Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File

Could be proven useful

[henry0]

A moderator found that on my tech site
So I share it with WebmasterWorld
Remember as with every modification/finding you are on your own regarding machine health!
but it worth reviewing

<<<<
Found this site and it seems quite complete to me.
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
[mvps.org...]
Excerpt:

The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is it's ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, as long the the entry exists.

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, cookies, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the Server that supplies these little gems. Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing
>>>>

[encyclo]

It's a popular technique, but redirecting requests to 127.0.0.1 is not the equivalent of a black hole. Every time a request is made, it is your own machine which is receiving and treating the request. Using 0.0.0.0 rather than 127.0.0.1 is better, but a large hosts file can affect performance in itself as it is parsed before each DNS request.

[txbakers]

I do this with about 100 parasite companies. Every website I visit that throws ads at me now show me "PAge cannot be found" instead. Much nicer.

I have a text file I keep handy with the initial list, and just keet adding to it.

[henry0]

As per Encyclo, any slowing down?

[txbakers]

not that I can tell.