Changing my email address.

[Segilla]

Bombarded daily by ca. 20 spam mails every day, I'm thinking of changing my address. Apart from the bother of notifying friends and risk of losing contacts and so on, is this an easy change to make - presumably via my server, virgin.net?

[Postdog]

Dunno about virgin, but my server allows for additional addresses. My server (BT) also has a built in spam filter, but telling you that is like rubbing it in I know.

Anyway, assuming you can have additional addresses, you can change gradually, advising friends etc that the new one will be the one to use, whilst at the same time keeping the old.

As a tip, to reduce spam a bit, don't put a name in the address. Most, if not all, are computer generated anyway, but names are a top choice, so reduce the odds a little.

[Buenchico]

If you're determined to use Virgin for your new email address, read 'Creating additional email addresses', here:
http://www.virginmedia.com/help/email/get-star ted/about.php

However the usual advice given here is to use an email service which is independent of your ISP. (You can then change ISPs without having to change your email address). While there are hundreds of free email services which can only be accessed via the web, there are only a few which allow you to use either web-based access or an email client (such as Outlook Express or Windows Mail). The most popular of these is GMail:
http://tinyurl.com/dhlbux
However my own preference is to use Gawab. Instructions for creating a free (and advertisement free) Gawab account can be found in paragraph 3, et seq, of my post here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Inte rnet/Question407429.html

As Postdog suggests, avoiding using simple combinations of forenames and surnames in email addresses. (e.g. [email protected] can easily be 'guessed' by a spammer). Use names like [email protected] or something that doesn't involve a name at all.

Additionally, ensure that you've got several email accounts. (I've had over 100 but I'm only currently using 6). Keep your 'main' address secret from everyone except family members and your best friends. Use a different address to register on sites like this one, or for internet purchases. (If one of these 'spare' addresses starts getting spammed you can simply abandon it, without having to change your 'main' address).

Chris

[Segilla]

Many thanks, both, for your advice. One final question: I have a free version of Mailwasher installed. Do you think it will pick up incoming mesages to inspect, regardless of which server happens to be turned on at the time?

[jno]

I get anything up to 50 spam mails a day via gmail - it quarantines them and I can delete them with one click, but it's still a nuisance. But another gmail account gets very few. On hotmail, I get almost none. On Outlook Express, via Virgin, I don't think I've ever had one. So there's just no telling.