hosts file
HankG
loading, was thinking about using a hosts file to speed things up.
Would such a file work with XP?
I searched my drive and noted that there are several files. I looked at the
file in folder i386 and it is the same format as I have used in prior
versions of windows. I assume, this would be the correct location to use.
Comments, please.
Nil
alt.os.windows-xp:
> I have been getting slow downloads, and looking at the load of
> ads/sites loading, was thinking about using a hosts file to speed
> things up.
>
> Would such a file work with XP?
Of course it will work - Windows already has and uses one. It's in
\windows\system32\drivers\etc\.
What do you propose to do with your hosts file? Why do you think it
would speed things up?
> I searched my drive and noted that there are several files. I
> looked at the file in folder i386 and it is the same format as I
> have used in prior versions of windows. I assume, this would be
> the correct location to use.
No. i386 contains Window's installation files.
HankG
"Nil" <redn...@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9CDD78D4...@130.133.1.4...
O.K., so the I386 version is a spare. I used a host file with previous
versions of Windows. The file which windows has only references the 'local
host'. By appending the I.P. address of all of those nasty ads and interim
marketing sites, you in effect, short circuit their download and speed
things up.
I'm a gamer, and on some sites, when I click on a link, I get a million
'waiting for .......', and when I finally get the targeted site, those ads
(or whatever) didn't add anything.
When I used the host file, I would get many blank boxes where all of the ads
would normally appear (there is some wording in the box, but I can't
remember it exactly.
Nil
alt.os.windows-xp:
> O.K., so the I386 version is a spare. I used a host file with
> previous versions of Windows. The file which windows has only
> references the 'local host'. By appending the I.P. address of all
> of those nasty ads and interim marketing sites, you in effect,
> short circuit their download and speed things up.
>
> I'm a gamer, and on some sites, when I click on a link, I get a
> million 'waiting for .......', and when I finally get the targeted
> site, those ads (or whatever) didn't add anything.
>
> When I used the host file, I would get many blank boxes where all
> of the ads would normally appear (there is some wording in the
> box, but I can't remember it exactly.
OK, I get ya. That will work, and in fact, I do the same thing. I use
Spybot Search and Destroy, mainly because they maintain a list of bad-
guy sites, and you can use it to "inoculate" the system against them.
What that does is add those sites to your hosts file and to your
browser's "no cookies, no pop-ups, no images allowed" lists. And it
works pretty well. Spybot's spyware detection is lacking these days,
but I keep it around for the inoculation feature.
Jean Rosenfeld
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
"HankG" <hg...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:hfrjq8$9kb$1...@news.eternal-september.org...