12th September 2001

Whenever I need to know something about Outlook Express, I turn to Tom Koch (the guy who runs TOMSTERDAM.COM). Someone was asking me about what they could do to keep spam from entering their Inbox. Sure enough, our favorite OE MVP has published a tip which involves setting up a rule in Outlook Express. Click Tools | Message Rules | Mail. In the Conditions field, place checkmarks next to "Where the From line contains people" and "Where the To line contains people" (both of them). In the Actions field, place a checkmark in the "Delete it from server" option. Then, in the Rule Description field, click on the "contains people" option. In the resulting dialog, enter the "@" symbol (sans quotes), click the Add button, then before clicking OK, click the Options button and select the "Message does not contain the people below" option. Do the same for the second "contains people" Rule Description hyperlink. Now, click on the "and" and select the "Messages match any one of the criteria" option. Finally, name the new rule whatever you wish. WARNING: this tip may throw babies out with the bathwater. Apply with caution. For bonus points, do you know what the Outlook Express executable (MSIMN.EXE) stands for? Microsoft Internet Mail and News.