Junk email schedule won't run

[WTL]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC
Email Client: pop

I've set it for 1 day, and it doesn't run. I've set it for one minute, and it doesn't run. If I click Run Schedule, it says "Schedule Junk E-mail will run in a minute" or "Schedule Junk E-mail will run in less than a minute" - and when that minute has passed it goes back to saying "will run in a minute" - and it doesn't run. Yes, I've enabled the schedule. I've told it run on Quit, and it still refuses. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[mscoxoh]

Try turning off "Only if connected", if it isn't already. I have the same or similar issue and this worked for me. I have a "send/receive" schedule that runs every 10 minutes for 2 of my 3 email accounts (and another schedule every hour for the other account). It counts down to 1 minute, then goes back to 10. If I manually send/receive it works; if I manually run the schedule it works. I turned off "only if connected" and now it seems to work. Must be some bug in how Entourage determines if the computer is online.

 

[WTL]

Hi mscoxoh - thanks for the tip, but I already have "only if connected" unchecked, and it always has been. And running send/receive or the schedule manually doesn't work either. At the moment the only thing that works is selecting all the junk mail and clicking Delete. I guess that's OK, but I want my Entourage to work right!

I wonder if the latest update to Office for Mac 2004 somehow screwed things up. I'd heard about problems with the update so resisted it for awhile, but finally downloaded it anyway.

Thanks anyway!

 

[WTL]

for Jolly Roger - those screen shot instructions didn't work, but opening Grab did, and I did the ImageShack thing, so I hope it worked. Don't know if this forum is what you mean by "relevant news group" since I don't belong to any, unless this forum is a newsgroup. Anyway, I hope this is the shot: <http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/8270/screenshotdf8.png>

??

Thanks JR

 

[WTL]

Yup, it worked!

 

[WTL]

Hi mscoxoh - thanks for the tip, but I already have "only if connected"
unchecked, and it always has been. And running send/receive or the schedule
manually doesn't work either.

It would really help to know the *exact* settings you are using in this
schedule. A screen shot posted to <http://imageshack.us> would show us
your settings.

Anyway, try this:

1. Open /Applications/AppleScript/Script Editor.
2. Paste this script into a new script window:
-- begin script
beep
-- end script
3. Save the script to your Desktop (with File Format: Script).
4. Add this action to the offending schedule:
Run AppleScript (the script you saved to your Desktop)
5. No manually invoke your schedule, or allow it to automatically run at
the scheduled time. Be ure to turn the volume up so you can hear your
computer's sound output.

Did your computer beep? If so, the schedule is executing.

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR
[/QUOTE]

OK, did this following your instructions exactly and got it pasted in the Add Action in Junk Email - then clicked Run Schedule - got the same old message: "Schedule junk mail will run in 1 minute" followed by "less than 1 minute"; then the Email did its Send/Receive thing, and Schedule Junk mail reverted to its run in 1 minute thing, which alternates permanently with less than 1 minute. No change, and the junk mail continues to accumulate. Argh. I know I can just select all and delete it, but I'd like the program to work (and I'm not a programmer).

 

[WTL]

Oh - by "it worked" I just meant I was able to get the screen shot posted. No, the schedule executing thing didn't dump the junk mail, but it sure is popping up every single minute beeping at me telling me it's executing.

One problem I guess is that I want them deleted in a minute - I made that setting just so the schedule would run right away, but it didn't work. You're not given less than a day to run schedule when you quit Entourage, which conflicts with my 1-minute rule.

Yes, I'm looking at the Junk E-mail folder in Folders on My Computer - I always have the expanded view. Yes, they're all marked as junk (I've been getting tons of it in Cyrillic alphabet lately, along with tons of Viagra ads, many of which are slipping through the filter, which is on highest filtering).

The key might be the 1-day rule. There are messages there from yesterday, but they came in late afternoon, and it's still morning here - so maybe 1-day means 24 hours?

Regardless, it has been letting several days of junk pile up before running even with the After Quit 1-day rule, and now it's refusing to run even with the 1-minute rule. Despite its constant promises to run in less than 1 minute.

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to delete those actions I added because that bounding Entourage E and the Action is Executing!! are making me nuts!

Any other ideas on why it's refusing to run after 1 minute?

Thanks so much for your willingness to help. It was fun learning those things. Very interesting.

 

[Diane Ross]

ve set it for 1 day, and it doesn't run. I've set it for one minute, and it
doesn't run. If I click Run Schedule, it says "Schedule Junk E-mail will run
in a minute" or "Schedule Junk E-mail will run in less than a minute" - and
when that minute has passed it goes back to saying "will run in a minute" -
and it doesn't run. Yes, I've enabled the schedule. I've told it run on Quit,
and it still refuses. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

1. Drag some spam messages to the desktop for testing
2. Create a new Identity in Entourage.
3. Drag in the test messages
4. Set a schedule and test

Does it work? If Yes, then it's a corrupt schedule or you need to rebuild
your database. Delete the schedule....not just the contents. Create a new
schedule. If that does not work, rebuild your database.

How to rebuild:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/rebuild.html>

 

[WTL]

1. Drag some spam messages to the desktop for testing
2. Create a new Identity in Entourage.
3. Drag in the test messages
4. Set a schedule and test

Does it work? If Yes, then it's a corrupt schedule or you need to rebuild
your database. Delete the schedule....not just the contents. Create a new
schedule. If that does not work, rebuild your database.

How to rebuild:

Hi Diane

I followed your suggestion. In scheduling under When I first set Manually - but Action mandates junk mail must be older than 1 day. Is that preventing the schedule from running when I tell it to run? Because it refused to run. It also refused when I set When to a timed, recurring or on Quit schedule. Moreover, when the Schedule delete junk mail says it will run in 5 minutes, 5 minutes goes by and nothing happens - except that it now says it will run in 10 minutes (this was when I set the time to run at 5 minutes in the future).

However, on my Main Identity, the program is deleting junk mail that is older than 1 day - the ones from yesterday are gradually disappearing. Why can't I make it run the schedule when I tell it to?

Since this experiment didn't work, and you said if it does work the schedule is not corrupt or I need to rebuild my database, I'm assuming things are OK with the schedule and database.

Thanks for the suggestions. Meanwhile, the junk is piling up in my test identity. And one last weird thing: half of these messages aren't even addressed to me! Some are to totally different "people" and some are in what looks like Cyrillic. So how am I getting them in the first place? (I guess that's a subject for another thread.)

 

[Diane Ross]

I followed your suggestion. In scheduling under When I first set Manually -
but Action mandates junk mail must be older than 1 day. Is that preventing the
schedule from running when I tell it to run?

Hmmm, hadn't considered that. Just tested and you are correct, the schedule
does not delete one day old mail. Mail dragged in is the date it is added.

Since this experiment didn't work, and you said if it does work the schedule
is not corrupt or I need to rebuild my database, I'm assuming things are OK
with the schedule and database.

If it's deleting then it's not the database.

Thanks for the suggestions. Meanwhile, the junk is piling up in my test
identity. And one last weird thing: half of these messages aren't even
addressed to me! Some are to totally different "people" and some are in what
looks like Cyrillic. So how am I getting them in the first place? (I guess
that's a subject for another thread.)

That's pretty typical for junk mail. Personally, I check my junk folder then
nuke it. This way it doesn't get so big that I don't notice good mail that
is sent to junk. I've never used a schedule to delete junk.

Nuke Messages:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/downloads/scripts/Nuke.zip>

If you want to start a discussion on dealing with junk, start a new thread
so you get a good response.

See this page for help dealing with junk in Entourage:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/junk/index.html>

 

[WTL]

Hmmm, hadn't considered that. Just tested and you are correct, the schedule
does not delete one day old mail. Mail dragged in is the date it is added.

If it's deleting then it's not the database.

That's pretty typical for junk mail. Personally, I check my junk folder then
nuke it. This way it doesn't get so big that I don't notice good mail that
is sent to junk. I've never used a schedule to delete junk.

Nuke Messages:



If you want to start a discussion on dealing with junk, start a new thread
so you get a good response.

See this page for help dealing with junk in Entourage:

Bu thanks again.

 

[WTL]

Why can't I make it run the schedule when I tell it to?

You can. As I said in another post, you can set the schedule to:

Delete Junk Mail - Older than 0 Days

And for Are you reading my replies to you??

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR
[/QUOTE]

Was "are you reading my replies to you" meant for me? Because I am. I just went back through them and didn't find anything about setting the schedule to older than 0 days, though I easily could have missed it. Anyway, I had already tried that, as I told Diane above, and it insisted I had to insert a value of more than 0. But then when I read this message of yours, I tried it again - and it worked. Don't get it. There's a lot I don't get. So we'll see. But thanks to you I learned about screen shots and Apple script, so that was cool. Thanks again.

 

[WTL]

Was "are you reading my replies to you" meant for me? Because I am.

Yep, it was. You must be accessing these news groups through the web. If
you were using a Usenet client, it would be obvious that I was talking
to you and nobody else. ; ) That web interface is a truly horrid
monstrosity, BTW!

I just
went back through them and didn't find anything about setting the schedule to
older than 0 days, though I easily could have missed it. Anyway, I had
already tried that, as I told Diane above, and it insisted I had to insert a
value of more than 0. But then when I read this message of yours, I tried it
again - and it worked. Don't get it. There's a lot I don't get. So we'll see.
But thanks to you I learned about screen shots and Apple script, so that was
cool. Thanks again.

Still, the question remains: why would you want to delete them that
often? It's not like you have to pay that much attention to the Junk
E-Mail folder anyway!

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than to me, as
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I am accessing through the web. I guess. I don't know from Usenet clients.

As far as why I want to delete them that often? Well, for one thing they keep calling my attention to them because they keep getting past my filter, and I have go through and weed them out, marking them junk.

Lately it's gotten much, much worse - somehow the filter, which is always on Exclusive, is just not catching them - it's batting no more than .500 at best, and that means a ton of these things are getting through and so I have to filter them out myself.

Plus everything about them annoys me - the subject matter (Viagra has been joined by Careers in Nursing, and I have no idea what the Cyrillic ones are saying, but I bet I wouldn't like it), the gibberish, the ones with no message and no address. I have enough weeding to do outside.

And when they get my attention, well, that's when I get all anal and stuff. And that's probably the bottom, so to speak, line.

It's been fun talking to you. And I just got an email from Alicia Spears (?) in the UK entitled "Your woman will be stunned by your erectionGenerik Viagra." Sheesh!

Mahalo me ke aloha,
Bill

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Lately it's gotten much, much worse - somehow the filter, which is
always on Exclusive, is just not catching them - it's batting no more
than .500 at best, and that means a ton of these things are getting
through and so I have to filter them out myself.

Your Junk E-mail Protection is set to Exclusive and you're *still*
getting junk?

That doesn't make sense. The Exclusive setting means all mail from
anyone not in your Address Book is junked. Nothing should be slipping
through unless you've got spammer's addresses in your Address Book.

Have you also checked whether or not your ISP offers server side spam
filtering?

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[WTL]

I posted a new question about this issue because it wasn't exactly about the junk mail delete schedule.

Yes, my filter is Exclusive and always has been, but the filter is getting worse - or rather the spammers are getting better at tricking it. A little has always gotten through somehow, but now half of the junk gets through, and the total volume is also increasing exponentially. The posters above say it's just gonna happen and you can't really do anything about it.

I still am mystified how emails not even addressed to me by name or address end up in my Inbox, let alone my Junk Mail.

The spammers don't end up in my Address Book, but something weird does happen once in awhile - when I create a new email and click to add a recipient, along with the recipients in my address book - say those starting with "S" - there will sometimes be in my "recent contacts" list an email address I've never seen before. They're not in my address book, though, only on that list. And boy you have to jump through hoops to get them out of there - you literally have to add these strangers to your address book and then delete them.

No, haven't even heard about the ISP offering spam filtering - I'll look into it. It's Warner Cable, after all - you'd think they'd offer something.

 

[Barry Wainwright]

Your Junk E-mail Protection is set to Exclusive and you're *still*
getting junk?

That doesn't make sense. The Exclusive setting means all mail from
anyone not in your Address Book is junked. Nothing should be slipping
through unless you've got spammer's addresses in your Address Book.

Well, it doesn't stop you getting the junk mail, but it should be marked
as junk on arrival.

 

[Diane Ross]

The spammers don't end up in my Address Book, but something weird does happen
once in awhile - when I create a new email and click to add a recipient, along
with the recipients in my address book - say those starting with "S" - there
will sometimes be in my "recent contacts" list an email address I've never
seen before. They're not in my address book, though, only on that list. And
boy you have to jump through hoops to get them out of there - you literally
have to add these strangers to your address book and then delete them.

To clear ALL there is a preference in Mail & Compose: Clear List
button.

It sounds like somehow you are adding spammers addresses to your Address
Book. Check all rules including Mailing List Manager rules to see if you
have an option to" add to Address Book" checked.

I rarely get any emails that are not caught by the spam filter and I'm set
on High.

If you are unable to get things sorted out, get SpamSieve. It is highly
recommended by many Entourage users and can be trained.

Using SpamSieve with Entourage
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/junk/spamsieve.html>

SpamSieve: Powerful Spam Filtering for Mac OS X
<http://c-command.com/spamsieve/>

 

[Barry Wainwright]

I posted a new question about this issue because it wasn't exactly
about the junk mail delete schedule.

Good. Thanks for keeping the threads clean

Yes, my filter is Exclusive and always has been, but the filter is
getting worse - or rather the spammers are getting better at tricking
it. A little has always gotten through somehow, but now half of the
junk gets through, and the total volume is also increasing
exponentially. The posters above say it's just gonna happen and you
can't really do anything about it.

What do you mean by 'getting through'? Do you mean it is arriving in
your Inbox, or it is arriving but marked as junk? If the first, then the
JMF is not working properly, which could indicate some database
corruption. if the latter, that is to be expected.

I still am mystified how emails not even addressed to me by name or
address end up in my Inbox, let alone my Junk Mail.

That's because of the way that mail is delivered through the SMTP system
- all mail has a 'wrapper' or 'envelope' that determines how it i
delivered. This is separate from the headers that you see in the actual
mail that lands in your inbox. This wrapper is deleted by the mail
server on receipt, before it delivers the 'contents' to you.

The spammers don't end up in my Address Book, but something weird
does happen once in awhile - when I create a new email and click to
add a recipient, along with the recipients in my address book - say
those starting with "S" - there will sometimes be in my "recent
contacts" list an email address I've never seen before. They're not
in my address book, though, only on that list. And boy you have to
jump through hoops to get them out of there - you literally have to
add these strangers to your address book and then delete them.

This is the Most Recently Used (MRU) list. It is a list of the most
recent 200 addresses you have either sent mail to or received mail from.
You can erase the list or turn off the MRU in the preferences, but it is
a convenient feature and is often worth putting up with the occasional
bad address since they do turn over pretty quickly. The only way to
erase a single address from the MRU is to create a contact with that
address, and then delete it (as you have found, this is a tedious process)

No, haven't even heard about the ISP offering spam filtering - I'll
look into it. It's Warner Cable, after all - you'd think they'd offer
something.

Many do already do spam filtering, without telling you, but keep it at a
pretty low level to avoid false positives.

 

[WTL]

Well, it doesn't stop you getting the junk mail, but it should be marked
as junk on arrival.

Yes, I agree, it should, but it works only half the time at best. And none of these people are in my address book. I check it continually.

 

[WTL]

To clear ALL there is a preference in Mail & Compose: Clear List
button.

It sounds like somehow you are adding spammers addresses to your Address
Book. Check all rules including Mailing List Manager rules to see if you
have an option to" add to Address Book" checked.

I rarely get any emails that are not caught by the spam filter and I'm set
on High.

If you are unable to get things sorted out, get SpamSieve. It is highly
recommended by many Entourage users and can be trained.

Using SpamSieve with Entourage


SpamSieve: Powerful Spam Filtering for Mac OS X