HOSTS file

[guinness]

What HOSTS lists do you use? e.g. http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

[Ruby]

http://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.asp
http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlis ... =plaintext
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt

I've also thought about adding the malware domain list:
http://www.malwaredomainlist.com/hostslist/hosts.txt

For my Android devices (along with the 3 above), I also use a 'special' mobile ad domain list via the app 'AdAway':
http://www.ismeh.com/HOSTS

~Ruby

[freakazoid]

I use the MVPS one.

hpHosts (hosts-file.net) is too large and there are too many false positives.

The Yoyo.org and malwaredomainlist.com ones look promising. I'll need to test those out.

[Ruby]

@freakazoid,

The hPHosts file I linked to is only the 'ad_servers' (currently ~350 KB)
The MVPS is by far the largest of the ones I listed (currently ~590 KB)

After HostMan is done optimizing:
[remove duplicates] = ~750 KB - file size
[up to 9 entries per line] = ~515 KB - file size (Final)

~Ruby

[freakazoid]

Thanks for clarifying, Ruby.

I haven't checked out hpHosts' other lists. Will give it a look.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

I have stopped using the traditional hosts file, because
1. a large file slows down browsing (at least on my not exactly state of the art system)
2. too many items will be missed, no matter how many entries you add. 10, 20, 30, ... doubleclick items still leaves gazillions of sites uncovered.

I have switched to a local DNS proxy: http://mayakron.altervista.org/support/ ... th=Acrylic
It also uses a hosts file, but this accepts wild-cards. So, for example, *doubleclick* or *.doubleclick.* will block them all, on every site. Based on the log file, I have added about 900 entries to the hosts file. For me it's an effective system and yet lighter than the regular hosts file.

On topic: this is the one I used to work with:
http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

[guinness]

Some great suggestions and a couple of new lists which I didn't know about. Thanks.

[Midas]

DotNET Hosts Switcher might come in handy for testing/manipulating hosts files...



Download @ http://hostswitcher.codeplex.com/

EDIT: Hosts Switcher now hosted at https://github.com/svejdo1/HostsSwitcher.

[bzl333]

the latest Beta edition of HostsMan enables toggle on/off of the DNS Client Service so larger hosts files can be used without problem for most systems now. also allows you to add more sources of pre-compiled hosts files.


also i see this program:

http://www.tools.toflo.de/HostsSwitcher/

is it worth testing for the database?

[Midas]

Sure. You could also check the local wares:

- https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=2346

- https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1628

- viewtopic.php?t=7127

- viewtopic.php?t=4310

[Midas]

For my Android devices (along with the 3 above), I also use a 'special' mobile ad domain list via the app 'AdAway': http://www.ismeh.com/HOSTS

Quick note to point out that AdAway provides its own hosts list at https://adaway.org/hosts.txt...

BTW, the ismeh.com server is gone and -- also acording to AdAway -- the hosts-file.net file is also available through https://hosts-file.net/ad_servers.txt.

EDIT: AdAway maintains a wikipage with hosts blocking sources at https://github.com/AdAway/AdAway/wiki/HostsSources...

blocking hosts

[Midas]

Related entries and topics:

• BlueLife Hosts Editor (https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=2346)
• HostsOptimizer (https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1628)
• Hosts File Editor (viewtopic.php?t=23581)
• HostsXpert (viewtopic.php?t=2371)
  not natively portable
• Hosts Block (viewtopic.php?t=22455)
• HostsMan (viewtopic.php?t=7127)
  other
• Hosts comparison (viewtopic.php?t=9019)

Beware that a large hosts file may slowdown web browsing.

[webfork]

What were you working on with HOSTS files that you did all this research?

[Midas]

@webfork: it's mostly a rehash/update of previous "research", prompted by your recent post about HFE; but then again, it's something I use daily across different platforms -- chiefly on Android, where I use AdAway in all devices (it even comes pre-installed on alternative firmwares like crDroid).

[webfork]

@webfork: it's mostly a rehash/update of previous "research", prompted by your recent post about HFE; but then again, it's something I use daily across different platforms -- chiefly on Android, where I use AdAway in all devices (it even comes pre-installed on alternative firmwares like crDroid).

Very cool -- are you trying for security or adblocking or both?