MailWasher Pro - part III

How the program works

The program is quite simple to use. After you set up your blocking parameters with "Spam Tools", described above, all you need to do is click on the "Check Mail" button. The program starts to collect messages from the email accounts that are specified in the accounts setup screen. When the process completes, a list of all email messages in your various mailboxes is displayed.

From this list, you can train the program in the actions it should take with any of the downloaded emails. Users have a wide choice of options ranging from automatically deleting spam messages to inspecting the contents and manually determining the legitimacy of each message. You can also report any email you suspect is spam to spamcop.net, which might help make the worldwide mail fraternity a bit more spam-free.

When I started the collecting of my mail, all spam messages were correctly identified, thanks to the precisely constructed filters and the invaluable contributions from the two spam-rating agencies mentioned earlier.

As a result, MailWasher was able to trash all of my spam, and the process wasn't lengthy. It was all good, except for the following small oddity with the program.

Recently, I started receiving a newsletter I had not subscribed to, which was in a foreign language, so I couldn't decipher how to unsubscribe from it. I didn't want it in my mailbox every day so I had to do something to stop it. I configured the mail rules of Outlook Express to block and remove all mail coming from the domain name of the newsletter's server and it subsequently went directly to the Trash box. However, when I installed MailWasher, its default settings overrode the OE filters and I started getting that newsletter again. To block them from my Inbox, I performed the same procedure I did with OE, but to no avail. The messages just kept being put into my Inbox. The strangest thing is the program recognized my filters and reported the mail was "filtered", yet it displayed the newsletter every time I pressed the "check mail" button. Here is a screenshot of this situation:



Hopefully, the developers of the program remove this blooper in the next edition.

One thing I really like about MailWasher is its statistics window:



The wealth of available diagrams and chart items is superb!

Numerous program options also deserve kudos, as does its interface and simplicity.

Conclusion

I liked this program's simplicity, clarity and selection of tools and options. It is well suited for home users, both novice and advanced. The program is lean and fast. Although I couldn't verify its effectiveness (in a later article I'll compare the results of these programs) I do recommend you try it to get a first-hand look at this spam solution.

The goal of this site is to help make sure you're protected on all sides and this series of anti-spam reviews is intended to further that goal. I hope you found this article helpful, informative, and encouraging.

Developer's web site: www.firetrust.com

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