Junk email, or spam, is an ever-worsening problem. Indeed, to the regular emailer it may seem like barely an hour passes without another batch of unwanted messages turning up in their inbox. SpamStopUp is the latest in a long line of software applications that attempt to eliminate the spam jam.

Our first impressions of SpamStopUp suggest that "attempt" is the operative word here. Within an hour of installation the program had managed to prevent precisely zero out of nearly 20 junk emails from reaching our Outlook inbox. A whole working day later and our inbox had become infested by a further 50 unwanted messages, with SpamStopUp's interceptions holding steady at a big fat nothing. Not a good start.

So what's the problem here? Well, SpamStopUp's apparent ineffectiveness isn't helped by the program's lack of clarity. While there are dozens of spam-fighting options available under the Methods tab, for most of them the software offers little or nothing by way of explanation. Wondering whether to place a tick in the 'Filter out mail sent by SOCKS 4/5 server' box? Don't expect SpamStopUp's help files to provide the answer.

This would not have been a grave concern if the program was successful from the off at identifying and erasing spam but it wasn't. With lots of effort and no small amount of trial and error, we did eventually manage to get the program functioning in a reasonably effective manner. However, we're still not entirely sure how we did it and that, by itself, should be sufficient to ward you off trying this inept product.

Contact: Neutron-IT 0870 3403313
www.spamstopup.com