Windows XP for Home Users, Service Pack 2 Edition

If you're like most computer users today, well over half the messages delivered to your e-mail inbox are unsolicited, unauthorized, and unwanted in other words, spam. These spam messages are the online equivalent of the junk mail you receive in your postal mailbox, and it's a huge problem.

While Windows XP's Outlook Express includes some rudimentary spam-blocking capabilities, it's no substitute for a full-featured anti-spam program. If you're especially inundated with spam e-mails, install and run one of these anti-spam programs, such as Norton AntiSpam (www.symantec.com) or SpamKiller (www.mcafee.com).

Of course, you'll get less spam if spammers don't harvest your e-mail address for their nefarious purposes. Here are some tips for keeping your inbox relatively free of spam:

• Don't post your email address in public forums, message boards, blogs, or on your personal or business Web page.

• To confuse email address-harvesting software, you can insert a spamblock into your address. For example, if your email address is johnjones@myisp.com, you might change the address to read johnSPAMBLOCKjones@myisp.com.

• Another trick is to use two e-mail addresses a public one you use when you post on the web or register on websites, and a private one you give out only to friends and relatives.

Obviously, if your ISP offers spam-blocking services, avail yourself of them. The more roadblocks between the spammers and you, the better!