# Free Mailwasher Email Programs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234 "2007-07-10T17:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/1 "2007-07-10T17:36:13Z")
I get a lot of spam. A ton of it. I would like a free mailwasher program to use to get rid of it all. I have tried to configure Thunderbird (using the Hotmail and Webmail add-ons) but it refuses to work no matter how many settings I fiddle with - and this is with directions from a friend who downloaded everything and gave me step-by-step instructions. I have one gmail address and three hotmail addresses to coordinate in the program. I am currently using Outlook Express (Outlook also will not work correctly for whatever reason) on Win 2K Pro. I’m not against upgrading to XP as we have it around, but I don’t want to go to an entirely different non-Microsoft operating system. As I mentioned, Thunderbird is too screwy, and I can’t find a free program that will take more than one address. Help, please? ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/2 "2007-07-11T00:53:18Z")
I use [SPAMfighter](http://www.spamfighter.com/) , recommended by a newsletter I get. If you get a spam email, just click a button and and it’s added to the database and is blocked for all users. There’s a whitelist and blacklist option too, for your personal tastes. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/3 "2007-07-11T03:17:53Z")
It’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but I just forward all of my mail through gmail addresses to use their spam filters. It works really well for me. So, I pick up only one pop mailbox, but in Eudora it will choose the intended address as the “reply-to” address. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/4 "2007-07-11T03:29:06Z")
Oh, I need to add that I use this for the Spam which remains _after_ it goes through the gmail and cox spam filters. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/5 "2007-07-11T03:31:31Z")
[QUOTE=wonderlust] Oh, I need to add that I use this for the Spam which remains _after_ it goes through the gmail and cox spam filters. [/QUOTE] I get in the neighborhood of one spam a week that slips through the filters, and one good email a month that gets picked up as spam. The gmail filters work incredibly well for me. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/6 "2007-07-11T04:56:59Z")
In my first 30 days of using Spamfilter (in Outlook Express, with about 6 email accounts), it blocked 103 spam emails that made it past gmail and cox. By the way, **Ginger** , Spamfilter works with Outlook Express, so it works well with multiple email accounts. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/7 "2007-07-11T20:57:05Z")
Well, I’ve downloaded and installed Spamfilter. It doesn’t appear to actually stop any spam. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/8 "2007-07-11T21:47:16Z")
It should be putting it into the Spamfilter folder. Read the instructions carefully, because you can also blacklist or whitelist legitimate advertising. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/9 "2007-07-12T00:19:04Z")
[QUOTE=wonderlust] It should be putting it into the Spamfilter folder. Read the instructions carefully, because you can also blacklist or whitelist legitimate advertising. [/QUOTE] I thank you for your suggestion, but this program has caused numerous msimn.exe errors, causing Outlook Express to shut down. It screwed with my identity in the registry as well. I ended up having to uninstall it. I wish it had worked though, it seems like a pretty good program other than that. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/10 "2007-07-12T00:35:10Z")
My computer’s been having lots of freezes lately, necessitating numerous hard-resets. Today I _uninstalled Spamfilter_ and voila, everything’s okeedokee now. They’ve got a 3.5 million users, and it’s recommended by a [knowledgeable source](http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm#16) , but it sure made my computer unstable. It’s weird though, it worked fine for weeks. My apologies for leading you astray, and to anyone else who might be having problems with it. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-mailwasher-email-programs/411234/11 "2007-07-12T00:56:42Z")
No biggie, your intentions were good. I’ll keep looking.