Can I block all senders that are not in my address book?

L

Lorraine

Registered User
Messages
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I have windows ME (and XP on the laptop). Can I block all senders that are not in my address book? if so how. I'm quite happy not to be supprised with e-mails from people I don't know.

Every day there are at least 10/20 e-mails advertising software, cheap medication, viagra! etc., I have blocked messages with certain words in the subject line, but a lot of these e-mails now (deliberately?) mis-spell in the subject line.

Many thanks.
 
Re: how to block

What email client application are you using? If you are using Outlook Express then you can configure message rules to filter incoming email. For example you could set one up to only allow messages from contacts in your address book into your inbox and quarantine or delete all others (like Hotmail's "exclusive" filtering feature). Tools -> Message Rules -> Mail... etc. It would be even better if you could have mail filtering done at your email server or ISP but maybe this is not an option? Does that make sense to you?
 
Re: how to block

If you are not pushed what exact email address you have then maybe just get a (free) hotmail address and let Bills crew sort out most of this cr@p for you.
 
Re: how to block

A quick blocking rule that a lot of people put in is to stop all mails with the word "unsubscribe" in.
Granted a lot spam doesnt have that word, but a lot does.
 
Hey Clubman, thanks for that.

I use outlook express, but have tried TOOLS - msg rules - blocked senders - can only fill in particular senders. In mail rules there is also no facility where I can block all bar whats in address book. Could you type out exactly what I have to do . . . . . . I would appreciate it.

I want to use the e-mail address I have, but tks for replying olddog! Car! I don't want to stop e-mails with unsubscribe in the message as I do willingly subscribe to some which would have this word in the message. . . . but again thanks.
 
Not sure if this might help? It's a bit of a rigmarole...

  • Create a folder called Safe Mail (or whatever you like)
  • Go to Tools -> Message Rules -> Mail...
  • Select the Where the From line contains people condition
  • Select the Move it to the specified folder action
  • Click on the contains people link in the Rule Description box
  • Click on the Address Book... button
  • Select all addresses in your contact list (e.g. click on the first one, keep the mouse button pressed and drag to the end of the list to highlight all names)
  • Click the From -> button to add them all to the Rule Addresses
  • Click OK
  • Click OK again
  • Click on the specified [folder] link in the Rule Description box
  • Select the Safe Mail folder that you created
  • Enter a name for the rule and click OK to save it.
A rule such as this will move all safe mail to your Safe Mail folder and anything that remains in your Inbox can be scanned for spam or legitimate email.

By the way - switch off the preview pane if you have it on as having the preview pane open email automatically can open spam which simply confirms your email address as valid back to spammers which marks you out for more spam etc. etc.

The Outlook Express message rules feature is not really a total spam solution.
 
Make sure to test it out as I did up that list somewhat off the top of my head while referring to the OE interface. You could always consider using something like Thunderbird instead of OE as it probably has better spam filtering (and other) features built in.
 
I use a web based e-mail service provided (free) by [broken link removed] that will only accept e-mails from contacts in your address book or if you authorise them etc. Pretty effective and decent storage.
 
'You could always consider using something like Thunderbird instead of OE '

Hey clubman! downloaded this looks fine but when asked to make it default a box came up saying ' registry key could not be updated ... verify with system administrator that you have write access to your system registry ...' how does that translate into non-computer language? Thanks.
 
What version of Windows are you using? Is it your own or a work installation? Do you log into a user account or does it just show your desktop/account immediately on booting up? The Windows registry is a centralised repository of settings about the system and installed applications. Applications that get installed usually store information in here to help them run and integrate with Windows. In some cases administrative account (rather than "ordinary" user) privileges are required update parts of the registry. Looks like have had this problem with Thunderbird too.
 
Stand alone home computer, using Windows ME 4.90.3, internet access from a shortcut on desktop (UTVip), not sure that I'm confident enough to do stuff with 'centralised repository of settings about the system and installed applications' aaagh. . . . . though I did reformat and reinstall all programmes last year when everything crashed, all's been well since.. . . . . tempt providence I dunno.

Thanks Clubman! I'll look at the link you included later.
 
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