David Geer Talks Tech
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Block bad Web-juju with a hosts file Courtesy of http://www.GeerCom.com.
Geer Communications - your on time technology writer!
Welcome!
The top hits from the above linked Google search for hosts file offer explanations of what a hosts file is, as well as hosts files you can download and use.
What is a hosts file? The short, less technical version is that it tells your browser where to go when looking for a certain link. The usefulness today is in having long lists of sites that can be annoying, potentially harmful or even malicious not load in your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) at all.
These pre-configured hosts files list numerous advertising and Spyware sites and block them. If you get a good hosts file built up (by adding sites from different hosts files into one) you'll stop seeing advertising just about anywhere you go on the Web.
This can help you surf safer and faster by keeping your computer from being infected with all these bugs and by having less material to load to bring up a site. The downside is that some Spyware is attached to things you may want to see and won't be able to once you start using such a file. You may also miss ads you would rather have seen.
Let's start with a simple, effective hosts file that you can download and place in the appropriate folder. This file is located at
MVPS.org and is hosts.zip.
Surfing here will start the download process. Confirm that you want to download the file if you see a Window asking you to. Know where you are saving it so you can find it later.
This is a compressed file so you will need a program like WinZip to open it.
You can also view the file in a text format at
Hosts file in text.
Then you can save it by going to File, Save Page As and saving it as a text file. Remember where you saved it.
You will need to cut and paste the newly decompressed or created hosts.txt file into the right folder for your Windows operating system (XP, 2000, ME or 98). The correct path to the right folder is given for each OS at
"Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File".
Once you have copied or cut the file, open My Computer, then your C drive and then each folder named in the appropriate path for your system until you have opened the last named folder in the path.
Now, right click inside the folder and left click on Paste. If you are asked if you want to replace the current file, click Yes. Close the folder or folders and you're done. If you don't like the results, just remove the file.
Best,
David Geer - your on time technology writer!
Geer Communications
Geer Communications - your on time technology writer!
Welcome!
The top hits from the above linked Google search for hosts file offer explanations of what a hosts file is, as well as hosts files you can download and use.
What is a hosts file? The short, less technical version is that it tells your browser where to go when looking for a certain link. The usefulness today is in having long lists of sites that can be annoying, potentially harmful or even malicious not load in your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) at all.
These pre-configured hosts files list numerous advertising and Spyware sites and block them. If you get a good hosts file built up (by adding sites from different hosts files into one) you'll stop seeing advertising just about anywhere you go on the Web.
This can help you surf safer and faster by keeping your computer from being infected with all these bugs and by having less material to load to bring up a site. The downside is that some Spyware is attached to things you may want to see and won't be able to once you start using such a file. You may also miss ads you would rather have seen.
Let's start with a simple, effective hosts file that you can download and place in the appropriate folder. This file is located at
MVPS.org and is hosts.zip.
Surfing here will start the download process. Confirm that you want to download the file if you see a Window asking you to. Know where you are saving it so you can find it later.
This is a compressed file so you will need a program like WinZip to open it.
You can also view the file in a text format at
Hosts file in text.
Then you can save it by going to File, Save Page As and saving it as a text file. Remember where you saved it.
You will need to cut and paste the newly decompressed or created hosts.txt file into the right folder for your Windows operating system (XP, 2000, ME or 98). The correct path to the right folder is given for each OS at
"Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File".
Once you have copied or cut the file, open My Computer, then your C drive and then each folder named in the appropriate path for your system until you have opened the last named folder in the path.
Now, right click inside the folder and left click on Paste. If you are asked if you want to replace the current file, click Yes. Close the folder or folders and you're done. If you don't like the results, just remove the file.
Best,
David Geer - your on time technology writer!
Geer Communications
