Q:  What is MX Record test and why is not turned on by default?
A:  The MX Record test will use DNS (Domain Name Service) to look up the Mail Exchange (MX) record for the sender's e-mail server as reported in the From: or Reply To:. If one doesn't exist, then it would be impossible to reply to the message and that often indicates that it is spam.

It is not turned on by default because it takes time and your bandwidth to do the check.

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Q:  What is SMTP test and why is not turned on by default?
A:  The SMTP test is only available if you also turn on the MX Record test. The SMTP will check to make sure there is an SMTP server so that you could reply to the message.

It will initiate a short conversation with the SMTP server to determine whether it exists.

It is turned off by default because it takes some time and requires your bandwidth to make the check.

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Q:  Where does Spam Sleuth get the DNS entry in the Valid Sender Analyzer to look up the MX record for an e-mail server?
A:  Spam Sleuth must look up the Mail Exchange record (MX) for the domain. Since this isn't built-in, it must do this itself.

In order to look it up, it needs to know the DNS server.

Here is where it looks (in this order):
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\interface\NameServer

SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\interface\DhcpNameServer

For 95/98/ME it will look here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP\
NameServer=27.34.14.11

You can add one of these entries to the Registry with the REGEDIT program. If you want to use more than one DNS server, separate them with spaces or commas.

We have created a file which can be downloaded and launched to add two DNS entries to the registry on your computer.
http://www.bluesquirrel.com/download/addDNS.reg
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