Windows XP Tips 4 - How To Block Any Website Without Buying Any Special Software
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There's plenty of reasons to block websites ranging from malware sites to parents wanting to keep their kids out of websites that they don't approve of or businesses who want to limit employee use of their network to work related stuff only.
There's also people who don't want advertising banners & popups to slow their web browser down and the privacy issues where you don't feel you need to be tracked all over the web because of third party cookies being set.
To meet this need there's a lot of companies selling a lot of (usually expensive) software to do the job. The thing is, there really isn't any need to buy software at all. All that's needed is to spend a little time editing *one* text file and you can block any website.
To do this, open up "My Computer" and browse to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc
Then look for and open the file named HOSTS in notepad.
In that file you'll see a line that looks like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost
Right below this line you can add more lines to block whatever sites you want. For example if you wanted to block "nastymalwaresite.com" you just create another line with that domain name. The resulting HOSTS file would then look like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 nastymalwaresite.com
Once you've added whatever sites you want blocked, save the file and those sites will no longer be accessible.
Obviously, it can take a LONG time to find and list all of the potential nasty sites this way. Fortunately there's a site that offers a HOSTS file that you can download and use to replace the one you already have. Check out Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File for more information. The HOSTS file that they provide blocks literally thousands of sites (and a LOT of ad servers!!!). Just take some time to read the site before using the file.
Also, if after installing it, a site that you use suddenly stops working, all you need to do is open up the hosts file and look for lines in it blocking that site's domain and either remove them or (preferred) put a # at the beginning of that line to turn it into a comment.
Technorati Tags: block advertising, hijacker, hit counter, pop-up blocker, block malware sites, spyware, toolbars, hosts, block cookies, block websites
Just copy this code and paste it on your site where you want the link to appear:
That’s an interesting thought. I wonder if it’s enough as parental control tool, since x-rated and other unwanted sites keep popping up every day,
I’ll certainly look into it.
.-= Luc J´s last blog ..Cool Your Lap Without Draining Your Laptop’s Battery =-.
I think it’s part of a solution just like having a good anti virus is part of a solution. It’s enough to block a lot of known sites but it’s not going to stop somebody that’s determined to get around it. To do that you’d have to block all proxies and there’s just no way to identify them all since many of them come and go frequently.
Hey might this is seriously helpful and it works…blocking a proxy also a great solution but for manual or home users basically it a good solution..
Wow, so it’s that easy huh? I’ll try it out with my computer. That way my brothers will stop looking for nasty photos using my laptop. :D