Struggling With MailWasher

[Filtrit]

Needing to bring in some control of spam, I have downloaded the free version of MW and I'm trying it out before considering a purchase. I've had some success in that it has been effective in eliminating some spam. However, a few issues have arisen.

I use the IMAP protocol from my ISP, which I prefer over POP3 and I have used it for many years. Using MW, I have learnt that there is no way to turn off automatic checking within my email client (MS Classic Outlook) which means that one of the MW advantages "get rid of spam before it gets to your computer" can't always be realized. The workarounds of using my email client offline or keeping it closed aren't really practical on a day to day basis.

My compromise has been to open MW first thing, before opening my email client, and have it download from my web mail account first, then use the tools and then wash before opening my email client. This works to an extent but is not ideal. I understand that a new version of MW is in preparation that will overcome the IMAP automatic checking issue, which is good news. This is issue number 1.

The second issue is that MW can take a long time to contact and collect email from my web mail. This morning it was still trying to execute this process after 40 minutes, so I gave up! My PC (running on Windows 10 Home 64 bit) is no greyhound but it copes OK with most things in the fullness of time. I will be one of the many buying new hardware that is compatible with Windows 11 as support foe Windows 10 disappears. It's worth noting that my ISP's offer of web mail is like something from the last century. It is very clunky and is only usable through an email client but I have been with them for a long time and don't have plans to move.

Any thoughts, ideas or experience on these issues would be gratefully received.

[gingbat]

Yes, issue No 1 will be resolved with MWPro 8.1, however No 2 is annoying for sure....

Possibly the lookups to the spamhaus.org and spamcop.net spam databases (from external sources) are taking a long time (IF enabled) and are delaying the classification process...... ?

It may be worth disabling both of those first under Settings>>Spam Tools>>Origin of Spam.

Also, you could disable Firstalert under Settings>>Spam Tools>>Firstalert, save changes and restart MWpro (for the same reason)

If no better, set MW to download less of each email and see if that helps?

In MWPro click, Settings>>General>>Checking mail, drag the "Check Throttle" slider to decrease how many lines it downloads, try 100 lines for a starter....

(Note however just FYI, that the less of each email you download, the more reduced MW's spam recognition will be....)

[Filtrit]

Thanks for your reply gingbat. Unchecking the lookups did reduce the checking time. I didn't need to reduce the amount downloaded.

[Filtrit]

Still struggling. After a successful download, MW has reverted to not downloading from my web mail. I have unchecked the lookups and reduced the amount downloaded using the slider but to no avail. MW does not work for me, unfortunately. The event log shows several "unknown errors".

[gingbat]

OK, in that case, can I please have some logs as per below directions:

- Use MWPro till you get the error
- Click Help>>Send Support Logs.
- Write a note referring to this post (copy/paste the link from the address bar in your web browser)
- Click "Send Logs"

Then, reply to this to let me know the logs have been sent in case they do not arrive for any reason...

[Filtrit]

Just sent the logs, hopefully gingbat.

[gingbat]

Hi again, got some new logs from you, however I replied to the last lot about 3 days ago...?, will paste that reply below for you,...

Agent Jeremy replied 20/06/2025 via portal

Yes, same issues as before, did you try what I recommended last email? (ion bold below) as that shows the same issues as previously....


Agent Jeremy replied 15/06/2025 via portal


Hi XXXXXX,
Yes, it's odd as MW can log into the mail server, but then gets kicked off with this error:

06-14-2025 15:04:01.587 Error MWP_POP3::GetUIDs() SocketException - GetLine failed() failed with code 0: The operation completed successfully.

However.... I see you now use SSL and port 993 where as previously you were not, and that was working....?

Try going back to 'None' and port 143 under Settings>>Accounts, click the account>>Incoming tab>>Advanced, click where it currently reads SSL/TLS and change it to None, change the incoming port No to 143 and click Save.

If no better, usually socket errors mean that your firewall, antivirus programs email scanner or other security software has blocked MWPro from checking mail there? Please check the settings in there to ensure MW is allowed full internet access, and has no rules either blocking it, or incorrectly setup which could cause issues. If no, or no better, is there an Antivirus email scanner active on your PC there? (Within your antivirus or firewall software), maybe try disabling this and see if that helps?

(NOTE: the antivirus real time scanner will still scan any emails and attachments for viruses anyway, so you are quite safe)

Please let me know how you get on there....

[Filtrit]

Hi Jeremy,

I have all the settings that worked for me the first time which are unfortunately not resulting in a download now. The breakthrough last time was getting the username correct and using the correct password, which was for my personal mailbox. The port I amusing is 143.

The only anti-virus software that I use is Windows Defender. However, this will have been switched on when I was able do a successful download.

[gingbat]

Yes, tis pretty weird alight if it works fine one min, then not the next.... note that MW's settings cannot change by themself, so if you left all as is and it started failing it points to the mail server having temporary issues I'd say....?

If they report all OK their end, all else I can suggest is to run MW in safe mode on your PC and see if that works, as that'll rule out any program on your actual PC being the cause.....

[Filtrit]

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your message. I contacted my ISP today and was taken through some changes to the sorting settings in web mail. These changes have resolved the issues and MW is now responding. Hopefully, this will continue! If issues occur in the future, I will have the option to head towards my ISP's web mail as a possible source of errors.

[gingbat]

Excellent, good to hear they got it sorted, do you know what changes they made....?

[Filtrit]

Yes, my messages were not downloading into my web mail inbox. The change was made in the "sorting column" changing "sent date" to "none."

[gingbat]

Ahh yes, hard to display them when they're not there alright!

Good to know.... thanks!