For most of us, changing our primary email address to get rid of spam is not really an option. This is because our email addresses are known and used by many of our contacts and may also be printed on business cards and other material. We certainly don't move to a different residence because of some junk mail in our letter boxes. Luckily, there are some very effective ways to combat spam and one such was is using a Spam filtering tool.
The particular tool that I am referring to is called MailWasher. It is a tool that I cannot do without. I've been using it for about 2 years now and my running totals shows that 72% of emails received are automatically deleted by Mailwasher. For more product information on Mailwasher, please visit: www.BSDRegister.com/products/mailwasher
Mailwasher is a piece of software that works at the source i.e. it connects directly to your inbox on the server and takes care of emails there. This is very different to using email filters in your email software for example Outlook or Thunderbird. The major difference is that Mailwasher wipes out emails on the email server so that you never have to download them. Having a filter in Outlook would mean that the email has to first be downloaded onto your computer and then examined and dealt with accordingly. For those messages spreading viruses, this could well pose a threat.
Mailwasher is easy to setup and takes a few minutes. There is a 30-day free trial of the software so that you can have ample time to decide if it is working for you. Initially, I started setting up my own spam filters and was having some success, but then I stumbled upon a link on the company's website that pointed to a link where an avid user was offering his filters for free. I downloaded those and installed them and have never look back. The amount of spam that was identified started to steadily increase until the 72% level that it is at today. This means that on average, 3 of every 10 eamils I receive are legitimate and are allowed through by Mailwasher. The rest are deleted at the source and I don't have to spend time downloading them. This is a big deal if you are using dialup access to the Internet.
There are many controls within the software. You can specify emails be deleted automatically without your knowledge or you could have the program mark them for deletion but let you glance at them just in case. This is useful initially until you get a good feel for it. There are many other options that fall in between these. The good thing is that they are all on one screen.
There is a concept of a blacklist and a whitelist. You can import all of your address book from Outlook with a couple of clicks and from other email programs as well. These go into what is called a whitelist. Mailwasher will allow all emails through that are on the whitelist. It will mark or automatically delete all those that are on the blacklist. Adding or removing someone from either list is a very simple point and click exercise.
Mailwasher also allows the setting up of legitimate filters. These are methods of specifying an email as legitimate. For example, if you identify all emails coming from your company domain name as being legitimate, then all messages from your coworkers will be allowed through without you having to specify each person. This is achieved using a wildcard setting such as "*@youworkdomain.com". This can also be used to blacklist an entire domain such that all messages are immediately marked for deletion or automatically deleted depending on your settings.
MailWasher is an independent program and does not interfere with your email software. It sits in the system tray and does its work diligently. In my case, it checks my inbox every 10 minutes and does a cleanout. I have my email software setup to only retrieve messages when I instruct it to so that MailWasher has the most opportunity to do it's work.
Mailwasher also has more advanced controls, one of them being something known as "Origin of Spam". There are servers on the internet which list known spam addresses. When you receive a message from one of these addresses, it is automatically marked as spam and deleted without your filters even being invoked. This is a remarkable system and comes free with MailWasher. A whopping 14% of emails that I get are identified in this manner and automatically deleted.
MailWasher is an indispensable tool in my email arsenal. If spam is a problem for you, it could do likewise for you. Download your free trial today and use it for 30 days. If you like it, you only pay $37 which in my book is a small price to pay for so much time saved everyday.
Rabu, 29 April 2009
Use A Spam Filtering Tool To Manage Spam And Save Hours Everyday
Organize Your Folders to Optimize Efficiency
Files proliferate quickly on personal computers and, without a bit of planning, users can end up hunting through a long list of miscellaneous files with names that seemed sensible when they were created, but now appear very mysterious.
Windows automatically saves new text files in My Documents and graphics files in My Pictures unless you tell it differently- great for knowing where your files land, but not so great when it comes time to find them again. A little planning will help you create an easy to use organizational system for all your documents.
Using nested folders is an easy way to organize your documents. Do you use your computer for both personal and business projects? Think about creating a separate folder for "Personal" and "Business" documents. Within these folders, divide into additional categories.
In the "Personal" folder, you may find a mishmash of letters to friends and family, letters to the editor of your local newspaper, complaints to companies about unsatisfactory products, downloaded recipes and website pages about a variety of topics, and so on. A "Correspondence" folder could be divided into more folders labeled "Friends and Family" and "Business Correspondence"; the "Friends and Family" folder could be further subdivided into folders for each individual, assuming you correspond regularly; you could add a "Miscellaneous" folder for those you correspond with infrequently. If you communicate via email, you could also copy and paste or download your own emails and the responses you receive, particularly where the letters contain valuable information. Your "Friends and Family" folder may also be a good place to store personal photos.
Take a good look at the website downloads and miscellaneous files you've gathered. Do you have a lot of recipes, or information about vintage cars or alternative energy resources? Create broad categories, and then subdivide; "Alternative Energy Resources" suggests several subcategories: "Wind", "Solar", "Biodiesel", etc.
On the business end, you may have correspondence, project notes, background materials, finished and in-progress writings, and a variety of financial files. A number of organizational options present themselves; in terms of financial files, do you want to group them all together in a single folder and subdivide as necessary? Or do you want to keep the financial files with the corresponding project files?
Say you do freelance work for several companies, and have a variety of files for each company. One method of organizing is to create a "Freelance" folder, then a folder for each client; subdivide each of these into "General Information", "Projects", "Invoices", "Correspondence", and so on. The "Invoices" folder for each client could be subdivided again by year, and contain all invoices you've sent the client. "Projects" folders could be subdivided into "New Projects", "Work in Progress", "Done but not Sent" (for files you need to submit), and "Sent". This not only helps you saves finished files, but allows you to organize your work as you do it.
In the "Freelance" folder, you may also want to provide a "Financial Summary" folder containing one or several files which summarize the financial information for all clients.
While you're planning your file organization, also give some thought to how to name your files. It helps to create a systematic way of naming files. Invoices, for instance, could include "Invoice" plus the name of your client, the project, and the date submitted: "Invoice Harvard Stephen Crane 10-20-2005". Correspondence about the project could be labeled "Correspondence Harvard Stephen Crane 10-20-2005". It's easy enough to rename existing files to fit into your new organization plan; in Windows, simply right-click on the file's icon, scroll down to "Rename", left-click, then type in the new name.
Don't forget to back up your files! Burn a CD to save your information and free up your hard drive in the process. And apply the same type of planning with your backup files as you do on your hard drive. A little organization can make your life on the computer a whole lot easier.
Is Your Network Security And User Access In The Right Balance?
The whole meaning of networking is to share programs, but granting others to access a computer device reveals an open window for those with foul motives, too. In the early days networks were quite secure because they were closed in systems, and to do any harm you had to get physical access to a server wired to the LAN. Remote access and Internet possibility to hook up has changed that. Broader availableness and less cost of broadband (DSL and cable) connections means that even home computers remain linked up to the Internet round-the-clock, which add the chances for hackers to gain access to computers.
Computer operating systems were originally planned for stand-alone computers only, not networked ones, and security was not an issue. When computer networking became known, applications and operating systems concentrated on easy accessibility rather than security. Because of this earlier focus on accessibility; security are now retrofitted into a lot of hardware systems. Modern operating systems such as Windows XP are planned with security in mind, but they still have to operate using conventional networking protocols, which can result in security problems.
Security versus access. The users want easy access to network resources. Administrators want to remain the network secure. These two goals are at odds, because access and security are always on conflicting ends of the scale; the more you have of one, the less you have of the other.
For business computer networks, the key is to hit a balance so that employees are not annoyed by security measures, while trying to maintain a level of protection that will keep unauthorized individuals from getting access.
Internal network security threats are those that come from within the organization, as opposed to those that come through the Internet. Internal threats include employees who on purpose attempt to nick data or bring in viruses or attacks on the computer network. Other internal threats are posed by outside employees (contract workers, janitorial services and people posing as utility company employees) who have physical access to the LAN computers. Though, many internal threats are unintended. Employees may install or use their own software or hardware for a private purpose, unaware that it poses a security threat to their computers and the complete network.
External security threats are those that come from outside the LAN, typically from the Internet. These threats are the ones we usually think of when we talk about hackers and computer network attacks. Such people can make use of flaws and characteristics of computer operating systems and software applications. They take advantage of the way various network communications protocols work to do a range of things, including the following:
Enter a system and access (read, copy, change or delete) its data.
Break down a system and harm or destroy operating system and application files so they do not work anymore.
Install virus and worms that can spread to other systems across the LAN.
Or use the system to start attacks against other systems or other network
Cleaning Your Computer
Cleaning viruses off your computer system can be an easy process if you have the right tool. There are many fee and free programs that you can use to do this, ones that you may not even know are available to you. Many of these programs are set up so that even the most novice of computer user can use them without a probleam. Running a virus scanner will safeguard your computer, and may save you from a lot of headaches in the future.
Some of the well known virus scanners are made by Symantec (Norton), Mcaffee, and Trend Micro. Computer Manufacturers will even include a month to six months to a year of free updates with these virus scanners. Once these free updates run out, it doesnt mean that your virus scannner is not working. It means it wont be updated with the latest virus information. While it is reccommended that you have the most recent updates, having the virus scanner itself on your computer will afford you some protection. I dont recommned keeping your computer this way, but if it is your only option, as in you some how cant download one of the free virus scanners I will mention later on in this article, make sure you keep atleast this one line of protection on your computer. Norton and Mcafee sell their antivirus programs for 39.99. You get a years worth of updates with both of theses. Trendmicro bundles their antivirus package with their internet security suite. This costs $49.99, the same as the Mcafee internet security suite, but less than the Norton internet security suite at 69.99. If the information on your system is important to you, the cost is actuallty very reasonable.
There are ways you can save money on Antivirus programs. Many internet service poviders such as aol, verizon, and netscape have started to offer their customers the choice of getting virus protection from them. For instance, with verizon dsl, you can download MSN Premium, which in turn allows you to download Mcafee's virus scan for absolutely free. You simply have to make sure to sign into msn to verify your subscription once every few months. The reminder is actually very non intrusive. Netscape for an additional 3.00 a month will provide you with antivirus protection from Mcafee as well. This comes out to 36.00, so you'll save about 3.99 against buying the actual program. While this is not much, as they say, every little saving adds up over time. For AOL users, you get a free Mcafee virus scan online included with your service for no extra charge. If you're not sure if your isp offers a free virus scanner, you can check over their web site, send their representatives an email, or give them a call. For those of you signed up with the very very inexpensive isp's make sure that you're not going to be charged to call them for information. Most of them though will offer free email support.
For an abosolutely free virus scanner that any home user can get, you can check out a company named TrendMicro Housecall. While it will not reside on your computer to actively protect you from viruses, you can run the program from the internet to verify your computer is virus free, or even to remove a virus if it has not caused enough damage to your computer to stop you from using it. It is available at http://housecall.trendmicro.com. Another free virus scanner that you can download is AVG free edition from Grisoft. It has an in resident scanner that can actively protect you from viruses. You can download it from http://free.grisoft.com. If you like the free version, and would like a more full featured anti virus program, Grisoft also offers a paid version to their antivirus program.
So no matter what you budget is, you can get a virus scanner from some where. You can even get the full featured clients depending on which isp you are using. The most important thing is that you have the scanner on your computer, protecting your data from harm.
For more information visit http://www.dreamsync.com.
How To Avoid Spyware?
Spyware is a kind of software that monitors the different activities of a user, without his consent or knowledge. Spyware is a major threat and menace to your productivity as well as privacy. Many PC's are affected with spyware and it greatly hampers their performance.
Spyware can spy on your personal information, the software installed in your computer and the web pages that you visit. Sometimes spyware can even hack your username and password. Spyware is a big menace for computer users but can be controlled with the use of spyware removal techniques.
Spyware can be present in any form of harmless program or software. The spyware is capable of sending information to the creators of the software or program without your consent.
Imagine the amount of damage that can be caused to you due to this unauthorized leakage of your personal information. A resent consumer study has found that around 80% of PC's in the United States of America are infected with some kinds of spyware.
Another study has indicted that the IT managers rate spyware as the number one threat for networks.It is likely to happen that you yourself have infected your computer with spyware.
The free smileys and the cursor that you download from websites are most likely to contain spyware. Be very cautious about whatever you download from the online sites. Most free programs and downloads have spyware attached to them. It is highly unlikely that people read the contents of the different pop-ups appearing on their computer screens during downloads. Spyware distributors take into consideration this aspect and embed the spyware in such program.
Spyware puts your privacy at risk. Spyware has become a leading threat to personal computers and online privacy. Spyware interferes with normal functioning of your computer and send information about your online activities to spyware manufacturing companies.
Installation of spyware in our computer without your consent amounts to bad netiquette. It is netiquette to seek permission to use personal information of any kind for any purpose. Incorrect use of your personal information online can land you in trouble.
You can follow some common and simple steps to avoid spyware installation in your system. The basic rule for avoiding spyware is to practice safe surfing. Safe surfing ensures that you are not lured into doing anything, which you do not wish to do. Be very cautious while you are downloading any thing, as it is very difficult to tell what program contains sypware and what program does not. Many legitimate free download programs come with spyware embedded with them.
Install a good anti spyware software, such as XoftSpy, with advanced features in your computer. Do not forget to run your spyware protection every day. It is extremely important for you to read the license agreement terms and conditions very carefully, before you download anything. This can help you in preventing spyware installation in your computer. Spyware threat can greatly hamper your work and other activities.
Rabu, 22 April 2009
What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen
Stolen identity? What comes into mind when you hear that phrase? Stolen identity is when someone uses your name and personal information to benefit financially or materially.
When ones identity gets stolen it is important that they don’t remain silent on the matter. It is wise to report the matter to the concerned authorities as soon as possible. fhe First thing to do is to recognize which identity information has been stolen, your wallet containing credit cards or identification card. It is important to verify whether you still have the documents or you truly misplaced them and need to take immediate action.
The immediate next step after informing the authorities is to keep record of every development on the case. Record the time, money and conversations you have had with the authorities.Why? This is because in case the thief is caught up with the goods he will be able to be charged and asked to pay for the troubles the claimant went through. The next thing to do after your identity is stolen is to create an alert to the credit company. Create a statement with your bank that will issue an alert on fraud and then close the account if the account has been comprimised. Also visit the theft programs if you lost your identity through the internet.
What else can you do if your identity has been stolen? If there are new accounts that you have recently opened make sure to close them. Since they might be compromised too, change all the passwords in your emails and websites; it is a first step towards deterring the thief from causing more damage. If you lost your drivers license visit your department of motor vehicles to get a new number and card. It will be worth paying the drivers license fee all over again rather than breaking traffic rules, due to lack of a license.
Learn to check your credit status oftenly since forewarned is forearmed. Among the major things you need to do is report to the authorities first. They will always give you firsthand info regarding what to do. You can always get your identity back so there is no cause for serious alarm. Try and be consistent in finding where it is you lost your identity and to whom. Fraudsters are charged and punished by a court of law.
10 Best Hidden Windows Features/ XP Secrets/ XP Little Know Features
Windows XP is an operating system par excellence. Easy to use it comes with some amazing features.
1.) The computer management screen allows control of the operating system from a single interface.
2.) The event viewer permits viewing of logs maintained by XP as default. Program and system errors are maintained in the systems logs for ready reference when recurring problems occur. Important is to enable this auditing system which is inactive by default.
3.) The shared folders file lists all folders that can be shared by remote users. The Sessions List displays all remote users connected to the computer. And, the Open Files List indicates all files being accessed by remote users. An invaluable system this helps in security. The system is such that files in drive C: are shared by default. To prevent this, a password must protect all user accounts. One can however remove remote users from the system.
4.) An interface permits management of users, passwords, and groups (XP professional). The ‘groups’ option allows restricting as well as assigning rights as privileges to multiple users. The default users group cannot use systems applications to install software. Only the administrators group has unlimited access to the system. The Microsoft web server software creates IUSR-xxx accounts that permit access to web pages created by you to remote users. To protect the files disable the guest account, which is a security lapse. Further, password protect all administrator and user accounts. Caution! XP home and professional by default make users created during installation process a part of the administrators group.
5.) Win2K creates a database when one or more drives become dynamic. The dynamic disk database contains detailed information of the system. This permits resizing of space in a disk as the dynamic volume need not be continuous. Dynamic volume can be resized to include free space on other disks, termed as spanning. Dynamic disk groups can also be transferred between supporting computers by physical removal and importing them into the disk manager.
6.) A system restore feature takes snapshots of the computers configuration at set intervals. This is a working backup of windows registry and contains all information needed to restore the computer’s functionality. The default reserve of a drive is 12% and restore points are stored in this space. If it runs out of space, a system restore will begin overwriting restore points automatically.
7.) A local securities policy controls XP security options like auditing. The local policies section has auditing options which allows one to know who has accessed audited resources. Auditing is disabled by default; enable only one or two options that are necessary.
8.) Accessibility options includes tools that make using Windows easier for people with visual impairments or disabilities of other kinds. One can change: text size, scroll bar size, icon size, color scheme, use visual indicators instead of sound effects. Of the many facilities such as use of single keys instead of simultaneous use of two or more keys is an on screen keyboard for those who are unable to use a physical key board.
9.) A built in backup system enables data backup to a tape or hard drive. Users of XP Home can add backup utility from a CD.
10.) Files and settings transfer wizard allows transfer of documents from other computers automatically. All it needs is a net work connection.
Understand the operating system and you will discover many delights.