[Windows] Why to make use of HOSTS file?

[jwoegerbauer]

A hosts file, named HOSTS (with no file extension), is a plain-text file used by Windows (as with all operating systems) to map hostnames to IP addresses. It comes with all versions of Windows OS, and it is located in folder \Windows\System32\Drivers\etc .
If you install Windows then the hosts file is effectively empty:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost


Important: The hosts file is preferential to DNS. Therefore if a host name is resolved by the hosts file, bypassing DNS, the request never leaves your computer.

Thus, having a smart hosts file goes a long way towards blocking ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, other irritants and even most hijackers. This occurs within milliseconds.

To bring this into your attention was the reason why I started this thread.

For example, to nullify requests to some doubleclick.net servers, means block all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing, you simply add lines as following to your hosts file. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? ... because in certain cases "Ad Servers" like Doubleclick (and many others) will try silently to open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing, record your movements then yes ... follow you to additional sites you may visit.

# block doubleClick's servers
127.0.0.1 ad.ae.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.ar.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.at.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.au.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.be.doubleclick.net
# etc...

Read more .

How To:

» A: Prepare Windows

Since Windows 7 (and Windows 2008 R2), while there are both IPv4 and IPv6 entries for "localhost", both are disabled by being commented out.

# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

IPv6 is Windows default.

If both "localhost" entries are disabled (commented out), localhost will resolve to the ::1 IPv6 address.
If both "localhost" entries are enabled (active), localhost will still resolve to the ::1 IPv6 address.
If you only enable the 127.0.0.1 entry for localhost, then you get the proper IPv4 resolution for a ping of localhost.
Therefore best of all is a belt and suspenders approach to make sure that localhost resolves to 127.0.0.1, while trying not to break other (or future) Windows features by ripping out IPv6. You set a 127.0.0.1 IPv4 address in the hosts file and you modify Windows's registry as

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\TCPIP6\Parameters]
"DisabledComponents"=hex:20

which tells Windows to prefer IPv4 over IPv6

» B: Download and install a hosts file

To start with I strongly recommend to use .

Important: Since Windows 8.1 the localhost resolves to 0.0.0.0. So replace in the hosts file you downloaded all occurrences of 127.0.0.1 with 0.0.0.0.
If you are running a pre 8.1 Windows, then you have to replace in the hosts file all occurrences of 0.0.0.0 with 127.0.0.1 of course.

[jwoegerbauer]

Google takes particular and exceptional interest in people with heretical views, as illustrated by the fact that people who post subversive material under their google accounts get special treatment, and special requests for identifying information.

I have reason to believe that Google has anomalously little information on me, possibly because of various fairly routine measures I have taken to limit information gathering on me. Perhaps their information collecting tactics are aimed at the low hanging fruit, the ninety nine percent, because gathering information on privacy oriented people is more trouble for less benefit, and likely to produce more bugs, misinformation, and faked identities, relative to the amount of data gathered. When people are so happy to give away their information, it is perhaps more trouble that it is worth to steal it.

===> Google analytics, however, steals it.

Most sites you go to link to Google analytics, so when you look at a web page on, say, naked nine year old girls, or, even worse, differences between the races and the sexes, your browser executes the Google analytics script file, which is three thousand lines of code, eighteen kilobytes, exercising every security flaw and privacy bug to identify you, and then report to Google what you have been doing, that you went to this page, that you went to this page from that other page, and so on and so forth.

So even if the web page on gender differences does not link to Google analytics, the next web page you go to may well rat you out, telling Google not only where you are at, but where you have been. And even if your ideology is as pure from thought crime as the driven snow, executing eighteen kilobytes of javascript code over and over again significantly slows your browser and entire computer.

===> Redirect browser requests to Google analytics to your local computer

To get rid of any requests for Google analytics you simply add the following lines to your computer's HOSTS file

# my Google filters
127.0.0.1 www .google-analytics. com # block Analytics
127.0.0.1 google-analytics. com
127.0.0.1 ssl .google-analytics. com
127.0.0.1 www. googleadservices. com # block remarketing
127.0.0.1 googleadservices. com

In the hosts file these urls must be entered without any spaces.

[Bigfella237]

FWIW I pasted in the MVPS Hosts file from the link provided (here is a direct link to the file itself: ) and doing this has quickened the load times on this forum by something like 1000% !!

I used to have to wait at least five seconds for just about any page on this forum to finish loading (I assume it was all those damn skim links etc.) but after installing the above "Hosts" file it's now almost instantaneous, and as if that wasn't enough, as a bonus I now don't see any advertisements at all!

I already "Thanks" you jwoegerbauer but I just had to put it into words, I highly recommend pasting in the MVPS Hosts file, I just wish I knew about this years ago...

Andrew

[Uncle Fester]

Scroll down on this page:

to find instructions how to do this on Linux and OS X

Fantastic. This really liberates the Internet, it is like the good old days.

[Philquad]

mines blocking the ads
but they all are 0.0.0.0 & im on win 7 x64
is that right?

[Bigfella237]

Yep, 0.0.0.0 works for all versions of Windows.

All this list does is bypass the step of checking with an online Domain Name Server (DNS) to convert the URL you type in ( for example) to the actual address (67.215.236.156 in this case).

By pointing all the nuisance URLs to a null address (ie 0.0.0.0) it stops them from loading at all.

To use this list as it was intended, you can also add entries for all the sites you usually visit too, which means your browser will go straight to the site without having to check with a DNS, so to use this forum again as an example, I've added

"67.215.236.156 austech.info"

on a new line in my list, although I must say I don't notice any difference in load times myself, it's too quick to tell either way.

Andrew

[viewer]

I can find the hosts file ok in win 7 32 bit.
Do I need to do the MVPS Hosts file thingo, or can I just open the file , and via cut n paste, add it to my existing hosts file?

Sorry...not real pc savvy.

[Philquad]

save your original host file somewhere or zip it
then cut & paste that into the 1 there
watch the ads disapear

[viewer]

Something in one of those hosts files stopped my foxtel go working, with a message popping up to remove ad blocking from the pc.

Took me a while to work out it was these, and only after removing the new lines in my hosts file, did the Go app work again....grrrr

[admin]

Thus, having a smart hosts file goes a long way towards blocking ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, other irritants and even most hijackers. This occurs within milliseconds.

To bring this into your attention was the reason why I started this thread.

And I am bringing to your intention I am deadset sick of people posting shit to block our ads which is the only way we actually (barely) survive here.

We have lost almost 70% of our income in the last 12 months. But dont worry, there is still a good 30% left to be destroyed before we shut down. Based on current trends and threads like this, maybe you can destroy us totally in 3 months ?


Closed before I forget my manners, I am sick of reguarly reading this sort of shit.