HOSTS Update 10-10-03

[siljaline]

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

Regards,



--
siljaline

"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_

[Tim Richards]

"siljaline" <siljaline@null.com> wrote in message
news:dbsoov4h8nden0d750kl8uc6gpl481aujk@4ax.com...
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

Regards,



--
siljaline


Quick newbie question before I download this:

I'm sure I read somewhere that the bigger the hosts file (this one seems to
be 124kb), the longer web pages will take to load because IE has to trawl
through thousands of lines of code to check if the site's on the
list..........is this true?

[siljaline]

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:09:30 +0100, "Tim Richards" <tim.richards@freeuk.com> wrote:

>Quick newbie question before I download this:
>
>I'm sure I read somewhere that the bigger the hosts file (this one seemsto
>be 124kb), the longer web pages will take to load because IE has to trawl
>through thousands of lines of code to check if the site's on the
>list..........is this true?
>
Not exactly, a large HOSTS full of *useless* entries _will_ cause Browserslowness, a
larger HOSTS file with entries that are not duplicated and reflect information that is
current, then no.

This one is well researched and works, I'm one of regulars here, go for it.
Try the batch files, once you've run HOSTS.

HTH



--
siljaline

"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_

[YK]

Tim Richards wrote:
> "siljaline" <siljaline@null.com> wrote in message
> news:dbsoov4h8nden0d750kl8uc6gpl481aujk@4ax.com...
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
>
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

Corected post inserted after a sig deliminator.
> Quick newbie question before I download this:
>
> I'm sure I read somewhere that the bigger the hosts file (this one
> seems to > be 124kb), the longer web pages will take to load
> because IE has to trawl through thousands of lines of code to
> check if the site's on the list..........is this true?

IE does not crawl through the code but I believe it is a Winsock function.
Does not really matter where it happens but it is way down in the TCP/IP
protocol functions.

I use a 568K HOSTS file on both of my systems and the slowest system is a
200MHZ MMX laptop. The laptop WinME does have a slight hesitation but the
AMD 1800 WinXP Home does not. If you are running Win2K/XP then the DNS
Service needs to be turned off.

From a reply post I made in alt.comp.freeware discussing this topic "Windows
HOSTS file"
CoMa wrote:
> Updated Hosts file
> http://asp.flaaten.dk/proxo/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=20

There are now a total of 18868 hosts. Validated monthly.

> Info about using the Hosts file
> http://accs-net.com/hosts/index.html
"Every day, millions of people browse the web. They think they are doing so
in private. They aren't. What advertisers don't want you to know, I will
tell you. You are being tracked as you surf the web, right now. Not by me,
but by some of the advertisers."

> Hostess
> http://accs-net.com/hostess/
> A free utility for maintaining your Hosts file

With a quick disable/enable button.

I also use the eDexter utility.
http://accs-net.com/hosts/eDexter.html
"eDexter is a program that acts as a local-only (it is not accessible
throught the Internet) HTTP server on your computer. It is used to replace
the empty boxes that occur when you use the Hosts file to block ads. eDexter
will put one of its own images into the box that would have been occupied by
the advertisement. This way, you will not have large, empty boxes in your
browser and will instead have an image where the box used to be."

Why I use the HOSTS file: (I was trying to come up with a "Top Ten" list so
this is a start)
1. Blocks ads.
2. Stops advertisers from collecting "click-through" hits and getting paid
to provide ads.
3. Stops "malware" sites from depositing their cr@p.
4. Speeds up Internet browsing because the ads are not retrieved from the
ad serving sites.
5. Increases your privacy on the Internet.
6. Stops some ad pop ups.
7. Reduces system load.