Problem 1: I am getting way, way too much spam. Should I start sending spam e-mail headers to my ISP abuse center or is that a waste of time? I use MS Outlook Express, are there any real good tools available that will axe spam before I ever get it? I saw one called IHateSpam that looks promising and it works inside MS Outlook.

Problem 2: This one may or may not be related to item one, but I'm having more and more instances where my e-mails to others don't ever seem to get there. Sometimes I get a refusal/return notice but often I do not. I assume some ISPs have identified my ISP as a source of spam and have thus cut off all traffic from my ISP. What can I do about this? I've sent samples to my ISP but I've yet to get much help.

Outlook Express (OE) and Outlook are two different programs. Both of them have filters or rules you can create to help control your email. I think OE has better filters. From the toolbar menu You can use "message/create rule from message" to add a filter. What I do is create a rule that deletes a message from the sender. Then I edit the sender name in the rule (I remove everything in front of the @symbol). This will effectively delete everything sent from the entire spammer's domain and it zaps ALL their fake sender names. Set the rule to run the rule as soon as the message arrives. It will send all their crap straight to your deleted messages folder, you'll never see it. You will need to do some work to clear out the spammer's domains but it's worth it in the long run.

i would run spybot and a good updated virus detector.

Your isp should be able to filter it on their end based on the level of protection you want. Look at my post above or below on "porn filters". We have had it in place for a couple of weeks and it has cut down on most of the spam in the office, even the random letter/number files. For a while you need to monitor and let through addresses you want to see. It has made my admins life much easier. We do the same at home through cableone and my wife is also a happy camper because she does not have to look at comparative graphics if you know what I mean. Sending the addresses to you ISP is basically a waste of time since the spammers change them on a regular basis.