SpamBayes is a mail filter for use in Outlook that tries to separate unwanted mail (“spam-mail”) from wanted mail.
A well-known problem with spam-filtering is that one particular mail can be considered as spam-mail by one person and as wanted mail by another (for example a mail with mortgage offers). Therefore these days filters often use a “learning” method, named after Thomas Bayes. You train the filter by correcting it when it makes a mistake. Gradually it will improve its ability to recognize the kind of mail that you consider as unwanted.

• Works with Outlook 2000 / 2002 (XP) / 2003 / 2007
• Works with Windows XP and Windows Vista
• SpamBayes is a freeware program.

More information on this program can be found on the SpamBayes web site.

Installation

Install SpamBayes.
Note. This installs version 1.0.4. If you want to be sure that you install the latest version, you can download it from the SpamBayes web site as well.

 

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Starting to use the filter

We give some tips for the simplest use of the filter. When you now start Outlook for the first time, the SpamBayes Configuration Wizard will pop up automatically. This Wizard shows a number of screens. In most cases you can simply click on Next. Only the third screen deserves some attention:



It may be that you have more than one folder for incoming mail. In that case you must give the complete list here, via the button “Browse”.

When the Wizard has finished, SpamBayes has created two new folders in Outlook: “Junk E-Mail” and “Junk Suspects”. The first one is for spam-mail, the second one for mail that is possibly spam-mail. Furthermore, you obtain a new toolbar:



You must use these buttons to instruct the program which mail you consider unwanted, so that eventually this mail will automatically land in the “Junk E-Mail” folder. It works as follows:

• When an unwanted mail pops up in your Inbox, you must remove it using the “Delete As Spam” button. The mail is then moved to the Junk E-Mail folder, where it can be deleted in the “ordinary” way.
• When you encounter a wanted mail in the Junk E-Mail folder, you must retrieve it using the “Recover from Spam” button.
• When a mail lands in the Junk Suspects folder you must use these buttons to make clear whether it is wanted or unwanted.

After some time you will notice that the filter will recognize unwanted mail with reasonable accuracy.