MVPS HOSTS File Update January-18-2012

[siljaline]

<paste>

The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [January-18-2012]
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Download: hosts.zip (147 kb)
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip

How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS file
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm

HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questions
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm

Note: the "text" version makes a great resource for determining

possible unwanted connections ...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt (596 kb)

Get notified when the MVPS HOSTS file is updated
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/updates.htm

</paste>

Silj

--
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

[Virus Guy]

siljaline wrote:

> The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [January-18-2012]

Is there such a thing as a firefox add-on that aborts any attempt to
download content from "local host" (ie - 127.0.0.1) ?

I'm finding that browsing is becoming way to slow when the browser is
trying to render pages containing lots of blocked domains.

[siljaline]

Virus Guy wrote:

> Is there such a thing as a firefox add-on that aborts any attempt to
> download content from "local host" (ie - 127.0.0.1) ?

I am not aware of any Firefox add-ons that would accomplish this.

You may try >
<http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm#unable>
See specific instructions for Firefox.

> I'm finding that browsing is becoming way to slow when the browser is
> trying to render pages containing lots of blocked domains.

Set your DNS to manual in Services >
<http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm#Note>
A Hosts file larger than 135 kb slows down a Windows PC regardless
of OS.

Silj


--
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

[Dustin]

"siljaline" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in news:jf87pl$va2$1@dont-email.me:

> Virus Guy wrote:
>
>> Is there such a thing as a firefox add-on that aborts any attempt to
>> download content from "local host" (ie - 127.0.0.1) ?
>
> I am not aware of any Firefox add-ons that would accomplish this.
>
> You may try >
> <http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm#unable>
> See specific instructions for Firefox.
>
>> I'm finding that browsing is becoming way to slow when the browser is
>> trying to render pages containing lots of blocked domains.
>
> Set your DNS to manual in Services >
> <http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm#Note>
> A Hosts file larger than 135 kb slows down a Windows PC regardless
> of OS.

Much more so under the win9x flavors.



--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[Virus Guy]

Dustin wrote:

> >> I'm finding that browsing is becoming way to slow when the
> >> browser is trying to render pages containing lots of blocked
> >> domains.
> >
> > Set your DNS to manual in Services >
> > <http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm#Note>
> > A Hosts file larger than 135 kb slows down a Windows PC regardless
> > of OS.
>
> Much more so under the win9x flavors.

I believe I've read in the past that win-9x is much better able to
handle large hosts files compared to XP.

[Virus Guy]

Virus Guy wrote:

> Dustin wrote:

> > > <http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm#Note>
> > > A Hosts file larger than 135 kb slows down a Windows PC regardless
> > > of OS.
> >
> > Much more so under the win9x flavors.
>
> I believe I've read in the past that win-9x is much better able to
> handle large hosts files compared to XP.

Heh.

That line from winhelp2002 that says:

"Editors Note: in most cases a large HOSTS file (over 135 kb)
tends to slow down the machine."

used to read as follows:

"Editors Note: in most cases a large HOSTS file (over 135 kb)
tends to slow down the machine. This only occurs in W2000/
XP/Vista. Windows 98 and ME are not affected."

It obviously took too much precious space to include references to
win-9x/me on the winhelp hosts-file page.

I've been running my win-98 machines for years with hosts files that
exceed 700/800 kb in size. It's only within the past year that web
browsing is really getting bogged down by site-blocking caused by hosts
blocking.

[Dustin]

Virus Guy <Virus@Guy.com> wrote in news:4F181AFF.1ACCF5C2@Guy.com:

> Dustin wrote:
>
>> >> I'm finding that browsing is becoming way to slow when the
>> >> browser is trying to render pages containing lots of blocked
>> >> domains.
>> >
>> > Set your DNS to manual in Services >
>> > <http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm#Note>
>> > A Hosts file larger than 135 kb slows down a Windows PC regardless
>> > of OS.
>>
>> Much more so under the win9x flavors.
>
> I believe I've read in the past that win-9x is much better able to
> handle large hosts files compared to XP.

You should re-read what you thought you read then, as you're wrong on this
one. Surprise surprise...




--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts

[siljaline]

Dustin wrote:
<snipped>

> Much more so under the win9x flavors.

The file system on Windows 9 x is not the same Kernel as
XP on up.

Regardless of file size on a 9 x PC there should be no noticeable
slowness. This is moot since no one should be running a 9 x PC these
days unless it's for running Beta software, otherwise you'd be in the Stoneage.

Silj


--
"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

[Virus Guy]

siljaline wrote:

> > Much more so under the win9x flavors.
>
> The file system on Windows 9 x is not the same Kernel as
> XP on up.

I'm not quite sure why you're mixing the term "kernel" with file-system,
but if you are referring to the 4-GB file-size limitation of FAT32 -
I'll go out on a limb and say that Win-98 can probably handle most HOSTS
files regardless of size.

> Regardless of file size on a 9 x PC there should be no noticeable
> slowness. This is moot since no one should be running a 9x PC these
> days unless it's for ...

Does the taste of Microsoft's koolaid get better with time?

Oh, sorry, I forgot. NT is made from the finest, most expensive
threads. I must be the only one that hasn't seen the emperor's new
clothes.

Getting back to my original point -

What's the MVPS policy regarding inclusion of Google's various
ad-serving and behavior-tracking machines in the MVPS HOSTS file?

I've added every google host-name I can find to my (arguably dated) copy
of the MVPS hosts file - while still allowing the basic google search
page and google-maps to operate that is. I've also added every twitter
and feacesbook host I can find to completely rid by browser of those
web-cancers.

So I guess it's conceivable that my "enhancements" could be why I'm
seeing increasing bogging while browsing.

[Dustin]

"siljaline" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in news:jf9g4q$4oa$1@dont-email.me:

> Dustin wrote:
> <snipped>
>
>> Much more so under the win9x flavors.
>
> The file system on Windows 9 x is not the same Kernel as
> XP on up.

I wasn't discussing the file system. Fat32/ntfs have no trouble with a few
hundred kilobytes. The DNS services however... Aren't so impressed.

> Regardless of file size on a 9 x PC there should be no noticeable
> slowness. This is moot since no one should be running a 9 x PC these
> days unless it's for running Beta software, otherwise you'd be in the
> Stoneage.

Again,

If you have thousands of entries redirected to loopback, it will take your
box a moment or two to resolve them. (IE: line by line reading on whatever
domain you enter to compare it to your custom hosts file.) While the
access time isn't long, it's far from "not noticable" if you have a huge
file.


--
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too
many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and
the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J.C. Watts