Can I ban unwanted bots without Apache?

My ISP tells me they run Zeus

[Michael Anthony]

Having spent over 3 hours reading and learning from the "perfect .htaccess ban list" posts I hurried to write my own .htaccess incorporating all the stuff I learned here. When it didn't work, I mailed my ISP.

My ISP then replied to say that they use Zeus and were working on a possible PHP script solution. That was over a week ago and it looks like the end of the subject.

Can anyone here help?

p.s. - I know this is probably posted in the wrong place but I gave up trying to find the right forum. Sorry. If the forum mod would be kind enough to move it to it's rightful home I'd be most grateful.

[BlueSky]

What kind of system are you on -- Windows IIS or something else?

[Michael Anthony]

Not sure that I understand your question, BlueSky. I run Windows XP on my own machine, but I would guess that your question relates to my ISP's system. If it does, then I'll have to ask them - should I do this?

[storevalley]

should I do this

Yep. BlueSky is referring to the web server being used by your hosting company to implement your web site.

[slartibartfast]

I am currently trialling a system that will block various classes of user agent (eg bad bots) from sites that does not use a .htaccess file, although I am planning an implementation that CAN manage .htaccess files.

This is currently protecting 5 websites and has succesfuly stopped one site from being trawled by an image stripper (which was a real problem with this particular web site which was regularly stripped causing bandwidth problems with the owners ISP which she could ill-afford), and stopped a number of visits from the likes of P.Arthur.
This currently works for PHP pages and will be setup for ASP soon. Will probably support ColdFusion and other scripting systems should it prove worthwhile.

As this system is not ready for general use (and I would not advertise it here as advertising is not allowed) then I shall not provide a link, however I am looking for "guinea pigs" especially if you have a site that appeals to foreign language users. Please message me if you are interested.

<opinion>
(Slowly donning some flame retardant underwear) While I was developing this system I came across "perfect .htaccess files" and found them "interesting".
While I would not wish to get drawn into a case by case critique of each user agent I was often left with the impression that there is some over zealous banning of everything that is not browser. While the decision whether to actually include a user agent in the disallow category must always be made by the individual, there is often little information to hand on what each user agent actually is. I suspect that some webmasters are actually making the use of their websites difficult for bona fide users by indiscriminate adoption of these example .htaccess files.
</opinion>