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BLScanPlus © 2004 Welcome to the "Pro Zone" |
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MailWasher
is a product of Firetrust,
a
commercial package that offers multiple strategies for the effective
control of SPAM. |
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| Press the Play button for some soothing music | ||||||||||||||
BLScanPlus Pro includes * BLScan * BLComp * BLJoin * BLConv * Totter * UnRotter * |
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| BLScan Plus |
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| BLScanPlus
replaces the former popular V1 standalone tools BLScan, BLComp, BLJoin,
BLConv,
Totter and
UnRotter. Basically, all of these utilities are now integrated into one
program. Below are a set of FAQ. Note: Information documented on this website is relevant to the "Classic" (or V2) version and "Pro" (or V4) version of BLScanPlus. For information on the "Classic" (or V2) version, go to the ClassicZone |
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| What is BLScanPlus? | ||||||||||||||
| For
several
years I have been using Firetrust's
excellent Mailwasher program
to filter my
incoming emails. This has proven to be very successful, with close to
100% of my email being recognised correctly as legitimate or otherwise.
Although Mailwasher is a superb program, over time I have identified a
number of functions that it does not support and I have produced a set
of utilities to implement them. Blacklist Utilities: The Blacklist is one of the most effective strategies in combating spam. You can blot out individuals, entire domains or even entire countries! It is easy to use, you are in total control of the content, it yields very few false positives and most importantly it swallows a huge amount of incoming spam! BLScan, BLComp, BLJoin and BLConv enhance the value of the Blacklist and can make it much more effective. See My Guide for an explanation of all of the anti-spam strategies used within Mailwasher. Trash Utilities: Did you delete something important?, did the less reliable anti-spam features of Mailwasher push something important into the Trash? Which one of your accounts is being hardest hit with spam? Dumpster dive your Trash file with Totter and UnRotter. All of these utilities are now integrated into one program called BLScanPlus, this can be downloaded from this site. BLScanPlus is essentially a framework that pulls BLScan, BLComp, BLJoin, BLConv, Totter and UnRotter under one roof. One executable, all six utilities. The six utilities were originally available separately and have been in use since mid-2004. A web page detailing each utility is available from the "links" on the top right of this page. |
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| What
exactly is BLScanPlus Pro? |
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| A new prototype
version of BLScanPlus, implemented as a GUI windows application. Here
are some screenshots. This completes the third generation of the utilities... |
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| Does it do the same
thing as the Classic version? |
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| The
underlying code is the same, but there are numerous
refinements. |
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| Why produce a windows GUI version? | ||||||||||||||
| Simply
a case of "by popular
request", many users wanted a version with a windows look and feel. |
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| Does this replace the
Classic version? |
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| No,
but I think most users will move to it. I will support both the Classic
and Pro versions going forward. If users want to stick with the Classic
version, they can. |
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| Do I need anything
else? |
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| BLScanPlusPro
makes use of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2. The .NET Framework is an 'enabling' technology launched by Microsoft to allow software developers (like myself) to use advanced features. Quoting from the Microsoft site "The .NET Framework is a development and execution environment that allows different programming languages & libraries to work together seamlessly to create Windows-based applications that are easier to build, manage, deploy, and integrate with other networked systems". What this means is that applications can now work in unison with your computers capabilities to improve the users experience. The .NET Framework is not new, the first version has been in use for several years, the second version is now available and this includes many refinements. Going forward, a lot of software will make use the new .NET Framework version, so it will gradually become a standard part of all users Microsoft installations. You can download this from the Microsoft site and it can be updated as and when necessary using the normal windows update service. If you regularly use the Microsoft windows update service, you may in fact already have this. You can tell by pressing Start, open the Control Panel and then open Add or Remove Programs, scroll down the list and look for the presence of an item called "Microsoft .NET Framework 2". If this is not present, you can get it from the Microsoft site, plus any available language and service packs. More information on this is given on the download page including the required links. The .NET Framework 2 is to become the standard platform under which many new programs will be developed. So if you do not currently have it, you will need it sooner or later. I could well be one of the first developers to release an application that uses the new version. If you use Windows 95 or do not want to install the .NET Framework then maybe BLScanPlus "Classic" is a better option for you. |
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| Is it all fully
documented? |
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| Yes, I have updated
the website. The Pro version looks totally different to the previous version (now renamed as the "Classic" version), but existing users will soon recognize all the familiar functions and options. See the screenshots. Every GUI item has a tooltip, just hover the cursor over the controls/boxes for a description of its purpose. |
* All utilities are now bundled into BLScanPlus * |
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| Is the installation
process the same? |
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| Yes
(although you will need to install the Microsoft .NET Framework 2 as
already discussed above). If you were using the "2 Beta" version you
will need to uninstall it before installing the final version. Installation of BLScanPlus Pro is all done for you by an auto-installer, which creates the product and program folders, creates the desktop shortcut and also generates an Un-Installer. If Un-Installing, the Un-Installer will delete the entire program but will not delete the Program folder if non-program related files/folders remain in it (such as the BLScanBackup folder). |
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| Can I install the Classic and the Pro version concurrently? | ||||||||||||||
| Yes. The installation of Classic and Pro assume different installation folders, so you can download and run either, but do not run both at the same time! | ||||||||||||||
| Is BLScanPlus Pro free? | ||||||||||||||
| Important! This product is 'not for profit', no charge is made for current/future versions of this software. Users are however invited to contribute something towards the development and support of this software/site, which is funded out of my own pocket and from very kind donations from users. So if you think I have done a good job and the software helps you, then please put $10 in the honesty box. |
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| What feedback do you get? | ||||||||||||||
| I
get a lot of very kind comments from users, which makes it all feel
worthwhile and is a great help in keeping me motivated. I cannot put
names to comments but here are some testimonials
for the Classic version. The Pro version is brand new so no users
responses to report yet. |
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| What about the Classic version? | ||||||||||||||
| The Classic version (the previous version) will still be available, for information on this, go to the ClassicZone | ||||||||||||||
| Ok, how do I download it? | ||||||||||||||
| Go
to the download page for instructions,
install
it and work through the tutorial. |
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