Built-In Safeguards

Outlook’s anti-spamming technology has several components. During setup, it turns each of these components on at a basic level.

Safe/Blocked Senders. During Setup, Outlook 2003 uses your Contacts list to create an internal list of allowed senders whose emails will pass through the spam filter without scrutiny.

Email filtering. Outlook 2003 automatically turns on the Junk E-Mail Filter, setting its threshold to Low. Low is best for many users initially because it will minimize the occurrence of false positives (good email erroneously marked as spam). By default, Outlook 2003 also blocks the download of pictures, sounds, and other content in HTML email messages from unknown senders. (The program downloads content from people on your Contacts list or from sites in your Trusted zone).

  Tips & Tweaks

For best results, you should tweak Outlook 2003’s settings. To manage spam filtering, select the Junk E-mail option on Outlook 2003’s Actions menu and choose Junk E-mail Options.

Options tab. Outlook offers four junk email filtering settings: No Automatic Filtering (blocks only email messages from blocked senders), Low, High, and Safe Lists Only. High is your best option if you receive huge amounts of spam, and it is ideal for all users after the first few weeks of using Outlook 2003. If you select High, you should scroll through the Junk E-mail folder periodically to locate good email erroneously marked as spam.

Safe Senders tab. Here, you can add senders not on your Contacts list to the list of Safe Senders. Additions can include an entire domain, such as systers.org, which is nice if you receive email from a discussion group with a dedicated server.

From this tab you can also disable the default setting in Outlook 2003 that makes all contacts safe senders. (Deselect the Also Trust E-mail From My Contacts checkbox.) This is an attractive option if you have an out-of-date Contacts lists filled with unwanted names. However, if you select this alternative, you must add all allowed senders back to your Safe Senders list or risk having them marked as spam. An easier option is to clean up your Contacts list on a regular basis.

Safe Recipients tab. If you send email to trusted individuals who are not on your Contacts list, you can add them to your Safe Recipients list.

Blocked Senders tab. Here you can add email addresses or domains for senders from whom you never want to receive email. You can add not only spammers, but also any individuals or companies who send you objectionable mail.

Other settings. You can use Outlook’s Options and Rules And Alerts settings to manage how the program processes email. To manage how Outlook 2003 handles content in HTML mail, select Options from the Tools menu and click the Security tab. Click the Change Automatic Download Settings button. You can adjust the default to have Outlook 2003 download all HTML content, or you can have it restrict content even from Safe Senders or sites in the Trusted Zone.

Because Outlook 2003 processes rules before it filters junk email, you can use Rules And Alerts (on the Tools menu) to allow mail through that contains specific words, even if the sender is unknown. For example, if you don’t mind getting unsolicited offers for ink toner and cartridges, you could create a rule for these words.

  A Partial Solution

Outlook 2003 has several drawbacks that may lead you to purchase a third-party solution. Outlook 2003 does not “learn” from emails you mark as spam, although it can add the names to your Blocked Senders list. Additionally, you cannot alter Outlook 2003’s filtering parameters. However, Microsoft tweaks these parameters periodically, so download Outlook 2003 updates for best results.

Even with these weaknesses, Outlook 2003 is a valuable addition to your spam-fighting arsenal. When paired with a clean Contacts list and a filter setting of High, it does a remarkably accurate job of discerning between good email and junk.