spartacusfilter.

What is a profile?

A profile is just a Spartacus Filter database file. By providing a profile the Filter starts 'in a smarter way'. This results in a better detection rate from scratch.

There was an error during installation. What can I do?

Copy the installation file (msi) to a folder without blanks and try again.

Why is Spartacus Filter installation in comparison with other solutions so small (approx. 500kB - 1Mb)?

Spartacus Filter is a light-weight component developed in C++ and ATL.

What is a Whitelist?

All mail addresses in your Whitelist (Address book) are not considered to be spam.

How is Spartacus working?

Spartacus is reading your mail header and body and counts the probability to be Spam. The mail sender's address is compared with the Address book (Whitelist-checking).

I want to delete Spam mails having been collected by Spartacus?

You can delete your Spam mails without any concern. Spartacus-Filter keeps data of spam mail content in a statistic way outside of Outlook. To keep and archive Spam mails see FAQ for Microsoft Outlook

I want to move / migrate my trained Spartacus Statistics to a new or another installation. Where is it located?

1. Just go to the Spam Filter Options and view the Spartacus log file. The log file will be displayed within Notepad.
2. Go to File->Save As... and change the file type "Save as type:" to "All Files".
3. Choose spartacus.dat as your Spartacus statistic database file and select its "Properties" by clicking the right mouse button.
4. Find the complete path in "Location:". Additionally from here you can move spartacus.dat to another location of your choice by selecting either a new location or using mouse drag and drop functionality. Be sure your mail client has been closed first.

I cannot find the Delete Spam button? After installation Spartacus Filter Plugin is not loading automatically when starting Outlook Express?

Outlook Express is only able to start the plugin automatically by using one of the following shortcuts belonging to the operating system:

• Start->Programs->Outlook Express with Spartacus-Filter
• Start->Programs->Outlook Express
• Quick Launch Bar
• Desktop
• Internet Explorer - Toolbar

User-defined shortcuts do not work by default. Please copy and use the properties of one of the shortcuts above.

I recently updated (or installed Service Pack for) Internet Explorer with Outlook Express. Now Spartacus-Filter is not working any more?

• Start the latest installation of Spartacus-Filter again - choose 'Repair' if you are being asked for - to fix the Outlook Express shortcuts or
• Start Spartacus Filter using 'Start->Programs->Outlook Express with Spartacus-Filter'

I'm using in addition to Spartacus also Hotbar. Is there any incompatibility?

Generally we do not recommend to use Hotbar! Users reported Spartacus is not working properly when using Hotbar concurrently.

I want to purge automatically my Spambox folder?

Use the auto archive functionality as following:

1. Select 'Spambox' and use the right mouse click
2. Select 'Properties'
3. Select 'AutoArchive'
4. Select 'Clean out items older than...'
5. Optionally select 'Permanently delete old items'

Suddenly Spartacus Filter does not start any more during startup of Outlook. Reinstallation of Spartacus did not help as well.

Probably Outlook disabled Spartacus Filter plugin. In order to reenable it just call the Outlook menu Help->About Microsoft Outlook->Disabled Items... and enable Spartacus Filter again.

We have installed Spartacus Filter for Exchange Server. Do I need Spartacus Filter for Outlook as well?

It is not required to install Spartacus Filter for Outlook additionally. Both products work independently. We do not recommend to use both concurrently because it does not make any sense but they can coexist without any concern.

I'm using Outlook with an IMAP Server. When Spartacus Filter deletes a spam message manually or automatically, a line may appear through the message, but the message may remain in the inbox, even if you quit and restart Outlook.

To remove deleted messages from an Outlook IMAP folder, follow these steps:

1. Click the inbox folder.
2. On the Edit menu, click "Purge Deleted Messages."

This behaviour is by design due to the two-phase deletion model of IMAP.

Spartacus Filter does not seem to have been started?

Probably your location of the NOTES.INI file during the installation has been wrong. Please note that your NOTES.INI might be located on a network share (HOMEDRIVE) or anywhere else outside of the default Lotus Notes installation path "Program Files\Lotus\Notes"! Please locate your correct NOTES.INI file Lotus Notes is starting from and be sure it contains the following entries:

1. 'ExtMgr_AddIns=spartacus' or 'ExtMgr_AddIns=[AnyOtherAddIn],spartacus'
2. 'AddInMenus=spartacusui' or 'AddInMenus=[AnyOtherAddIn],spartacusui'

The location containing NOTES.INI must also contain the following files being needed by Spartacus Filter:

1. spartacus.dll
2. spartacusui.dll

The filter does not seem to work properly? I cannot see neither any SpamBox nor any user statistic database?

The SpamBox and the corresponding statistic database is created initially for each user when the first users mail action (new mail, move mail, etc.) happens after installation.

I'm using Exchange Server 2003 with SP1 installed. After rebooting the Exchange Server or restarting the Exchange Store Spartacus is not working anymore?

The problem is caused by a bug in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP1. Please contact Spartacus support to get the original Microsoft Hotfix.

Where can I find any information / error message?

Spartacus provides information about status / errors within the Windows Event Log. Please use Administrative Tools->Event Viewer to get the information. It also writes additional information to 'spartacus.log' located in your Spartacus database directory (usually located in "C:\SpartacusDB\YOURDOMAINNAME\").

How can I speed up the learning process / how do I provide a customized profile?

Spartacus Filter can use a predefined spam profile to shorten the user initiated phase. This enables Spartacus to detect spam mails instantly without learning. Please note that the provided spam profile represents a cross section that does not take each individual user's context into account. That's why we recommend to train the filter rather than using the spam profile or to create a customized spam profile by yourself. To create it, follow up the next steps:

1. For creation of a custom spam profile simply use our client software SpartacusFilter for MS Outlook.
2. Collect an equal number (approximately 500..1000) of representative SPAM and HAM mails.
3. Look up for the Spartacus Database file spartacus.dat (usually located in the "\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Spartacus\"), rename it to profile.def and copy it to the SpartacusFilter Database Path (by default C:\SpartacusDB\). Set the registry key "HKLM\Software\Spartacus\ProfileIgnore" to the number of collected HAMs/SPAMs (e.g. if you collect 1000 SPAMs AND 1000 HAMs set the value "IgnoreProfile" to "1000").

Please Note: Even if you don't provide a profile you will also get best results just by training. So each user can decide to enable the filter by either moving SPAM into the Spambox or ignoring them. To disable the profile functionality set the registry key "HKLM\Software\Spartacus\ProfileIgnore" to "0".

Large prebuild statistic profiles (including 1000, 2000 or 5000 spam mails) are available on request.

Can I direct each user to the same single Spartacus statistic database?

We recommend to have statistic data for each user separately but you can configure Spartacus to use a single statistic database for all users.

The filter does not seem to work properly? I cannot see neither any SpamBox nor any user statistic database?

The SpamBox and the its corresponding statistic database is created initially for each user when the first users mail action (new mail, move mail, etc.) happens after installation.

Where can I find any information / error message?

Spartacus provides information about status / errors within the Domino log.

How can I speed up the learning process / how do I provide a customized profile?

Spartacus Filter can use a predefined spam profile to shorten the user initiated phase. This enables Spartacus to detect spam mails instantly without learning. Please note that the provided spam profile represents a cross section that does not take each individual user's context into account. That's why we recommend to train the filter rather than using the spam profile or to create a customized spam profile by yourself. To create it, follow up the next steps:

1. For creation of a custom spam profile simply use our client software SpartacusFilter for Lotus Notes. Collect an equal number (approximately 500..1000) of representative SPAM and HAM mails.
2. Look up for the Spartacus Database file spartacus.dat (usually located in the "\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\SpartacusLN\"), rename it to profile.def and copy it to the SpartacusFilter Installation Path (by default C:\Program Files\Spartacus\). Set the registry key "HKLM\Software\Spartacus\ProfileIgnore" to the number of collected HAMs/SPAMs (e.g. if you collect 1000 SPAMs AND 1000 HAMs set the value "IgnoreProfile" to "1000").

Please Note: Even if you don't provide a profile you will also get best results just by training. So each user can decide to enable the filter by either moving SPAM into the Spambox or ignoring them. To disable the profile functionality set the registry key "HKLM\Software\Spartacus\ProfileIgnore" to "0".

Large prebuild statistic profiles (including 1000, 2000 or 5000 spam mails) are available on request.

Can I direct each user to the same single Spartacus statistic database?

We recommend to have statistic data for each user separately but you can configure Spartacus to use a single statistic database for all users.