Setting up a Hosts File

Bubba,

Thanks.
Approx. three+ inches down the scroll at Bleeping. they refer to,

NOTE;
'Disable DNS client in your services control panel under Admin. tools'

Would you have any ideas if that same move is possible on a 98Se and if so where I might find the above mentioned ?

Regards.

 

OK Bubba
I'll check tomorrow. its now 3.00am in here
Thanks

 

Disabling that service is only required with 2000\XP....and will not be found in Win9X. The only drawback with a Hosts file and Win9X is it will not work with a proxy such as AOL or a work proxy.

 

Find the Hosts.txt file using Windows Explorer for example....and delete\remove the .txt extension.

 

Thanks Blackspear, this should be a stickly. I am going to be setting up my hosts file real soon once I decide where I want to get it from, right now it is between Bluetack, MVPS and HP, it seems that MVPS has the smallest one file size wise, but like you said quality not quanity...

 

Hi
Using XP but I dont have options 6 and 7 in BS first image. therefore I cant see the extensions. is it ok if I use (HOSTS.) (hosts followed by dot)this way it works with -notepad renaming- and its icon changed to default
Thanks

 

Can you please provide a screenshot of what you are seeing.

Cheers

 

cant see any option! is it possible for guests and how

 

Ahh, no, guest users can't attach images.

Cheers

 

Hi BS
Really I don't have options 6 and 7. don't know why. (its XP PRO-SP2 Finnish)
anyway I've used a small renaming prog. HOSTS now is working (seeing it in action. means:blocking some ads on some sites)
Thanks

 

I've not seen that in XP Pro before, very unusual. Good to see you have it working...

Cheers

 

@ Blackspear- I forgot to thank you for re-energizing me concerning the value of HOSTS. So... THANKS!!!

BACKGROUND- I read *somewhere* that the name of the hosts file should be HOSTS -- all in caps, & no extension.

QUESTION- Is it all right if the name of the file is hosts -- lower case & no extension? I mean, doesn't Windows read file names without regard to case?

shaloha....... bellgamin

 

Yep....and definetly has to have no extension....HOSTS, Hosts, hosts, hostS....etc

 

My pleasure.

I read that as well, can’t get my hands on it at the moment.

Cheers

 

Thanks Bubba, I read about Capital Letters here:

However, the article it links to was updated 3 May 2005, and now makes no mention of Capital Letters.

I also read about it here, and again there is no backup link to support their comment regarding capitals. This site also mentions the same article and goes into a little more detail, in that he quotes Mike Burgess responding to an email querying this very subject: he warned that testing he and others did has found that the HOSTS file may still function in lower case, but there were several cases where it either became corrupted or failed to function properly.

I don't have your technical background Bubba nor years of in the field experience, and I greatly value your input in this matter.

Cheers

 

Hello and thank you all

Has IE-SPYAD
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/resource.htm
same purpose/effect as HOSTS file.
Thanks

 

It's sort of the same, in that it places websites into IE's restricted zone.

Cheers

 

Very much appreciated
You are great! Blackspear

 

My pleasure.

Nope, I have much to learn. I just know a little, and with what I learn if I can make it simple, I can then teach others how to do the same. I like taking the mystery out of things

Cheers

 

Okay, so what addresses the problem of incorrect hosts file entries? Just using one source (like BlueTack) - and un-installing the previous one before relying on the new one?

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=78747

Whatever your choice of "hosts" file, if it contains incorrect entries that are removed the next time it gets updated - and you're using a program like Hostess to "merge" hosts files - you're still going to have the incorrect entry in there, because Hostess only checks for - and removes - duplicates when merging a new new hosts file to an existing one. Pete

 

@Spy1, Yes a Hosts Manager that compares the existing file to a new one would be nice, I am yet to find such an application.

If anyone knows of one, please let me know.

Cheers

 

Have you tried file compare (fc) from a command prompt?

However, If the files are drastically dissimilar, it might not be easy to analyze the resulting comparison.

-rich

 

HostMan 2 Beta does that fairly effieciently I suppose... use the merge feature to import any new entries... I use 12 hosts files merged together... 66003 entres

 

I recently had Hoster looking for dupes and it did fine, as long as the guys with 2 meg hosts files had something else to do while it was working. Like wash a car, or build a house. The efficient way to do the search is to sort the entries by alphanumeric - but that is no good since all your #rem lines will end up on the top
You might be suprised at how lonnnnnnnnnnnng an effective merge takes that looks for dupes but does not disrturb the order.

Similarly, i have a version that selects for deletion - invalid addresses based on whether or not there is a ping reply. So leave it at 1000 ms for a timeout - one second per host - mutiplied by "giagantic hosts file" and you have to shave before shes done.

 

Hi,

Clear, simple and nice topic.

I have Spyblocker which is an "install it and forgot it".

Then i don't really manage my Host File.

But here's 2 links which could be interesting:

*http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt

*I've discovered recently HostMan which is a freeware intented to manage Host file: http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0413933601/hostsman.html

But i've not tried it, then perhaps Blackspear or an other member could give us his opinion about it.

Regards