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Regarded by some as being the major hindrance to the use of emails, Spam continues to invade our mail boxes and clog up precious system resources.  Like other forms of intrusion-based software, the proliferation of Spam has resulted in the appearance of a number of products aimed at reducing, if not completely blocking, the amount of Spam received.  Falling into this category is Spam Buster which has been developed by Manaccom and is distributed in the UK by Phoenix Global Software as part of its Soap series (one look at the packaging will reveal why the series is named Soap).

Unlike the other offerings in the Soap series, Spam Buster has a totally different front end for its installation.  There are options to install the product plus a couple of tutorials covering settings and operation.  The tutorials contain plenty of information about the various aspects of email and how to get the best out of Spam Buster but there is so much detail that novice users could be put off by the complexity of the different features.

See also: Anti virus/spam

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When faced by a software title that is provided with no printed documentation, as is the case with Spam Buster, my first port of call tends to be the Help feature.  In this instance I was immediate faced with a problem as Spam Buster Help was unable to find a file it needed.  The file (RoboEx32.dll) was on my system but not in the location that Spam Buster expected.  A quick copy and paste resolved this problem.  Other error messages appeared later stating that various elements could not be found but generally clicking on another link solved the problem.

Spam Buster is an email filter system which works by checking your email before it reaches your computer.  It does this by linking to your POP email server (Web-based accounts do not appear to be supported) and rummaging through your messages for tell-tale signs as the wheat is sorted from the chaff.  Hopefully only those messages you want to read are allowed through although Spam Buster does admit it is not perfect in this respect.

To carry out its designated task, Spam Buster will check items such as the subject matter and the header, which normally remains hidden from the recipient, plus look at the sender information.  With this latter check, Spam Buster comes with a list of over 17,000 known Spam mailers and additional ones can be added at the user’s discretion.  Those items that do not pass the Spam Buster test will be refused access to your computer and will be deleted.

As mentioned earlier, Spam Buster has numerous settings which allow the user to customise the product for their own needs.  Up to 12 mail boxes can be supported as long as they relate to POP accounts and the relevant address details are known.  When setting up the rules by which Spam Buster conducts its activity, there are a range of categories covering Subject, Headers, Sender, Size, Exceptions (a White list of those who are known and acceptable to you), Black list of known spammers, Valid Domains and the ability to check that the email is in English.

Once set up, Spam Buster needs to be run before your email client so that it can carry out its designated task.  After Spam Buster has finished checking your mail box(es), you can activate your email client from within Spam Buster or externally.  Spam Buster keeps an activity log which can be accessed to reveal a summary of the number of times you have checked your email, how many messages have been deleted, and the number of messages waiting on the file server.

Spam Buster does require a certain amount of user interaction in order to perform at its best.  It is more suited to an experienced user with a POP account.

http://www.phoenixglobalsoftware.co.uk/soap_box/spam_buster/index.asp