Q. When I receive an e-mail message with a highlighted link, I can no longer click on it and go to the site. This just started, so I guess something has gotten corrupted. Internet Explorer works fine, and I can send and receive. I have Windows XP.
A. This is most likely the result of installing one of the Internet Explorer-Outlook Express security updates. If this is the case, you may need to hold the Ctrl key while clicking the URL to open the link.
Troubled by spam
Q. I have been using Tools/Message Rules/Blocked Senders for blocking spam. I've kept track since May 1 and have received 446 spam mailings, representing 121 Internet service providers. The instruction says, "Your (sender e-mail address) has been added to your blocked senders list. Subsequent messages from this sender will be blocked." How can I print out this list of blocked e-mail addresses and domain names? Is there a file for this in my Windows folders? If so, what would it be called?
Using Reply to send an unsubscribe notice does not work to these spammers. I will change my e-mail address, but it will require me to send corrections to a number of favorite Web sites, in addition to contacts on my address list.
I will use this information and other reports I've gathered to send to state and federal entities to encourage them to prohibit these entrepreneurs from invading my and others' privacy by sending unsolicited messages. Any suggestions?
A. Here's a roundabout way to get a list of your blocked senders. Click Start, Run, type REGEDIT and click OK. Navigate to the following registry key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{A GUID representing your OE Identity}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Block Senders\Mail\Criteria]. (The registry folder name following HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities will vary for each user on your PC.)
Click once to highlight the Criteria folder in the left pane, then click File, Export on the menu bar and give it a descriptive name, and pay attention to where the file is being created, or save it on your desktop for easy retrieval.
Once this is done, exit RegEdit, right-click the file you created and choose edit. You now will see (interspersed with some other information) the e-mail addresses of your blocked senders and you can edit this file as needed.
This is also a quick way of copying a list of blocked senders to another Outlook Express identity or PC. Double-clicking the .REG file you created will add these blocked addresses to OutLook Express.
Now, with all that said, I think this is a lot of wasted time and energy spent blocking senders who regularly change or spoof their sending address, making it impossible to keep pace with the spammers. Taking the time to send the information in the spammers e-mail headers to their ISP is a good idea. Most ISPs have a special abuse address where this type of information can be sent.
In the long run, legislation needs to be passed to outlaw or strictly limit spam. The WhoIs utility found at www.geektools.com is a good way of plugging in a spammer's IP address and getting back their ISP information and usually an e-mail address to report abuse.
You can get this information in Outlook Express without opening the e-mail. Right-click on the e-mail in the Inbox (don't open it), choose Properties, Details and the Message Source button.
Contrary to popular opinion, I've found that taking the time to do some of these things as well as replying with an unsubscribe does work in most cases. People will tell you that this only validates your e-mail address. Nonsense, they already have your e-mail address. And if it doesn't get bounced, they know it is active. Using the above methods, I've cut down my spam considerably.
The best method is to delete e-mail from anyone that you don't know before you open it.
