Looking for suggestions on how to handle virus and SPAM....

[Bruce]

I have Outlook 2002 (latest sp is installed). I have McAfee. This is all on
an XP Prof system
As we all know, there are lots of crazies out there creating and sending the
viruses. And then those get forward from one system to another, I get quite
a few of them as I have several very old email addresses and many email
addresses (several businesses with different email address for diferent
needs)
Some of the email addresses I need to keep (printed liturture etc)
Anyhow, my issue is that I do get a lot of "infected" mail. Everytime I get
one of these, Mcafee gives me a popup notice (not a POPUP AD!) stating
"A virus has been detected and cleaned! the file ...... was infected by the
...... virus and has been deleted to complete the clean process. I want to...
Find out more info, or Continue what I was doing"
A notice CAN be a good thing, but, I touch type (don't look at my screen
while inputing data) and when I get one of these messages, it might be 5-10
minutes before I notice it, and the whole time all of my type has been
blocked by this pop up.

First, I know I can not block these files with the virus.
Not all of my IPS have virus filters
I DO want security
But I would like something that is not so much in the way. I have used
mcafee for years and in itself, it works well, just if I could get rid of
the warning screen (I have suggested that they have several methods of
notifiation, via screen (currently used), a log file, a sound or an email,
And then select which ones you wanted to use, but, so far my pleas have
fallen on deaf ears.
I do recieve a LOT of spam (SOMEDAYS OVER 1000 PEICES!) I wish I could get a
handle on this!!!! I have been using Spambayes (quite good a sorting spam
from non spam (HAM) and have also been toying with InBoxer. Seems even
better, but I have a few issues I need to get resolved with it....
Some of my ISPs do have spam filters, but I have found these to be lacking-
letting in a lot of spam, and inadvertanly stopping some good emails, so I
DO NOT want a server side solution to SPAM.

I want something that will do a very good job, but not be in the way!!!!
McAfee is just always in the way.
I would prefer something cheap, but....
Also what settings should I have for my firewall and other security features
to help with this?

Help!
Bruce

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Inline

I have Outlook 2002 (latest sp is installed). I have McAfee. This is
all on an XP Prof system

Anyhow, my issue is that I do get a lot of "infected" mail. Everytime
I get one of these, Mcafee gives me a popup notice (not a POPUP AD!)
stating "A virus has been detected and cleaned! the file ...... was
infected by the ..... virus and has been deleted to complete the
clean process. I want to... Find out more info, or Continue what I
was doing" A notice CAN be a good thing, but, I touch type (don't
look at my screen while inputing data) and when I get one of these
messages, it might be 5-10 minutes before I notice it, and the whole
time all of my type has been blocked by this pop up.

Check McAfee support to see if you can turn off the notifications, or get
another AV product that can do that....

First, I know I can not block these files with the virus.
Not all of my IPS have virus filters
I DO want security
But I would like something that is not so much in the way. I have used
mcafee for years and in itself, it works well, just if I could get
rid of the warning screen (I have suggested that they have several
methods of notifiation, via screen (currently used), a log file, a
sound or an email, And then select which ones you wanted to use, but,
so far my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

You may indeed need another product, then.

I do recieve a LOT of spam (SOMEDAYS OVER 1000 PEICES!) I wish I
could get a handle on this!!!! I have been using Spambayes (quite
good a sorting spam from non spam (HAM) and have also been toying
with InBoxer. Seems even better, but I have a few issues I need to
get resolved with it.... Some of my ISPs do have spam filters, but I
have found these to be lacking- letting in a lot of spam, and
inadvertanly stopping some good emails, so I DO NOT want a server
side solution to SPAM.

Look into SpamBayes (google it) - it's free and has worked really well for
me and others I know.

I want something that will do a very good job, but not be in the
way!!!! McAfee is just always in the way.
I would prefer something cheap, but....
Also what settings should I have for my firewall and other security
features to help with this?

Firewall isn't going to have anything to do with this. Your basic software
firewall config ought to be blocking all inbound traffic, and ideally ought
to prompt you when a local application or service wants to send something
outbound (although the Windows XP firewall doesn't have this capability in
its current incarnation).