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Spam Sleuth version 4.0 for Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
Q:  How can I update to the latest version of Spam Sleuth?
A:
  Double-click on the envelope icon in the tray and then choose Help->Update->Update Now!

Make sure you are connected to the Internet.

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Q:  How do I run the configuration Wizard?
A:  With the Spam Sleuth window open. Hit Ctrl-Alt-W. With 4.0 and newer, choose File->Wizard...
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Q:  How do I add to the spam list messages that the program has not caught?

A:  You have a two choices on adding to the spam list. You can get the spammers e-mail address and copy and paste it into the Spammers list. Just right-click on the icon and choose Configure... and then choose Spammers and paste in the e-mail address.

Or you can let Spam Sleuth hold all e-mail by turning on 'Score and store non-spam messages.' This can be found in the Miscellaneous tab under Configure.... Then if a message doesn't get caught as Spam you can go to the Spam viewer and right-click and choose 'Add to Spammers'

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Q:  Add to Spammers often does not work because the FROM: email address is forged. Is there a better way?
A:  There are lots of different ways to detect spam, and Spam Sleuth includes the ability to recognize many of them.

Add to Spammers only deals with the From: address.

You can specify valid To: addresses in the To: analyzer and also specify how many points the message gets if it doesn't hava a valid 'To:' address.

Add to Spammers adds the From: address. Yes, it is often forged. You can also add wild cards. Add *BADDOMAIN.COM to Spammers to get rid of all messages with a From: address like Joe@baddomain.com and SeeThis@host.baddomain.com.

You can look at some of the unique words or phrases that they use and add those to the BadWords list.

Look at the score that the message received and see if you might want to bump up the points for some of the analyzers to push it over the edge into the spam category.

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Q:  How can I ensure that Spam Sleuth gets all of my email before my e-mail program does?

A:  Just put Spam Sleuth in POP3 Proxy Mode. In this mode, Spam Sleuth gets your e-mail and then becomes your e-mail server.

Steps:

1) In Account settings in Spam Sleuth check the 'POP3 Proxy Mode'.
2) In your e-mail program, set your Incoming (POP3) Server to the word 'localhost'.
3) In your e-mail program, set your login/username to your full e-mail address.

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Q:  What is APOP authentication?
A:  APOP is authenticated POP3. It does not send the password in plain text. It combines the password with a unique string sent by the POP3 server. Then it mixes it up and encodes it.

The POP3 server will do the same thing (take your password and the unique string it sent and mix it up and encode it the same way). Then if what you sent matches what it calculated, then it will let you get your e-mail.

It keeps prying eyes (network sniffers) from reading your password over the network.

Some (not very many) POP3 servers require it.


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Q:  I made one of the messages I
received early a "friend" and just saw that it was on the list of scored
items with a score of -20000 and a "yellow" dot in front of the name.
The message was not kept from me and I was wondering why it went to the
captured page?

A:  The spam viewer window has a legend for the colored dots.

The yellow dot indicates that the message was modified in some way. The most likely reason was that an executable file was sent, or something with HTML script. Both of these are potentially dangerous so we take them out. The most common e-mail virus distribution method is that a friend will send an executable file. Well the friend didn't send it knowingly, the e-mail virus went through his e-mail address book and sent it to everybody.

If you decide you want the executable file (be careful), then you can UnSpam the message and you get the original untouched message back.

We debated whether it should remove executable files from "friends", but we decided that it should. In version 4.0 or later, you can choose "Not Friends" and it will allow executables from Friends through.

Note, you can also turn off the Executable file removal feature in the Attachments configuration, or allows HTML Script through by changing the setting in HTML removal.


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Q:  I am getting the message invalid VIP Key when I try to enter the VIP Key after an update.
A:  The reason you are getting an "Invalid VIP Key" is because you have already registered the software. You only need to register the software once. You do not need to enter the VIP Key each time you receive an update.
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Q:  Why are all my messages marked 'read' after Spam Sleuth removes the spam from my account?
A:  Spam Sleuth has to read the e-mail to determine whether it is spam. Some POP3 servers add a line Status: RO (For status is read and 'old but not deleted') as soon as the message is requested.

The solution to this is to have your e-mail server filters mark the messages as UnRead when it comes in.

In Eudora, use Tools->Filters and set up a filter that makes the status Unread.

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Q:  I have a different name and pwd for my SMTP server. How can I configure Spam Sleuth?
A:  You have the ability to have a different name and pwd.

In the account configuration for your account, hit the "Advanced" button to add the SMTP username and password.

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Q:  I receive spam that is not being caught by spam sleuth. It does not show up on the log as good or bad. It goes directly to Outlook Express. I have the address on my "Spammer" list" and they are not on my "Friends" list.
A:  One possible cause for this is that the message got to your mail server after Spam Sleuth checked the server for new messages. Then when you downloaded with your E-mail client the message came across.

Enable the 'Score and Store non-spam E-mails from the Spam Sleuth configure screen.
To do this:
1- Right click on the Spam Sleuth icon in the Systray and go to Configure.
2- Scroll down through the list of analyzers and select 'Miscellaneous'
3- Enable the 'Score and Store non-spam E-mail' in that Windows

This will now store every E-mail Spam Sleuth processes and it will show the score that Spam Sleuth has given that E-mail.

This will allow you to see if the messages are being read by Spam Sleuth.

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Q:  Does Spam Sleuth remove viruses?
A:  Yes.

In version 4.0 and newer, Spam Sleuth has a full blown virus scanner that scans attachments of all types for viruses.

Spam Sleuth also has attachment removal to remove dangerous types of attachments even if it isn't known as a virus yet. This option will probably do a better job of protecting against viruses than a virus checker, because these are the two methods by which e-mail viruses are spread.

New viruses that spread very quickly are not caught by virus checking programs because the virus ID string -- the method of identifying a file as a virus -- is not yet known.

If you are certain you want the file attachment and you are certain it is not a virus, you can UnSpam the message and get the attachment.

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Q:  Can something be done with spam that uses the wrong character set?

A:  Yes, go to the Charset Analyzer and choose character sets and the number of points they should be assigned.
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Q:  Spam Sleuth is showing some e-mail that is over 30 days old even though I have it set to delete spam after 30 days.
A:  Spam Sleuth uses the date that it analyzed the message, not the date that is reported by the e- mail (which may be forged).
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Q:  What are the profanities?
A:  We have decided not to release those. Suffice it to say they are words and short phrases that appear mostly in pornographic e-mails.

You may check to see if a word is in the profanity list. You may add to the profanity list. You may even remove a word from the profanity list. If you would like to make your own list from scratch, simply delete PROFANITY.INI from the program directory and start adding your own words.

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Q:  Is Spam Sleuth a virus checker?
A:  Yes, in version 4.0 and newer, Spam Sleuth has a full virus checker with automatic updating of virus signatures to keep up-to-date with the latest threats.

Also, Spam Sleuth will analyze the e-mail message and (by default) remove potentially dangerous executable attachments like
.EXE - Executable
.BAT - Batch file
.SCR - Screen Saver
.CMD - Command file
.VBE - Visual Basic (Encrypted)
.VBS - Visual Basic Script
.CPL - Control Panel Plug-in
.PL - Perl Script
.PIF - Program Information File
.COM - Command file

Any of these could be dangerous. The program will not analyze them to determine whether they contain a virus. This method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

  • Will catch viruses before virus checkers know about them.
  • More likely to quarantine a new virus than a virus checker.
  • Does not require constant virus table updates.

Disadvantages:

  • May quarantine a perfectly safe executable, but you can always UnSpam and get the original if you know it is safe.

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Q:  Do you have a server version?
A:  Yes, Spam Sleuth Enterprise can eliminate spam for an entire organization whether it is an ISP, School, Business, Government ofice, etc.

http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/SpamSleuthEnterprise/

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Q:  Spam Sleuth will not run in a Window. When I open it from the system tray, it opens minimized, on the task bar. If I right click on it, Maximize and Minimize are available, but Restore isn't. If I try clicking on the Restore button in the upper right corner when it is maximized, it minimizes to the task bar.
A:  To resolve this issue, follow these instructions.

1- Right click on the Spam Sleuth icon in your Systray and click Exit, to close the Spam Sleuth application.

2- Go to your Spam Sleuth Program directory, usually located at C:\Program Files\Blue Squirrel\Spam Sleuth

3- From the Spam Sleuth program directory, locate and open the Spamsleuth.ini file.

4- From the Spamsleuth.ini file, locate the following line from the Spamsleuth.ini file: WindowPosition=197,797,240,1040

Delete the enter line from the INI file, including the numbers that follow WindowPosition=

(Note: Numbers may not match, write down the numbers that follow: WindowPosition=)

5- Save and Exit the changes you made in the Spamsleuth.ini file.

6- Launch the Spam Sleuth application again.

7- Double click on the Spam Sleuth icon in your Systray, and the Spam Sleuth viewer should now open properly.


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Q:  I have installed Spam Sleuth 3.0, and I have enabled the Outlook Plugin from Spam Sleuth.
However, when I restart Outlook the tool bar for Add to Friends and Add to Spammers, is not there.
How do I get the Outlook Plugin Loaded?

A:  You can try to manually add the addin by following these instructions:
1- Open Outlook.
2- Go to Tools> Options.
3- Click on the 'Other' tab.
4- Click on the Advanced Options button.
5- Click the Com Addin button.
6- Click Add and browse to the Spam Sleut Comm Addin. The comm addin is located in the Spam Sleuth Program directory, usually located at C:\Program Files\Blue Squirrel\Spam Sleuth.
7- Enable the addin after you have loaded it, and press O.K.
You should now see the Add to Friends and Add to Spammers button on your Outlook Toolbar.

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Q:  When I hit CTRL-ALT-L to set the Debug logging, it doesn't work.
A:  Hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and then go to the Processes tab and stop the hkcmd.exe

hkcmd.exe
Installed by the Intel 810 and 815 chipset graphic drivers. If you want the Ctrl+Alt+F12 or similar keypresses to access Intel's customised graphics properties, you need it, otherwise not. Can be disabled via the Display Properties in Control Panel.

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Q:  Where can I download Version 3.0 of Spam Sleuth?

How much for me to upgrade to version 4?

A:  You can redownload Spam Sleuth 3.0 by going to: www.bluesquirrel.com/download/SpamSleuthSetup30.exe

The price to upgrade to version 4.0 of Spam Sleuth is: $14.95.

To upgrade please contact sales at 1-800-403-0925 or 801-352-1551 or sales@bluesquirrel.com


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Q:  I have uninstalled Blue Squirrel and cleaned all the items in my register.
Then I have installed my "old" 3.0 version of Blue. After installing there
was a message for a update.
This update dowloaded and installed. There was again a message: can't find
pi.dll. Reinstall the program.

A:  The problem is that the PI.DLL file did not get updated correctly.

To resolve this issue:
1- Go to http://www.bluesquirrel.com/download/SpamSleuthSetup.exe
and download the installation file for Spam Sleuth Version 4.0.
2- After you have downloaded the installation file, reinstall Spam Sleuth Version 4.0, into the same directory as your previous version of Spam s will allow you to keep your previous settings.

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Q:  I can not get it to Import my Address Books from Outlook Express v6. In Configure/Friends I click on the import button, select Outlook Express, it shows my the address books, I highlite them and select import, but they do not show in the window under Friends in the configuration menu.
A:  You should manually import the addresses from Outlook Express into ClickBook.

To manually import your contacts into Spam Sleuth from Outlook Express:

1- Open Outlook Express.
2- Open your Address Book.
3- Highlight 1 address in the Address book, then pres Ctrl+A, to select all.
4- Right Click on the 'selections' and click Copy.
5- Right click on the Spam Sleuth icon and go to Configure.
6- Click on the Friends analyzer.
7- Click Import
8- Select Other and click Import
9- Right click in the 'Email Extraction and import' window and click on Paste.

This should paste all the addresses from your Address book into Spam Sleuth.

10- Click Import.

This will now import each of the E-mail addresses that was pasted into the Email Extraction and Import window, into the Friends list in Spam Sleuth.

11- Click O.K.
12- Click O.K.

Blue Squirrel

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Q:  I'm getting the message "error getting messages from email server". I've tested POP3 and SMTP and they successfully connect.
What do you think my problem is?

A:  We will need you to enable Debug Logging and then send us a copy of the Spam Sleuth log file, so that we can help you troubleshoot this issue.

To enable Debug Logging:
1- Double click on the Spam Sleuth Icon to open the Mail Jail.
2- From the Mail Jail Press Ctrl+Alt+L
3- Select Debug and click o.k.

Now recreate the problem and then reply to this E-mail and attach a copy of the SpamSleuth.log file.

The log file is located in the Spam Sleuth Program Directory, at C:\Program Files\Blue Squirrel\Spam Sleuth

Once we receive the log file we will help you troubleshoot this issue.

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