Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

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aajax
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Joined: August 5th, 2008, 11:48 am

Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by aajax »

For quite a while now I'd concluded that the adaptive filtering feature used to automatically transfer junk messages to the Junk folder simply was NOT effective. However, I recently setup a new email account for my wife and found that it worked quite well. Note: both the new account and my old one that isn't working are served by the same provider using an IMAP server.

This raises the question, "why does one work but NOT the other?". As best I can tell the account setup is the same for both accounts. It does occur to me that the one I've been using for close to 2 decades has experienced a lot of different things over that time period. I do have Thunderbird installed on multiple computers and have been in the habit of migrating the working profile from one computer to another when initially installing on a new system.

Is there a straightforward way to trouble shoot and possibly resolve such a problem?
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DanRaisch
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Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by DanRaisch »

You could try tweaking the Junk Mail Controls or even resetting the file "training.dat" to begin the training of the Junk Mail Controls from scratch to eliminate any corruption in that file. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Junk_Mail_Controls
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tanstaafl
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Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by tanstaafl »

The Bayes Junk Tool used to let you edit the training.dat file to get rid of low quality training data that would reduce the effectiveness. The original web site is gone. I found https://github.com/losgehts/BayesJunkEditor which says "Bayes Junk Editor is a little tool to show and edit the data of the junk filter of the email client Mozilla Thunderbird". It looks like somebody ported the tool, made some minor enhancements and then abandoned the project 5 years ago.

I suggest you backup your training.dat file and then try editing it. I used the original version (maybe 15 years ago) on a training.dat file that had gotten fairly large and it made a big difference.
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Grumpus
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Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by Grumpus »

Under Settings for your account - Junk Settings -There should be a check box next to Trust junk mail headers send by: and a drop down menu of 5 options.
You might try one of the others :-k
Doesn't matter what you say, it's wrong for a toaster to walk around the house and talk to you
aajax
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Joined: August 5th, 2008, 11:48 am

Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by aajax »

I opted to try the "Reset Training Data" selection in Preferences>Privacy&Security>Junk. This seems to be having a desirable effect. Since I do run Thunderbird (TB) on multiple computers it is NOT obvious how one might go about coordinating such changes across different instances of TB. Is it possible that copying the new training.dat file to other instances of TB would be helpful?
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tanstaafl
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Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by tanstaafl »

Yes. Copying the file will probably work fine since I suspect pressing the reset training data button just deleted the contents of the file.
aajax
Posts: 119
Joined: August 5th, 2008, 11:48 am

Re: Problem with adaptive filtering of junk

Post by aajax »

Because it actually deleted the file I was inclined to think that is all there was to it. Thanks for offering a more expert opinion. I'll give it a try.
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