Negatives of Host File?

[Someone]

What are the negatives of using something like the MVPS hostfile (http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm)?

Thanks

[Page42]

You will find some opinions in this recent poll thread, Do you use HOSTS file? (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=228457), wherein the majority of respondents say they don't use hosts files. :)

[jmonge]

for me when i use it it slow my browser litle bit plus it blocks some legit websites too:) so i stoped using any host file again

[HAN]

IMO, when used with a good HOSTS file manager (like HostsXpert), there are none. If anything is blocked, and it's safe, I whitelist it. From then on, I can reapply my whitelist to an future HOSTS file changes/updates.

[Someone]

-{ Quote: "You will find some opinions in this recent poll thread, Do you use HOSTS file? (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=228457), wherein the majority of respondents say they don't use hosts files. :)" }-
Thanks for the link. But most of the reasons seem to be related to the fact that most people at Wilders are fairly advanced users.

So there's nothing wrong with recommending MVPS host file for average users?

[arran]

I stopped using MVPS hostfile long time ago.

Because I like to have 100 percent of the internet available and surf any where and not be restricted by some Host File Black List.

A lot of us here in these forums now have good enough security to prevent Malware Infection.

[noone_particular]

-{ Quote: "What are the negatives of using something like the MVPS hostfile (http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm)? " }-
Large hosts files can slow down DNS resolution when the DNS client service is running. If that service is disabled, large hosts files are not a problem.
The more typical user who isn't familiar with how a hosts file works or why sites get added to a hosts file might not understand why they can't access certain sites.

IMO, the worst problem I see would be the user getting a false sense of security. Hosts files are not effective protection against malicious code, but a page title like
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
could mislead the average user into thinking that they are effective.

While hosts files aren't effective against malicious sites, they do work well when used as "junk blocker", with "junk" being the common and/or more annoying ad servers, google-analytics, google-ads, etc. Their ad blocking is not as effective as the AdBlock extension for FireFox, but content blocked by a hosts file is blocked for all web software. A hosts file can function as a parental control tool to a limited degree by preventing access to specific sites. Hosts files are good for storing/resolving the IPs of important sites without using a DNS server, which is what they were originally intended to do.