You're wrong. MDL hosts file is updated everyday, unless there is a good reason not to update it (the author(s) are unable to update it at some point). B.I.S.S hosts file is updated two in two days, if I'm not mistaken. Camelon hosts is updated every week. hpHosts's main hosts file is updated monthly, while the partial hosts file is updated everyday. The ads and trackers hosts file is updated quite often. The last time I checked shortie's hosts file, it was outdaded for more than 8 months. I just rechecked and it seems it was updated in June. This one for sure not much a great maintainer. For sure reasons exist. Except for shortie's hosts file, MVPS is the one that's more outdated than any other.
Thanks for correcting my error. I think I'm out of mind. But are you sure about BISS hosts? Is it updated regularly?
Yes, it's updated regularly. I think it got updated today. I'm using some of their lists in PeerBlock, and when those lists are updated, that usually means the hosts file also was updated. I think the last update was 3 days ago. So, it will be updated 3 in 3 days, at least. -edit- I previously mentioned 2 in 2 days, but I mean't 3 in 3 days. Sorry.
I only use the hosts file to block ads (I've tried Adblock Plus for Google Chrome, but it uses way too much RAM for my taste. ), and I use MVPS (ads and trackers domains don't change that often, so in what concerns these MVPS is good), camelon hosts (I think the only purpose is to block ads and trackers. Not sure if anything has changed! ), PGL adservers and hpHOSTS ads & trackers hosts file. I use HostsMan to clean all the invalid entries and duplicates.
I use a hosts file, but for other purposes that ad blocking or malicous defense. I wish there were a native way in windows to use a net block. If ad domain owns 16 ip addresses in a net block, you could block the entire range and only need 1 entry. I used to use a plugin in Outpost that did this, and there were a few lists of net blocks you could download to make it easy. You can "psuedo" do the same thing with static routes in your machine, or on a router, but it is not an easy process and requires a reboot, or it used to anyway. Sul.
By the way, those interested in blocking malicious domains may also find a great source here -http://www.malwarepatrol.net/lists.shtml There are quite a few list formats, including HOSTS file.
I stopped using one back when I removed Spybot from my computers, but today I started using hosts file again, following m00nbl00d's lead and just blocking adservers. I may add malicious site blocking later.
Nothing is ever easy. One of the problems with the HOSTS file is that it simply stayed in the past. It didn't evolve to something else. Be it the HOSTS file or something different. Simply a different mechanism. IPs would be nice, but using wildcards would also be great. With one line you could block dozens of domains, if not more in some situations.
I have used HostsMan for many years, one of my favorite programs. I use MVPS host file because it doesn't have as many false positives as hpHosts and does an excellent job blocking malicious sites and ads that are commonly not blocked by browser extensions. Thanks.
By the way, something I recently learnt about Spybot - Search & Destroy. If you add two entries to Windows registry, you can force Spybot to map domains to 0.0.0.0 instead of 127.0.0.1. Code: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks] "HostsBlockIP"="0.0.0.0" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks\SpybotSD.exe] "HostsBlockIP"="0.0.0.0" Just copy that to Notepad and save it as *.reg. Then merge it with Windows registry. You'll need administrator privileges.
While researching for something else, I came across these hosts files from the same author. The website is in French. -http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm Translated version -http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=fr&ie=UTF8&langpair=fr|en&oe=UTF8&u=http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hosts.htm Direct links for ads, trackers and malicious domains hosts files. They're separate files. Trackers -http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/ht.7z Ads -http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hp.7z Malicious domains -http://rlwpx.free.fr/WPFF/hr.7z They seem to be very comprehensive. Ads & Trackers hosts files, anyway. Last updated on 2011-07-02. It seems to be maintained. Anyway, for those interested.
My experience with large hosts files is that they slowed down browsing noticeably. I used them a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Maybe faster machines have minimized this effect? I haven't used my hosts file for that purpose since. I switched to Proxomitron for many years to handle things, and used Outpost for many years which handled it as well in a few ways. Sul.
Someone did a test to see how long reading a host file takes with a P4 since the host file was loaded into RAM. It was on some other forum years ago with a P4 and it took a fraction of a millisecond though I can't recall the exact number.
Is the following criticism still valid with any large HOSTS file? At least with MVP HOSTS, that I tested a while ago, it was.
I just reinstituted a hosts file today, and have been in the process of merging several of them together. In doing so, and despite optimization, I began to sense things slowing down. I read that any hosts file over 135 kb tends to slow things down. I was at about 345 kb. Then I read about stopping the DNS Client service, which I did, with some caution, and I changed the startup type to Manual. That really seemed to speed things back up. Periodically I check in on the Services section to see if DNS Client restarted, which would tell me that it was indeed needed. It has not restarted, and my hosts file is now at 720 kb (after merging MVPS, hpHOSTS and Peter Lowe's ads and trackers). The jury is still out for me, on whether or not I plan to keep the hosts file. Right now, with HostsMan managing updates, it's doing okay.
I seem to recall the last time I earnestly used a large host file was when I had a brand new amd duron 700mhz, just a couple months before they broke 1ghz. It was most definately slower surfing back then with a large host file. Speeds are what, 10x as fast now, or more considering not only cpu speed but also hdd/ram/chipset? I haven't tried it to know. Sul.
10x faster would mean that if it took 3 seconds to open a directory or application, it would take .3 seconds. 10x faster would mean that if it took 10 seconds for a directory listing to be ready to "scroll", such as sys32, it would take only 1 second. Techincally 10x faster @ 700mhz would be 7000mhz. It will never be known most likely, but I think 10x as fast is quite the increase. 2x as fast isn't even achieved today from each new generation. The Core2Duo was "maybe" 2x as fast as prior processors. The 8800gtx was about 2x as fast as previous GPUs. I don't know, when I stop and think about something being 10x faster, that is a pretty large jump. It doesn't matter, but it is intersting to contemplate, just the same as how much 1,000,000,000 dollars really is, and how many "things" you would have to buy to actually spend that. In relations to the hosts file, has anyone noticed a slowdown with a large one? Even with 2x or 10x or 100x as fast machines? Sul.
Mine is running on a router, which is considerably slower than my modern PC. No noticeable slowdown. Here's a comparison of instructions per second: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_per_second edit or: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Transistor_Count_and_Moore's_Law_-_2011.svg just to note, not trying to argue
Use MVP but I added it's rule set to my untangle box and use a script to add them to the block list. This means I get the benefit of MVPhosts with out using Hosts files
I've seen some people mentioning that using only a file, such as MVPS with DNS Client enabled, caused no issues of whatsoever. Others may experience issues. I think such is specially true for Windows XP, due to how it handles the hosts file. Windows Vista introduced improvements, so I've read sometime ago. Another problem with some hosts file is the amount of comments they have! Insane! What for? MVPS has so many comments, including LOTS of IP netblocks... But, a large hosts file (whatever large may be) may cause issues on session logon and browsing (speed wise). Which is why some people disable DNS Client. As everything else, it's a matter of weighting the pros and cons of using a hosts file. There's also a problem with many hosts files. Some have a huge space between 127.0.0.1/0.0.0.0 and the domains. This increases the time to read the hosts file. There should only be 1 space between 127.0.0.1/0.0.0.0 and the domains. Nowadays, there's also no reason to provide the hosts files with 1 entry per line. The hosts file accepts 9 domains in each line. I'd personally choose AdBlock Plus to block ads, but it simply uses too much RAM. I'm not running a system on steroids. So, in my case using a hosts file and disable DNS Client outweights using an extension.
