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Host file
i hear host file is a great way to protect pc, any opinions? I have replaced mine almost all banners dont show up. With firefox as a browser my net surfing is superfast now.
question2, any way to block sites from knowing your browser and ip? Some forums i read peoples avatar says my ip and browser. Do i need to use a free proxy?
question2, any way to block sites from knowing your browser and ip? Some forums i read peoples avatar says my ip and browser. Do i need to use a free proxy?
Yes, it's a smart but, for some reason, not very popular way of protecting yourself from various malware. It's completely browser-indepdendent because it works at the networking level. And it's quite efficient usually.
The basic premise is as follows: the first thing your computer does when it wants to know how to get to CNN (www.cnn.com) is to look in your local hosts file for an entry that maps www.cnn.com to an IP address. The entry would look like: 1.2.3.4 www.cnn.com
If this entry exists then your computer understands CNN to be at IP address 1.2.3.4 and it directs all requests for CNN resources (e.g. HTML pages) to that address. If the entry doesn't exist then your computer performs a DNS lookup which essentially asks another computer (typically out on the internet) for the address associated with CNN and it uses that address. Key thing is that your local hosts file has priority.
Next you pull together a list of known bad sites e.g. www.adspam.com and put an entry for each one into your hosts file. The trick is to give it a fake address of 127.0.0.1 rather than its real address. The 127.0.0.1 address is actually the address of your own PC. That means that any request for something from www.adspam.com actually goes to your own PC instead of to the spamming site and fails instantly (because you don't have a web server on your PC).
A number of web sites out there can provide up to date lists of known 'bad' sites in the form of a hosts file that you can download.
It's useful in addition to an anti-spyware, anti-adware program. It's not a perfect replacement. And it cannot replace an anti-virus program.
- As far as blocking your ip address, there are utilities that "claim" to do it.
But they are not free. Maybe you can use Google to search for a free one.
I came up with THIS, but it cost about $30.
As far as host files working in Firefox, I seem to have had no luck blocking ads in Firefox using the host files. For example, I used a program called "Noad hosts", and it entered many sites into the host file.
I went to MSN groups, the ads were replaced with "The page cannot be displayed" in IE.
But with Firefox, the ads still showed. Thank goodness for adblock.
But if the host files work for you, that's great. - I just wanted to add something I discovered:
I use Eartlink accelerator, so it goes through a proxy server. It shows the proxy address instead of my IP address. That's pretty cool.
But someone said that if someone wants to find out your IP, they can.
Think RIAA, and FBI.
EDIT: WAIT. IF I go to GRC.com, it shows my actual IP. So I don't think proxies are 100% secure.
Oh, well.
2nd edit: I think it is because I don't have my proxy configured for secure sites. GRC is a secure https site.
I don't want secure sites to run through a proxy, anyway.Message Edited by msil217 on 02-25-2005 08:26 AM
JRosenfeld
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Posted February 26th, 2005 19:00
Dummy,
comment on one of your earlier posts: you said your hosts file is in C:\windows\system32
Your hosts file (assuming that you have XP) must be in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
it won't work if you put it anywhere else.
There will be default hosts file there (probably the one being used at present): rename that to something like hosts.old (so you can go back to it later if you want to). Move the one you want there; it should just be called hosts (no file type extension).
@-Dummy- wrote:
i swear i found it one time as an option in windows somewhere, under services or something to block your ip and browser, guess not. will keep looking. And this host file i have definately works with firefox.
Yes, maybe it does. I might have been confused about something.
The host file would not work for me if I use Earthlink accelerator. I assume it is because it is a proxy, it bypasses the host file. I did have the option "bypass proxy server for local addresses" checked.
I found a way to prevent certain sites from going through the proxy (also comes in handy for weather images to download at full quality in my weather program)
connections---settings---advanced
I put in "do not use a proxy server for addresses beginning with" and choose a wild card title *weather* so all sites that have "weather" in the url do not go through a proxy server.
It also will work to block sites, in combination with a host file.- Dummy,
comment on one of your earlier posts: you said your hosts file is in C:\windows\system32
Your hosts file (assuming that you have XP) must be in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
it won't work if you put it anywhere else.
There will be default hosts file there (probably the one being used at present): rename that to something like hosts.old (so you can go back to it later if you want to). Move the one you want there; it should just be called hosts (no file type extension).
yes thats where i put it what you said. thats why I assumed it works for any browser, and i did save the old file just in case. I should have typed the whole location , dont mean to mislead anyone.thanks for a great forum.
msil217
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Posted February 24th, 2005 09:00
Here is what I gathered, and someone correct me if I'm wrong:
1. Host files only work for Internet Explorer, or Browsers that use IE (like Avant, MyIE2, etc.) as far as I know.
2. Another way to be safe is download IE Spyad. It adds entries of bad sites to your restricted zone. Copy and paste into your browser: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm
3. I don't think there is a way (that I am aware of) to prevent sites for identifying
your browser, ISP, or operating system. Go to GRC.com for more details.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
4. I don't know anything about free proxies. But I doubt it will prevent sites form identifying your computer. But a good firewall should protect your personal info, provided you don't go to bad sites.