QUESTION: Increasingly I seem to be getting a lot of unwanted messages in my e-mail. I am not interested in any of the things that these people offer and I am concerned that they will introduce a virus into my computer. My questions to you are, how can I be sure that there isn't a virus concealed in the body of these e-mails and how can I stop these messages from polluting my e-mail account? I don't want to continue receiving e-mails from some of these people. Also, is it safe to select these e-mails and then delete them?

Spam, Spam, Spam

It is my experience that just about everybody is plagued with spam, which is unsolicited, commercial e-mail. One client of mine estimates that he gets a single legitimate, welcome, e-mail in every 80 that are delivered to his mailbox. Very frustrating. If e-mails hadn't already proven themselves to be such an overall benefit, in fact almost a necessary adjunct to modern life, the amount that the e-mail traffic is now polluted by spam and content written with malicious intent, would render the whole concept unworkable.

So, where do these spammers get your address in the first place? Here are some of the ways: If you send a message to a friend and they forward it with your e-mail address to a large group or if you visit Usenet or newsgroups your address can be snared. You might be invited to answer an unsolicited e-mail by responding to the offer to remove you from future mailings if you reply stating ‘remove' in the subject line. That serves to confirm that there is somebody alive at your end. Never do that. In the end if it gets too bad you may have to change your e-mail address. Currently I actively use four different e-mail addresses representing different interests.

ISPs can block Spam

Many Internet Service Providers offer very sophisticated spam filters which search for key words and can be effective in blocking various undesirable offers by looking for triggering words or phrases and preventing them from being placed in your Inbox in the first place. Some of these services claim a theoretical 99 percent efficiency.

Block the sender

If you are the recipient of an e-mail that you want to delete without reading, perhaps because you can tell from the subject line that it is offering something you don't want, or because you recognise who it's from (or because you don't recognise who it's from) you can select that e-mail, delete the message and block that sender in one process. At the top of the Outlook Express screen under the heading, Message, the eighth item on the menu is Block Sender. Applying Block Sender to this message will prevent any further e-mails from that particular address from being introduced into your Inbox. However, I've noticed I sometimes get the same message over and over apparently from the same sender but originating from different addresses, so each one of them has to be blocked individually. If you use Outlook instead of Outlook Express you will have the ability to block all the senders that you select, as a group.

Make sure it's really gone

As you may have already realised, when you delete an e-mail message in Outlook Express, the message isn't really gone. It just goes to live in the Deleted Items folder, just in case you decide you need it after all. But that folder can get pretty full after a while. However, emptying the Deleted Items folder is straightforward:

1. Click the Deleted Items folder.

2. Choose Edit + Empty ‘Deleted Items' Folder.

To eliminate a step, you can set Outlook Express to automatically empty the folder when you exit the program. I do this because I don't want of these spam e-mails taking up space in my computer even if they are in the trashcan.

1. Choose Tools + Options and click the Maintenance tab.

2. Select Empty Messages from the ‘Deleted Items' Folder On Exit.

3. Click okay.

Prevent automatic acceptance

Another thing to watch out for it is that in Outlook Express, the default position, opens the top or first e-mail automatically in what is known as the Preview Pane, which displays on the bottom half of the right side of your screen. Sometimes this means that, before you can prevent it, an e-mail which you would never have opened is automatically displayed in the Preview Pane. You can prevent this by clicking on View at the top of Outlook Express, dropping down to the fourth item from the top which is the Layout Menu, on the bottom half of which you'll see an option for showing the Preview Pane. Uncheck this box and click okay. Now the first e-mail to arrive will no longer automatically open when you go to your Inbox.

Avoiding viruses

I agree with your concern over the proliferation of e-mail delivered viruses. The only way to prevent a virus from entering your computer is to have a good brand of anti-virus software running. Even this isn't an absolute guarantee since people, who should have better things to do with their lives, are dreaming up new virus attacks all the time. Although they are good, the anti-virus software companies have to first receive a report of a new attack before they can figure out the countermeasure to it. You do keep a virus checking software program on your computer? This is absolutely essential or eventually something that can ruin the workings of your operating system will be picked up from the Internet. Make sure you keep your anti-virus software up to date and also make sure that the e-mail scanning option in your anti-virus product, found under the security scanning features is set to ‘ON'. This is all you can do to ensure that the nasty hidden viruses and other undesirable code is prevented from establishing itself and doing any harm to your computer. Make sure that your auto protect feature is on too and carry out a full system scan.

James W. Lapsley of ComputerWorks, specialises in PC repairs, upgrades and advice for the home and small office user. ComputerWorks welcomes your questions and comments Send your PC questions by e-mail to computerworks@logic.bm or by phone to 293-0992.