Create a Junk Mail Drop

Spam isn't going to go away anytime soon. So to minimize the amount of unsolicited mail your account will receive, spend a few minutes getting your self a junk mail drop. Hotmail and Yahoo have the better spam killing software settings. Use these services for all your Internet purchases and subscriptions. Only use your personal e-mail address for for personal correspondence. When you purchase over the Internet or sign up for a newsletter, use your junk mail drop as the target address.

E-mail Naming Practices

Spammers are going to eventually figure out that the .0000001% of responses don't add up to a profitable venture. But that's going to take a great deal of time. The one thing an Internet user can do is to make it harder for a spammer to find you. Spammers use an "alpha" attack when they lock on to a domain. They will send to every possible alphabetic combination they can get away with.

First thing you have to know: NEVER give your personal e-mail address to anyone except TRUSTED friends and family. If only one person enters your spam defeating e-mail address into some seemingly well meaning website, spam will start arriving shortly thereafter.

I like to use underscores ( _ ) in my addresses; usually between my first and last names, dashes ( - ) can also work. But not all mail systems allow special characters. Another possibility is to substitute numbers for letters. Number One (1) works great for I's or L's. Number Three (3) substitutes for E's.

And if you can mix letters, numbers, and special characters, almost 90% of spam will miss you. That is provided you haven't entered the spam defeating address to any public, commercial, or user lists.

Firewalls

Get one, know how to use it. I recommend Zone Alarm if you don't already have one through XP Pro. Settings vary, but you can show ever little blip and ping, or leave it set so that you don't know much activity is going on, just that the firewall is working.

Delete Temporary Files

Try this. Start --> Settings --> Control Panels --> Internet Options --> Delete Temporary Internet Files. Saves space and might make your Internet experience run faster.