently deleted photos along with photos I took months ago.

While my example illustrates data recovery on a reformatted Memory Stick, the same principles are at work when it comes to reformatted hard disks and email messages. By using a data recovery utility, you can recover data from your reformatted hard disk. I recommend the Data Recovery Pro tool in this case because it is able to recover virtually any file type including Outlook PST/OST files and Outlook Express DBX files. It is also able to restore entire partitions.

I also recommend that you do so right away before installing new software or adding new data to your system because once data is overwritten by new data, then it’s gone for good.

Related articles

What programs can I download to help me find deleted emails?
Does reformatting completely destroy emails?
Can I recover web based emails or only MS Outlook?
Can I recover lost emails?
What types of files are recoverable?
What are the differences between Data Recovery products?
Im trying to recover a file, what are root privileges?
Are there ways to delete files permanently?
How can you delete a file and it still exists?
Are files left after I delete them?
What are the steps for recovering lost data or files?

Download Top Email Recovery Tools

• Data Recovery PRO of Paretologic - Download
• RecovermyEmail of GetData - Download

In earlier discussions, I have talked about recovering messages from Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express

You now know that it is indeed possible to recover data from Outlook PST files and Outlook DBX files using special email recovery software. But what about web-based emails such as Yahoo and Hotmail? Can you recover those?

If you’re like me, you have several email accounts including a few web-based email addresses. For example, I have a Yahoo email account that I rarely use. In fact, it’s been deactivated because I haven’t logged in lately. Upon reactivating the account, I will find that all of my old Yahoo messages are long gone. Can I get them back? Maybe.

In addition to losing all web-based emails because of inactivity, deleting emails in order to make room for future messages is common. Free web-based email accounts offer limited storage space. It doesn’t take too many emails with attachments to fill up the quota. While you can recover deleted web-based emails from the “trash” if they are still in the trash folder, once they’re emptied from the trash, they’re gone for good - or are they?

If you have opened a web-based email message and viewed it on your computer, you may be able to recover the message using data recovery software. This depends on if the HTML file is still hanging out in your Temporary Internet Files folder. Even if you’ve cleared the Temporary Internet Files folder, data recovery software may be able to dig deeper to where the data actually resides on your hard drive if no new data has overwritten it.

For example, you will need a data recovery tool such as ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro that allows you to search by file type (in this case HTML) and to specify the folder (Temporary Internet Files). This will bring up thousands of potential files so you might want to take advantage of the filtering features by entering a keyword such as “Yahoo” or “Hotmail” to narrow the results.

Related articles

What programs can I download to help me find deleted emails?
Does reformatting completely destroy emails?
Can I recover web based emails or only MS Outlook?
Can I recover lost emails?
What types of files are recoverable?
What are the differences between Data Recovery products?
Im trying to recover a file, what are root privileges?
Are there ways to delete files permanently?
How can you delete a file and it still exists?
Are files left after I delete them?
What are the steps for recovering lost data or files?

“We Strongly Recommend Data Recover PRO to Bring back your Lost Emails …”

Data Recovery PRO of Paretologic - Download

I feel your pain! I shudder at the thought of losing my emails
For example, I’m in an online writer’s group where we critique each others’ works in progress via email. While I route all related critiques into a special folder in Microsoft Mail for easy access, I don’t necessarily save these messages into standards folders on my hard disk nor do I back them up. Losing just this one folder in Microsoft Mail would mean losing at least a year’s worth of feedback on my novel. That’s just one folder. I also receive all of my bank statements, work assignments, and other important messages via email.

So, what would I do if the unthinkable happened and my email folders became corrupt? Since I don’t backup my emails, I can’t restore them that way. Instead, I would need to use data recovery software. When using data recovery software for recovering email messages, you must make sure to pick your software carefully because email recovery is a bit different than standard data recovery.

For example, Microsoft Outlook uses PST files while Microsoft Outlook Express uses DBX files. In addition to email folders and messages, associated data such as address books, journal entries, calendars, appointments, notes, and tasks are part of Microsoft Outlook data. Because each email client uses a different system for storing email messages and related data, you must make sure that the email recovery tool that you buy has support for the system that you are using. If you need to recover Microsoft Outlook emails, then you need an email recovery tool designed to recover PST files. Likewise, if you use Outlook Express or Microsoft Mail, then you need a data recovery tool capable of recovering DBX files.

Once you have the appropriate email recovery tool, you can go in and restore your folders along with the messages contained within each one.

If you are using Microsoft Outlook 97 through 2007, a built-in tool called the “Inbox Repair Tool” is included. This tool is designed to repair problems associated with PST files. You can use it when you suspect file corruption on either PST or OST (offline folder files) files. The Inbox Repair Tool ensures that the structure is intact, resets the structure, and rebuilds headers. Occasionally, recovered PST files don’t work until they’ve been repaired with this tool as well. In order to run this tool, you must first find it. Go to the Start button and enter “scanpst.exe” in the Search bar. Once found, double-click it. Next, enter the path to your PST file and follow the prompts.

In the meantime, I think I’ll run a quick backup of my email folders to avoid this problem in the first place. To find out where your “store” folder is located in Microsoft Outlook Express, go to Tools>Options>Maintenance>Store folder. In Microsoft Mail, go to Tools>Options>Advanced>Maintenance>Store folder. Here, you’ll be able to see the path leading to your store folder such as:

C:\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail

Once you know where your Store folder is located, you can back it up. However, I’m terrible at regularly backing up my data. It’s reassuring to know that data recovery could help in a pinch.

Related articles

What programs can I download to help me find deleted emails?
Does reformatting completely destroy emails?
Can I recover web based emails or only MS Outlook?
Can I recover lost emails?
What types of files are recoverable?
What are the differences between Data Recovery products?
Im trying to recover a file, what are root privileges?
Are there ways to delete files permanently?
How can you delete a file and it still exists?
Are files left after I delete them?
What are the steps for recovering lost data or files?

Dealing with and Clearing Email Clutter

Here are two different approaches to handling the bulk of email that office workers receive each day.

Sue gets an average of forty-five emails each morning, as does Bob.   During the course of the day, both will receive thirty or more emails. 

Sue skims through the morning’s emails, looks for the interesting ones, and says she’ll get to the others later.

Bob works his way systematically down the list, just as if he was opening snail mail, and deals with each one.

At the end of the day, Sue will have dealt with most of her mail - albeit in a somewhat haphazard fashion.   Sometimes she misses an important email, sometimes she loses track of one, because it’s no longer visible on the screen.

Because she chooses which ones to attend to, she looks for the ones that are easiest to deal with first.  Difficult ones get left until later, and often don’t get the attention they deserve.   Her Inbox becomes full of clutter – and she seldom knows where important emails are.

Bob, who wouldn’t necessarily call himself the most disciplined person in the world, still aims to use a four choice system that he brought over from his days of working with paper. 

1. act on it
2. pass it on
3. file it
4. discard it

Act on it.   Obviously not every email can be acted on there and then.   Some may need the involvement of co-workers, or considerable activity to bring it to fruition.   Whatever the case, unless Bob can deal quickly with an email, he prints it out, and puts the hard copy in a marked folder on his desk.   If it’s urgent, it goes in the Today folder, if it requires further input, it’s put in a separate folder, and so on. 

The original email is also placed in an appropriate email folder, creating one if necessary.

Pass it on.   If the email needs to be passed onto someone else, Bob either forwards it electronically, with a note saying he’s seen it, or prints it out and ensures that the worker gets the copy straight away.

File it.  If the email is information that is needed for future reference, he parks it in an appropriate drawer on his computer.   If it’s information that only needs a quick perusal and can be discarded, he trashes it.  If it’s information that will require further consideration and thought, he prints it out and makes sure it’s filed immediately in the appropriate file.  One of his aims each day is to read through such information.   For this he sets aside a quarter to half an hour at around about the same time each day.

Discard it.   Bob discards all items that are of an ephemeral nature, or unimportant, such as advertising unrelated to his business, humour (after getting the joke) and so on.   Spam is automatically filtered out, but Bob checks new spam at least once a day, in case something has gotten in there by mistake. 

Bob always replies to emails from section one and two, even if it’s just to confirm that he’s received the information, or to let the person know he’s working on it.   Apart from the courtesy aspect, this means the sender knows his email hasn’t gone missing in cyberspace, and that it’s receiving attention.

Sue, however, only replies when she has to give an answer, which often leaves her email senders in the dark as to what she’s doing, or whether she’s received the information.   Certainly in the past, with snail mail, recipients didn’t always confirm that the mail had been received.   However, with the ease of reply in the email system, it’s bad business practice not to reply. 

Bob always checks the email drawers once a week to see what can be trashed.   Because he only keeps what’s essential, this isn’t a long job.   Sue tends to keep all emails on her computer, some in drawers and some not, ‘just in case.’   Consequently when she’s looking for some information, her Find facility will turn up all manner of irrelevant emails, wasting further time.   Back ups of her computer often take far longer than necessary because of all the out-of-date material sitting on her system.

Bob knows his approach may seem pedantic to Sue, but he also knows he loses track of very little in the course of a day.  Sue knows she has some trouble finding emails quickly, but blames it on the system rather than on her lack of discipline. 

Being disciplined with emails seems hard.   Because they don’t pile up on your desk like paper, because they vanish up the screen, often quite quickly, there’s a tendency to think that they’ve been dealt with.    Worse, they’re easily forgotten.

It’s essential to form a plan of attack with emails because of their very emphemerality.

Some suggestions:

Don’t check for more emails until the ones that arrived earlier have been dealt with according to your particular ‘system.’

Don’t say you’re trying to save paper by not printing out important information. 

Emails that are easy to handle, and interesting, shouldn’t take priority over ones that are actually more productive for your business.

If, on the way home from work, or in the middle of the night, you suddenly remember you didn’t deal with an email during the day, then your system isn’t working.    This seldom happens to Bob, but it happens to Sue far too often.

Taming the Email Waste-of-Time Vacuum

If there’s one thing that can truly be called a time vacuum for most people, it’s email.  Chat rooms, instant messaging, text messaging, and forums would all come a close second, but there’s something so important about email.  It’s a means of communication…a way of building business contacts…a way to keep in touch with friends.  And that’s to say nothing of those cutesy but annoying forwards that keep cropping up in your inbox! 

It’s easy to get lost in reading and replying to emails.  This article looks at various ways to overcome the email vacuum, and free up more of your day for actual work. 

1) Determine relevance.  Some emails are genuinely important.  That memo from your boss marked “Urgent” should probably be read before anything else, for example.  Mentally organize your incoming emails by relevance.  Which ones need to be read and answered immediately?  Which ones need to be read and answered in the near future?  Which ones don’t need to be read at all?  (You guessed it—those forwards fall into this last category!) 

Your email program should let you set up different folders for different emails.  Set up two folders in your email program, one for emails that have to be read in the near future (medium priority) and one for emails that don’t have to be read at all (low priority).  Leave high-priority emails in your inbox. 

Later, you’ll want to set up different folders for emails that need to be saved.  For now, you’re going to be moving unread emails to these two folders.  Out of sight, out of mind!  Set aside a time once every day or once every couple of days to go through the medium priority mail and reply to those things that need an answer.  Low priority mail can be read when you don’t have anything better to do.  High priority emails should be addressed as they come into your inbox, if possible. 

2) Set a timer.  This is one of the best ways to make sure you don’t spend too much time on your emails.  Set a timer for 15 minutes, and when it goes off, stop reading your emails.  This idea works best for medium and low priority emails, of course.  Truly important emails need to be dealt with, whether the timer has gone off or not.  But a timer keeps you from getting lost in unimportant emails for hours at a time.  There is a time and a place for everything, including emails.  The place is your computer, and the time is 15 minutes.  No more. 

3) Use your filters.  Most email programs will allow you to filter incoming mail into different folders.  If you receive a lot of email from the same address—requested commercial emails from your favorite catalogue, for example—you can have your email automatically filter them into the appropriate folder, either low or medium priority.  This allows you to save those extra few seconds (or extra few minutes, if you receive a lot of email) moving them yourself. 

Email doesn’t have to drain your life away.  These three simple steps will help you control it.