-----Original Message-----
I have microsoft xp and I want to filter out some of the junk email but
outlook tells me that the junk email feature needs to be turned on, how do i
do that?
.
The following is from Outlook Help!
The new Junk E-mail Filter replaces the rules used in
previous versions of Microsoft Outlook to filter e-mail
messages. The Junk E-mail Filter is on by default, and the
protection level is set to Low, which is designed to catch
the most obvious junk e-mail messages. Any message that is
caught by the Junk E-mail Filter is moved to a special Junk
E-mail folder, where you can retrieve or review it at a
later time. You can make the filter more aggressive, which
may mistakenly catch legitimate messages, or you can even
set Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 to permanently delete
junk e-mail messages.
There are two parts to the Junk E-mail Filter: the Junk
E-mail Filter Lists and the state-of-the-art technology
developed by Microsoft Research that evaluates whether an
unread message should be treated as a junk e-mail message
based on several factors, such as the time it was sent and
the content of the message. The filter does not single out
any particular sender or type of e-mail message. The filter
is based on the content of the message in general and uses
advanced analysis of the message structure to determine the
probability that it is a junk e-mail message.
Note Text marked with an orange asterisk () indicates a
feature that is introduced with Microsoft Office 2003
Service Pack 1. To get Service Pack 1, go to Downloads on
Office Online. Under Office Update, click Check for Updates.
Junk E-mail Filter Updates
Updates to the Junk E-mail Filter are available at
Downloads on Office Online. Under Office Update, click
Check for Updates.
Junk E-mail Filter Lists
There are five Junk E-mail Filter Lists: Safe Senders List
(Safe Senders List: A list of domain names and e-mail
addresses that you want to receive messages from. E-mail
addresses in Contacts and in the Global Address Book are
included in this list by default.), Safe Recipients List
(Safe Recipients List: A list of mailing lists or other
subscription domain names and e-mail addresses that you
belong to and want to receive messages from. Messages sent
to these addresses will not be treated as junk e-mail.),
Blocked Senders List (Blocked Senders List: A list of
domain names and e-mail addresses that you want to be
blocked. E-mail addresses and domain names on this list are
always treated as junk e-mail or spam.), and two
International lists: Blocked Encodings List (Blocked
Encodings List: A list that allows you to block a language
encoding or character set in order to filter out unwanted
international e-mail messages that display in a language
you don't understand.) and Blocked Top-Level Domains List
(Blocked Top-Level Domains List: A list that allows you to
block top-level domain names. Blocking country/region
top-level domains allows you to filter unwanted e-mail
messages you receive from specific countries or regions.).
If a name or e-mail address is on both the Blocked Senders
List and the Safe Senders List, the Safe Senders List takes
precedence over the Blocked Senders List; this reduces the
possibility that messages that you want will be mistakenly
marked as junk e-mail messages.
Safe Senders List If the filter mistakenly marks an
e-mail message as a junk e-mail message, you can add the
sender of that message to the Safe Senders List. E-mail
addresses and domain names on the Safe Senders List are
never treated as junk e-mail, regardless of the content of
the message.
E-mail addresses in Contacts are included in this list by
default. Therefore, messages from people in your Contacts
folder will never be treated as junk e-mail messages.
E-mail addresses of people who are not necessarily in your
Contacts but are people whom you correspond with regularly
are included in this list by default through the
Automatically add people I e-mail to the Safe Senders List
check box.
Notes
The recipient's e-mail address is saved by default only
when you create and send the message the usual way in
Outlook, as opposed to a message generated automatically by
a program.
Personal distributions lists will not be added by using
this check box.
If you accidentally reply to a spammer's e-mail message-
for example, to unsubscribe- and this check box is
selected, that spammer's address will be added to the Safe
Senders List. If you notice the spammer's subsequent
messages in your Inbox, you must add them to the Blocked
Senders List and remove the corresponding entry from the
Safe Senders List.
If the same address is in both the Blocked Senders List and
the Safe Senders List, the Safe Senders List takes
precedence and the address will not be considered junk.
If you are using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail
account, names and e-mail addresses in the Global Address
List (Global Address List: The address book that contains
all user, group, and distribution list e-mail addresses in
your organization. The administrator creates and maintains
this address book. It may also contain public folder e-mail
addresses.) are automatically considered safe.
You can also configure Outlook to accept messages only from
people on your Safe Senders List, giving you total control
over which messages are delivered to your Inbox.
Safe Recipients List If you belong to mailing lists or
distribution lists, you can add these names to your Safe
Recipients List so that any messages sent to these e-mail
addresses or domain names will never be treated as junk,
regardless of the content of the message.
Blocked Senders List You can easily block messages from a
certain e-mail address or domain name by adding the sender
to this list. Messages from people or domain names on this
list are always treated as junk, regardless of the content
of the message. When you add a sender's name or e-mail
address to the Blocked Senders List, Outlook moves the
message to the Junk E-mail folder.
If Automatic Picture Download is turned off, messages from
or to e-mail addresses or domain names on the Safe Senders
List and Safe Recipients List will be treated as exceptions
and the blocked content will be downloaded.
If you have existing lists of safe or blocked names and
addresses, you can import this information into Outlook
2003 by saving the list as a text (.txt) file with one
entry per line, and then importing the list. If you want to
share your Junk E-mail Filter Lists, create a copy for
backup purposes, or print a list, you can export the e-mail
addresses on the list to a text (.txt) file.
E-mail addresses are matched exactly, and specific address
entries take precedence over domain name entries. To block
an entire domain but still see specific safe addresses, add
the specific entries to the Safe Senders List. For example,
add
[email protected] to the Safe Senders List and
@example.com to your Blocked Senders List. This blocks any
e-mail message you receive with @example.com in the e-mail
address except
[email protected].
International List To block unwanted e-mail messages that
come from another country or region or appear in another
language, there are two lists.
Blocked Top-Level Domains List This list enables you to
block e-mail addresses that end in a specific top-level
domain (top-level domain: The broadest name category at the
end of e-mail addresses. Generic top-level domains include
..com, .edu, .gov, .net, and .org. Country code top-level
domains use two letters, for example,
[email protected]
and
[email protected].). For example, selecting the CA
[Canada], US [United States], and MX [Mexico] check boxes
in the list would block messages with e-mail addresses like
these:
[email protected],
[email protected], and
[email protected]. Additional country codes appear in the
list. This helps you to eliminate unwanted e-mail messages
that you receive from specific countries or regions.
Blocked Encodings List This list enables you to block
all e-mail addresses in a specific language encoding
(encoding: A method for representing characters in HTML or
plain-text e-mail messages, examples include US-ASCII,
Unicode (UTF-8), and Western European (ISO). Outlook
automatically selects an optimal encoding for outgoing
e-mail messages.), also known as a character set. Today,
the vast majority of junk e-mail is sent in the US-ASCII
encoding. The remaining junk e-mail is sent in various
other international encodings, so this list gives you the
ability to filter out unwanted international e-mail that is
displayed in a language that you don't understand.
Notes
Unicode (Unicode: A character encoding standard developed
by the Unicode Consortium. By using more than one byte to
represent each character, Unicode enables almost all of the
written languages in the world to be represented by using a
single character set.) encodings are not included in the
Blocked Encodings List.
Messages with unknown or unspecified encodings will be
subject to filtering by the regular Junk E-mail Filter.
E-mail account types and the Junk E-mail Filter
The Junk E-mail Filter can be used with the following types
of e-mail accounts:
A Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account in Cached
Exchange Mode
An Exchange Server account that delivers to a Personal
Folders file (.pst) (Personal Folders file (.pst): Data
file that stores your messages and other items on your
computer. You can assign a .pst file to be the default
delivery location for e-mail messages. You can use a .pst
to organize and back up items for safekeeping.)
HTTP (HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): Protocol that is
used when you access Web pages from the Internet. Outlook
uses HTTP as an e-mail protocol.) (MSN Hotmail)
POP3 (POP3: A common protocol that is used to retrieve
e-mail messages from an Internet e-mail server.)
IMAP (IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): Unlike
Internet e-mail protocols such as POP3, IMAP creates
folders on a server to store/organize messages for
retrieval by other computers. You can read message headers
only and select which messages to download.)
Microsoft Office Outlook Connector for IBM Lotus Domino
Outlook Connector for MSN
All e-mail accounts in the same Outlook user profile
(Outlook user profile: A group of e-mail accounts and
address books. Typically, a user needs only one but can
create any number, each with a set of e-mail accounts and
address books. Multiple profiles are useful if more than
one person uses the computer.) share the same Junk E-mail
settings and lists. If you have both an Exchange Server
e-mail account and a Hotmail account, each e-mail account
has a Junk E-mail folder. However, If you have both an
Exchange Server e-mail account and a POP3 account, both
e-mail accounts use the same Junk E-mail folder.
If you change your profile, you should export a copy of
your Junk E-mail Lists before making the changes, and then
import the information into Outlook 2003 to avoid having to
re-create your Junk E-mail Filter Lists.
Different versions of Microsoft Exchange Server and the
Junk E-mail Filter
Versions earlier than Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
If you use Cached Exchange Mode or download to a Personal
Folders file (.pst) You can create and use the Junk
E-mail Filter Lists, which are stored on the server and
available from any computer that you use. Note that if you
use both Cached Exchange Mode and download to a Personal
Folders file (.pst) as your default delivery location, the
Junk E-mail Filter Lists will be available only on the
computer used to add the names and addresses.
If you work online The Junk E-mail Filter is not available.
Exchange Server 2003
If you use Cached Exchange Mode or download to a Personal
Folders file (.pst) The Junk E-mail Filter Lists are
stored on the server and are available from any computer.
They are also used by the server to evaluate messages. This
means that if a sender is on your Blocked Senders List,
messages will be moved to the Junk E-mail folder on the
server and not evaluated by Outlook 2003.
If you work online The Junk E-mail Filter Lists are
stored on the server and are available from any computer.
They are also used by the server to evaluate messages. This
means that if a sender is on your Blocked Senders List,
messages will be moved to the Junk E-mail folder on the
server and not evaluated by Outlook 2003.
Note If you work online or use Cached Exchange Mode and
download to a Personal Folders file (.pst) as your default
delivery location, the Junk E-mail Filter Lists will be
available only on the computer used to add the names and
addresses.
Rules and the Junk E-mail Filter
Rules are now designed so that they do not act on messages
that have been moved to the Junk E-mail folder. This keeps
e-mail considered to be junk in the correct place rather
than moving it to another folder according to the rule.
Best practices for managing junk e-mail
Increase your protection level as you need to To obtain
the maximum protection possible from using the Junk E-mail
Filter and other enhanced privacy features, set the
protection level of the Junk E-mail Filter to High or to
Safe Lists Only.
Keep your Junk E-mail Filter updated Updates are
available at Downloads on Office Online. Under Office
Update, click Check for Updates.
Block images in HTML messages that spammers use as Web
beacons A Web beacon can be a graphic image, linked to
an external Web server, that is placed in an HTML-formatted
message and can be used to verify that your e-mail address
is valid when the message is opened and images downloaded.
By default, Outlook is set to block automatic picture
downloads. To verify what your automatic download settings
are, on the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Security
tab, and then click Change Automatic Download Settings.
Verify that the Don't download pictures or other content
automatically in HTML e-mail check box is selected.
Turn off automatic processing of meeting requests and read
and delivery receipts Spammers sometimes resort to
sending meeting requests and messages with delivery
receipts requested. Responding to meeting requests and read
and delivery receipts automatically makes you vulnerable to
Web beacons.
Limit where you post your e-mail address Be cautious
about posting your e-mail address on public Web sites, and
remove your e-mail address from your personal Web site. If
you list or link to your e-mail address, you can expect to
be spammed.
Disguise (or "munge") your e-mail address when you post it
to a newsgroup, chat room, bulletin board, or other public
places For example, you can give your e-mail address as
"
[email protected]0m" by using the number zero instead of
the letter "o." This way, a person can interpret your
address, but the automated programs that spammers use cannot.
Use multiple e-mail addresses for different purposes You
might set up one for personal use to correspond with
friends, family, or colleagues, and use another for more
public activities, such as requesting information,
shopping, or for subscribing to newsletters, discussion
lists, and newsgroups.
Review the privacy policies of Web sites When you sign
up for online banking, shopping, and newsletters, review
the privacy policy closely before you reveal your e-mail
address and other personal information. Look at the Web
site for a link (usually at the bottom of the home page) or
section called "Privacy Statement," "Privacy Policy,"
"Terms and Conditions," or "Terms of Use." If the Web site
does not explain how it will use your personal information,
think twice about using that service.
Watch out for check boxes that are already selected When
you buy things online, companies sometimes add a check box
(already selected!) to indicate that it is fine to sell or
give your e-mail address to other businesses (third
parties). Clear the check box so that your e-mail address
won't be shared.
Don't reply to spam Don't reply even to unsubscribe
unless you know and trust the sender. Answering spam just
confirms that your e-mail address is live.
If a company uses e-mail messages to ask for personal
information, don't respond by sending a message Most
legitimate companies will not ask for personal information
in e-mail. Be suspicious if they do. It could be a spoofed
e-mail message meant to look like a legitimate one. This
tactic is known as "phishing" because, as the name implies,
the spam is used as a means to "fish" for your credentials,
such as your account number and passwords that are
necessary to access and manipulate your financial accounts.
If the spam is from a company that you do business with -
for example, your credit card company - call the company,
but don't use a phone number provided on the e-mail. Use a
number that you find yourself, either through directory
assistance, a bank statement, a bill, or other source. If
it is a legitimate request, the telephone operator should
be able to help you.
Don't contribute to a charity based on a request in e-mail
Unfortunately, some spammers prey on your good will. If
you receive an appeal from a charity, treat it as spam. If
it is a charity that you want to support, find their number
elsewhere and call them to find out how you can make a
contribution.
Don't forward chain e-mail messages Besides causing more
traffic over the line, forwarding a chain e-mail message
might be furthering a hoax, and you lose control over who
sees your e-mail address.
