Spambog.com for Windows

If you're leery of disclosing your e-mail address when registering at a Web site, this free toolbar that generates fake e-mail addresses may just be the answer. But unless you're fluent in German, you won't get much help from the publisher's Web site.

Spambog.com places a plain, yet functional, toolbar on your browser window. You can access the publisher's Web site through a shortcut button on the toolbar, but most of the Web site is in German, including the FAQ page. Using Spambog.com as the domain, clicking a button on the toolbar creates a new e-mail address that you can use whenever you don't want to use your own e-mail address to register at a Web site. Another shortcut button on the toolbar takes you directly to the publisher's Web site so that you can retrieve any messages sent to your e-mail alias. Luckily, that part of the Web site isn't in German. The program checks e-mail messages for the last address you created, so you'll need to make note of prior e-mail aliases if you want to keep track of messages.

While the lack of a readable help guide certainly didn't score extra points with us, this tool worked well overall and it's simple enough for any level user. This is an effective, free tool for keeping your private e-mail in-box free of spam.