How does MailWasher Pro work?
MailWasher Pro essentially allows you to act upon your email while it is still residing on your email server.

When an email is sent to you, it arrives at your email server and waits for you to open your email client and download it. You don't usually get to choose whether you want to get the message.

MailWasher Pro allows you to access the messages waiting on the server, where you can bounce or delete messages without having to download them. Once you've "washed" the waiting mail with MailWasher Pro, you can download the remaining messages using your email client. The benefit of this is that you won't have to download a wad of spam with your legitimate mail, and you can help protect your computer from damaging attachments, simply by not downloading them. MailWasher Pro also uses filters and blacklists to help determine which messages might be spam or viruses.

How do I use MailWasher Pro?
When you want to check your email, start MailWasher Pro by double-clicking on the desktop icon, or go to Start menu, Programs, then MailWasher Pro.

MailWasher Pro will then start, and will show you all the emails you have waiting for you on your email server. You'll be able to see the subject lines and sender, as well as the file size and whether there are any attachments (you can choose what information you want displayed in the options panel).

MailWasher Pro will make recommendations based on its analysis of the initial email information, and will tell you which messages it thinks might be spam or viruses. Based on this information (and your own common sense), you can select to bounce, blacklist or delete messages by ticking the appropriate box next to the message. If you want to keep and download a message, you should leave these boxes empty.

Once you've decided what to do with your messages, select "Process Mail". All deleted, bounced or blacklisted messages will be deleted, bounced or blacklisted, and your email client will open to retrieve all your other messages, as normal.

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What are the minimum requirements to run MailWasher Pro?
4 Mb of RAM, 4Mb of disk space, and an Internet connection.

Which e-mail programs does MailWasher Pro work with?
Because MailWasher Pro works independently of your email program, it doesn't matter which one you use.

Which mail protocols does MailWasher Pro support?
MailWasher Pro supports all POP3, Hotmail and MSN accounts. AOL and IMAP support will be developed at a later stage.

How can I download MailWasher Pro?
On the home page, click on download. A box will pop up and ask if you want to 'save to disk' or 'run from location'. Click on 'save to disk' and press Ok. A new box will appear asking where you want to download it to. Select your location and click 'save'. MailWasher Pro is 1.5 Megabytes in size and takes approximately 4 minutes with a 56k modem to download or about 5 seconds with a DSL connection

How do I install MailWasher Pro?
Double click on the downloaded file to begin the installation. It is a very easy installation and when it's finished it will ask if you want to start the program file. If you click Ok, MailWasher Pro will start and ask if you want to import existing email accounts or add new ones. Once this is done, MailWasher Pro will check those accounts for email.

Does MailWasher Pro run in the background?
If you have a permanent connection to the internet, you can leave MailWasher Pro running in the background and set it to automatically check mail at a pre-determined interval via the Tools, Options menu.

Which e-mail client will MailWasher Pro start up?
MailWasher Pro will use your default e-mail client

Why do I get an error when trying to start my e-mail client? Or, how do I specify a default e-mail client?
You may not have specified a default e-mail client. To change this you will need to make some changes in your registry, but its not too difficult.

If you have Internet Explorer you can right click on the Internet Explorer short-cut on their desktop >> go to Properties >> click Programs at the top >> and select your default email client here.

Alternatively, go to the Windows Start menu, click on 'run' and type 'regedit' in the box.
Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, follow the path to Software\Clients\Mail and change the Default Key to 'Outlook Express', 'Netscape Messenger' or another e-mail application.

How do I switch off automatic checking in my e-mail program?
The following are instructions for the more common e-mail programs

Netscape
Select Edit, then Preferences from the Netscape main menu.

Open the Mail & Newsgroups section and go to Mail Servers.

Select the desired e-mail account from the Incoming Mail Servers list, and click on the Edit button.

Deselect the option labeled Check for mail every ( ) minutes.

Outlook Express
Select Tools, then Options from the main menu.

Uncheck the options labeled Send and receive messages at startup and Check for new messages every ( ) minute(s).

Outlook
Select Tools, then Options from the main menu.

Click on the Internet E-mail tab.

Uncheck the option labeled Check my local network connections for new mail every ( ) minute(s).

Eudora
Select Tools, then Options from the main menu.

Select Checking Mail from the icon list on the left.

Enter 0 in the input box labeled Check for mail every ( ) minute(s).

Pegasus
Select Tools, then Options from the main menu.

Click on the Network tab, then on the button labeled Advanced network configuration options.

Enter 0 in the input box labeled Check for new POP3 mail every ( ) secs.

I'm having problems with MailWasher Pro connecting to the internet, what can I do?
Error: Could not connect to the internet, or DNS failed.

1. Go to the control panel, click on 'Internet options' and then go to the 'connections' tab and make sure 'Always dial my default connection' is selected.

2. The 2001 and previous versions of Norton's antivirus add in a 'Norton's reference' to the POP account settings. It will look like this - 'pop3.norton.antivirus'. Remove the Norton references from the account info and just use your normal POP connection info. You won't need the Norton's reference anyway as MailWasher Pro only checks messages on the server in text mode so that viruses and scripts can't run. Norton will catch any remaining scripts or viruses when you download the e-mail.

3. Make sure you can receive POP3 e-mail. POP3 is by far the most common internet connection protocol in use, but there are others available which you might be using. MailWasher Pro only supports POP3 at present.

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Please note: Hotmail and MSN Hotmail accounts cannot be imported and must be added manually.

What are my POP and SMTP settings?
POP is your incoming mail setting and SMTP is your outgoing mail setting. You will need to refer to the documentation your internet provider supplied you with when you signed up.

N.B Hotmail and MSN Hotmail do not use POP and SMTP servers.

What SMTP settings should I use when I have accounts from different providers or multiple accounts?
You should use the SMTP setting from your dial up provider for all your accounts. This will get around the problem of relaying e-mail which some providers do not allow, so all your e-mail will be bounced back via your dial up provider. You may get an error message that the e-mail was not able to be bounced otherwise.

Why does MailWasher Pro not import the password from my account?
Your email password is encrypted and has to be entered again by you.

How many accounts may I have?
You can have as many accounts as you wish.

How do I stop automatically checking an account?
Go to the Tools menu, Accounts, Properties. Select the account you don't wish to have checked, then uncheck the "Include this account in default mail check" box.

Can I use CompuServe with MailWasher Pro?
Yes, you will need to log into CompuServe using CompuServe software and create a "mail only password".

CompuServe Classic does support POP3 mail. To active your POP3 Mailbox on your Classic account, GO POPMAIL online.
CompuServe 2000 accounts cannot be used with MailWasher.

Can I use Yahoo with MailWasher Pro?
Yes, though Yahoo.com users need to sign up for POP3 access, which requires an annual fee. Other Yahoo domains (Yahoo.co.uk, Yahoo.com.au) still provide free POP3 access. Go to www.yahoo.com

What is APOP?
This is a POP3 setting that encrypts your username and password when checking your mail - not all internet providers support this, but it will probably be widely used eventually.

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How can I change the order of the columns?
In the Tools menu, click on Options. In the General tab, the Column Order box will let you select or deselect and change the column order of the columns.

How can I classify my incoming e-mail by sorting them?
Click on any of the column headers to sort them by that header.

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What does the bounced message look like?
Try it yourself! Send yourself an email, then bounce it with MailWasher. The message will be bounced back to the sender (you) and you will receive an email similar to the "mailer-daemon" message you would receive if you sent an email to a wrong address. You can compare the fake bounce message with a genuine bounce message by sending an email to a non-existent address with the same domain name as yours (for example, if your address is bob@yourisp.com, try sending one to bobeatscake56376@yourisp.com, or something equally nonsensical). You should receive a mailer-daemon response almost immediately, and it should look almost exactly the same as the MailWasher Pro bounce.

I can’t bounce messages!
Make sure the SMTP settings are correct. Another reason you may not able able to bounce messages is you are bouncing messages for an account that is not the same as your dial up provider. To get around this problem, make the SMTP settings for all your accounts to be the same as your dial up provider.

Why do I get the error message “Error sending bounce messages for account ‘yourname’, SMTP host SMTP.yourisp.prefix refused access”?
This is because your dial up provider does not allow relaying (sending an e-mail from one provider via another provider). To get around this problem, make the SMTP settings for all your accounts to be the same as your dial up provider.

Will the spammers know I am bouncing e-mail?
No, the bounced messages look like a returned mail message you would receive if you sent an e-mail off to a wrong address.

Why are my friends getting their e-mail bounced back to them?
You may have tested out the bouncing when you first started the program in which case their names will be in the blacklist. Go to the Tools menu, Option, and click on the Blacklist tab and locate your friends name and delete it.

Why do I get my bounced message back?
This may be because of two things.

When MailWasher Pro sends a bounce e-mail, it sends it via the postmaster of your internet service provider so it looks exactly like it is a genuine bounced e-mail. If the message that you are trying to bounce has a false return address then you will receive a non deliverable bounced e-mail which will further clutter your inbox - this is because you own your own domain and all the mail is fed in to that domain. This doesn't happen if you have an address from a internet service provider - they get the non deliverable bounced e-mail back to their inbox. To stop the non deliverable e-mail coming back in to your inbox, enter the address MAILER-DAEMON@mydomain.com in the blacklist and set it to auto delete. (where mydomain.com is actually the domain you own). An easier solution is to change the way MailWasher Pro bounces mail - in the advanced BOuncing options under Accounts - change it to 'Use Remote SMTP servers only'.

Some ISP's may modify all the e-mail sent so that they contain the real e-mail address in both the 'from' field and 'reply-to' field. There is nothing much we can do about this as this as we can't control it, we would suggest you not use the bounce feature in this case.

I own my own domain name, and spam gets bounced back to me.
When MailWasher Pro sends a bounce e-mail, it sends it via the postmaster of your Internet service provider so it looks exactly like it is a genuine bounced e-mail. If the message that you are trying to bounce has a false return address then you will receive a non deliverable bounced e-mail which will further clutter your inbox - this is because you own your own domain and all the mail is fed in to that domain. This doesn't happen if you have an address from an Internet Service Provider - they get the non deliverable bounced e-mail back to their inbox.

To stop the non deliverable e-mail coming back in to your inbox, enter the address MAILER-DAEMON@mydomain.com in the blacklist and set it to auto delete. (where mydomain.com is actually the domain you own)

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Can I get deleted messages back?
Unfortunately not, you may be able to contact your internet service provider and see if they back up their messages. Otherwise you will have to write back to the sender if you can remember them and ask for their message again.

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Why does MailWasher Pro only preview in txt format, and not HTML?
HTML can carry viruses and other scripts which can run when viewed. Although HTML is easier to read and better to look at, it is potentially harmful to view HTML e-mail if you are unsure of where they have come from.

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2. You should be using your POP3 settings given by your provider to dial in to the server, not a proxy such as 127.0.0.1, pop.nortons.antivirus or localhost.

Plain text password not supported.
1. A ‘plain text’ password is the most common type of password. Some e-mail providers like MSN require further identification. If you have a POP3 MSN account click Tools >> Accounts >> Properties >> select Incoming Mail at the top >> Advanced POP3 Configuration >> select “Use Secure Authentication” and “MSN SPA”

2. If your mail server require APOP click Tools >> Accounts >> Properties >> select Incoming Mail at the top >> Advanced POP3 Configuration >> select “Use Secure Authentication” and “APOP”

3. You should be using your POP3 settings given by your provider to dial in to the server, not a proxy such as 127.0.0.1, pop.nortons.antivirus or localhost.

Access Violation at address 0049DCAA in Module ‘MailWasher.exe’. Read of Address FFFFFFFC.
If you receive this error when you attempt to open MailWasher, then likely it is your filters.txt file causing this problem. Click on Start >> Search >> Files or Folders >> search your PC for filters.txt >> open this file and delete any blank lines or spaces at the end of this file, by placing your cursor immediately after the last visible character in the file and press Delete until you are sure no extra characters exist >> Save and Close the file.

Failed to resolve remote MX servers.
MailWasher requires a connection to the remote MX servers when either bouncing from Hotmail or bouncing using the Remote method. Some ISPs however do not utilise or allow connections to these servers, in which case the bounce will not be successful.
For any POP3 account change your bounce method to Local. Click on Tools >> Accounts >> Properties >> select the Bouncing & Outgoing Mail tab at the top >> click Advanced Bouncing Options >> select the Bouncing Details tab at the top >> select Use Local SMTP Server.
For any Hotmail account, unfortunately you are not able to bounce.

I made alterations to my blacklist.txt file, but when I go to MailWasher the changes are not there.
Any changes you make to the blacklist.txt file will not be saved if MailWasher is open. Make sure that even before you open the file in a text editor, MailWasher is not running.

How do I register?
Click on the register button on the menu bar. You will be taken to a secure payment site and be asked for your credit card details. Enter these and you will be immediately sent a registration key to enter in to MailWasher Pro.

How can I pay?
There are several options:

• Pressing "register" on the MailWasher Pro tool bar will bring up Credit Card options - Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and others.
• Or just Click here to purchase your full registration key

Which company handles the credit card verifications and payments?
WorldPay, a company based in the United Kingdom handles the payments. You can visit their web site at www.worldpay.com

How does the registration key work?
The key is encrypted and can only be used once.

Where do I enter my registration key?
If you go to the e-mail that contains the registration key, highlight the registration text and once it is all selected, right click over the selected text and a small menu will appear, select Copy. Then go to MailWasher Pro, click on Register then the ‘Paste from Clipboard’ button, then press the Register button to complete the process.

I have formatted my hard drive and want to reinstall MailWasher Pro. How do I get back my registered version?
Please contact support@mailwasher.net.

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What is a DNS spam Blacklist server?
A DNS Spam Blacklist Server is a database of known internet addresses (or IP's) used by persons or companies who are either sending spam, or who are known in some way to support spammers (having open mail relays, hosting Web sites, distributing marketing spamming software, etc).

What benefit is it to me?
When checking your mail in MailWasher Pro, any new e-mail will be checked against these lists to see if the e-mail comes from a known source of spam. This will be listed in the 'status' column on the main screen. These e-mail will automatically be marked for bounce and delete.

Which lists are provided and are there more?
ORDB, VISI and SpamCop are built in, but you can add more if you want.

Other free blacklists are:
blacklist.spambag.org
outputs.orbz.org
inputs.orbz.org
ztl.dorkslayers.com
blackholes.intersil.net
blackholes.wirehub.net

The listed ones in MailWasher Pro are:
relays.visi.com
relays.ordb.org
bl.spamcop.net

What about MAPS RBL? Isn't that the most well regarded blacklist database?
Yes it is the most well regarded database, but while it used to be free it is no longer so. You can still sign up for one hobbyist license for free, but it is restricted to one IP address only.

What is heuristic checking?
MailWasher Pro is able to examine each e-mail it views for suspicious signs that it may be spam or a virus and to warn you. MailWasher Pro lets you have different strengths of checking to help identify suspicious e-mail.

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How do I enter an address in to the Blacklist?
There are a few ways.

1. Press the 'Add' button in the 'Blacklist/friends list' tab and you can either enter a whole address or…
2. Use a wildcard to enter anyone, say for example, all e-mail from the same domain that you get sent junk from. eg. *@firetrust.com would catch anyone from firetrust.com, and ????@firetrust.com would catch anyone with a four letter name who works at Firetrust.
3. You can bring up another column on the main screen which will be labeled 'Blacklist' - do this by going to Tools, Options, General tab and ticking the 'Blacklist' option in the Column Order box. This makes it easy to 'tick' your junk e-mailers as they send you e-mail.

Can I import an existing blacklist?
Yes, if the existing blacklist is a plain text file of e-mail addresses. The blacklist file (blacklist.txt) is located in the application data directory, this can be located by selecting About in the Help menu and clicking on the link. Copy and paste your new addresses into the blacklist file in that directory. Note: If changes are to be made to this file, MailWasher Pro must be closed before opening this file, and remain closed until you have entered and saved your changes. The format of the file must be specific to one e-mail address per line, with no extra characters like commas etc.. the blacklist is contained under the heading "[Blacklisted emails]", the friends list is also contained in this file under the heading "[Whitelisted emails].

Why don't big imported spam lists work with MailWasher Pro?
If you use Windows 95, 98, or Me these operating systems have a limit of 32,000 characters for a list and will stop MailWasher Pro working properly if the list is too big. A good (large) list can be found at www.gaznet.au.com

Why can I import the junk senders file from Outlook into MailWasher Pro, but I can’t with Outlook Express?
Outlook has it’s Junk Senders List as a plain text file and can be easily added to MailWasher Pro’s blacklist file. Outlook Express has it’s Junk Sender’s List in the registry which cannot be exported as a text file.

How do the ‘auto-delete and auto-bounce’ options work?
As soon as your mail is checked on the server, and identified as being from a sender in your personal blacklist, it is bounced directly from the server to the sender and deleted so you never actually see it. Messages marked by the DNS Spam Database servers will not be automatically deleted or bounced.

How does the ‘mark blacklisted messages’ work?
Blacklist e-mail will still show up on the main screen for you to preview and decide if you want to bounce them. So they won’t be automatically bounced off the server before you view them.

What are the numbers beside the e-mail addresses in the text file?
They are the date the address last matched an e-mail (for expiry purposes), if the number is missing then the current date is assumed.

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How do I enter an address in to the friends list?
There are a few ways.

1. Press the 'Add' button in the 'Blacklist/friends list' tab and you can either enter a whole address or…
2. Use a wildcard to enter anyone, say for example, all e-mail from the same company as your friend. eg. *@firetrust.com would let anyone from Firetrust.com be entered as your friend, and ????@firetrust.com would let anyone with a four letter name who works at Firetrust be entered as your friend.
3. You can bring up another column on the main screen which will be labeled 'friends' - do this by going to Tools, Options, General tab and ticking the 'Friends list' option in the Column Order box. This makes it easy to 'tick' your friends as they send you e-mail.

Can I transfer my address book in to the friends list?
If you can export your address book to a text (.txt) file then yes you can. The friends list is actually at the bottom of the blacklist (contained in the application data directory which can be located by selecting About in the Help menu and clicking on the link), so you can just copy and paste the addresses there.

If changes are to be made to this file, MailWasher Pro must be closed before opening this file, and remain closed until you have entered and saved your changes. The format of the file must be specific to one e-mail address per line, with no extra characters like commas etc.. the friends list is contained in this file under the heading "[Whitelisted emails].

How does the shared Blacklist and Friends list file work?
If you wish to share the blacklist/friends list across a network or locate the file in another directory then you will need to know this.

The blacklist/friends list can be located in another directory, but you can't write to it (enter another name) as there are both user and technical complications if users try to change it at the same time. So any additions or subtractions to the list are made in the blacklist/friends list in your MailWasher Pro application data directory.

So the list that is shared should contain shared friends names and blacklisted addresses, and any additions or subtractions to this list are made in your own blacklist/friends list in the MailWasher Pro application data directory.

What is the 'Display e-mail received from friends' tick box for?
One way to deal with a whole lot of e-mail is to change the friends list in this way - in the friends list options tab (Tools, Options, Friends/blacklist tab - Friends Options button), untick 'Display e-mail received from friends' so people in your friends list won't be shown - this allows you to go through your list very quickly - and then hold down the shift key at the same time as selecting the e-mail to delete, right click and select mark message for deletion, then you can go through what is left and unmark those from friends. After a while you will have lots of people in the friends list (which won't be shown) and all the junk shows up which can be marked for deletion. You can then go back and tick the 'show e-mail from friends' box to see what your friends have sent you, or simply download them.

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Can you show me an example?
1. To identify all e-mail with 'Dear Friend' in the body of the e-mail. In the rules section you would make "The body" "contains" "Dear Friend", you could even attach a name to the rule and what action MailWasher Pro is to take with the email.

2. To identify all e-mail with a microsoft word attachment. (.doc) In the rules section you would make "The body" "contains" ".doc" This would identify any e-mail with a word document attached (or any part of text that had the words .doc).

Do you have any filters I can download?
Yes! Thanks to the work of a whole lot of people, here's a link to a big list of filters. Just download it and add it into your filters list!

Download user-supplied filters.

What does RegExpr mean?
Regular expression.

Regular expressions are tools that look like comic-book expletives (#!?#@!!#) but can be very powerful when used to filter emails. Regular expressions are used to recognize patterns within emails. Regular expressions evaluate the text of your e-mail and return an answer of true or false. That is, either the expression correctly describes the text of you e-mail, or it doesn't. This enables you to specify a filter to easily identify certain kinds of e-mail text or patterns.

How can I make a regular expression filter?
They take a bit of getting used to, but here is a basic outline and some more common examples below you may like to use yourself.

Now lets put some of these in to examples we can use.

1. How can I filter any e-mail that have a blank subject line?

• You would use: The 'Subject field' does not contain RegExpr, and then place a full stop . in the next box.
• Remember, the full stop . means any character, so we are making a rule that subject line does not contain any character, meaning a blank subject line.

2. How can I filter out words in certain parts of sentences?
^buy matches 'buy' only if its at the beginning of a sentence

buy$ matches 'buy' only if its at the end of a line

^buy$ matches 'buy' if it's the only word in the line

More details of regular expressions can be found here. There are also other guides available on the web.

Can I import existing filters?
Probably not. MailWasher Pro has it’s filters in a text file in the application data directory (this can be located by selecting About in the Help menu and clicking on the link). But you will probably have to add your own filter in.

Why would I use different colours for my filters?
These appear on the status column and are activated when an e-mail is MailWasher Proed which has triggered your filter.

How does the 'precedence' feature work?
People in the friends list would not normally be subject to filters. But if you have set up a filter to specifically catch a particular virus then you can set the filter to take precedence (or identify the virus) over anyone in your friends list.

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Why can’t I use Yahoo or AOL with MailWasher Pro?
MailWasher Pro only supports POP3 and Hotmail protocols at this stage. Some web based e-mail providers do offer POP3 access - Yahoo.com for example offer it for $24.95 a year. AOL support is due for inclusion in the future.

How can I change the e-mail notification sound?
Do this via the sounds icon in the Control Panel of Windows. Go to Start Menu, Settings, Control Panel and click on the Sounds icon. The sound you want to change is the ‘New Mail Notification’.

How am I notified visually if there is new mail?
An icon will appear in the system tray to notify you of new e-mail.

What keyboard commands can I use with MailWasher Pro?

Why is my e-mail being deleted after previewing?
Some server programs may have a feature that automatically deletes mail once you have seen it. This is not really desirable and may override what your e-mail client instructs the server to do. Solutions: - Turn off the POP server's autodelete feature. - Use compliant pop server software. - Don't preview your mail.

Where are the registry settings for MailWasher Pro?
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\FireTrust\MailWasher Pro

Don’t spammers use e-mail authentication programs to see if your e-mail address is valid?
These e-mail authentication programs are a waste of time because most internet service providers will authenticate any e-mail address, even if it doesn’t exist to get around this problem.

How do I move messages from MailWasher Pro to my e-mail program?
You don’t need to. Messages displayed in MailWasher Pro are still available on your server for download in to your e-mail program. When you have finished in MailWasher Pro, to download your remaining 'good' messages go to your regular e-mail program and push "Send/Receive" ("Check Mail" in Eudora, "Get Msg" in Netscape).

Does MailWasher Pro contain any spyware?
No, MailWasher Pro does not contain any spyware or adware.

I have installed MailWasher Pro but can’t find it. Where is it?
Click on the Start menu, Programs, MailWasher and select MailWasher Pro. MailWasher Pro also minimizes to the system tray at the bottom right of your screen.

How will I know about MailWasher Pro updates?
If you register, you will automatically receive notification of updates. Otherwise, notification of the latest version will be available on the home page of the Firetrust site.

Can I create a link to MailWasher Pro? Do you have an image I can use?
Yes you can. Probably the easiest way is to join the affiliate program, and this will supply you with banners you can use. An advantage is that if anyone who buys a copy of MailWasher Pro from clicking on your link will earn you money.

Who are the people behind MailWasher Pro?
Nick Bolton and software developers eCOSM, both from New Zealand. www.ecosm.com

How can I get in touch with you?
e-mail: info@firetrust.com
Postal: P.O. Box 25-297
Christchurch 8001
New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 963 1347

I have other questions, not answered here.
Send them to info@firetrust.com

I have a suggestion for a feature for MailWasher Pro.
Tell us at info@firetrust.com

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