Use Windows XP Service Pack 2 to stop spam email.

Posted September 20, 2004

Service Pack 2. I am sure most of my readers won’t know what this is, but it has had it’s share of media coverage online and off. Service Pack 2 is the Windows Update release that came out late last month that is a serious security overhaul of Microsoft’s Windows XP.

I was reading an article on the update and found out something I did not know. Microsoft Outlook will block pictures from your email unless you expressly permit them. This helps prevent any of that unwanted crap show up on your screen, but it also keeps your email from being validated. So, all you have to do is look at the email, and by you accessing the absolute links to the images in the email, the sender knows the address works and continues to send you junk.

Either way, a nice little preventative measure.