Tag Archives: hosts

Quickly Switch Between Different Hosts Files Without Editing Original

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The basic purpose of the hosts file in Windows and other operating systems is to associate host names with IP addresses. Whenever you type in a URL in your browser, the computer looks it up in the hosts file first and tries to find its IP address. If the IP address is not available in the host file, it will consult the ISP in order to call the website. Since the file is in plain text, you can easily edit it using any text editor, such as Notepad, in order to redirect TCP/IP traffic in special circumstances. It can be used to prevent access to different web servers including those where advertisements are hosted. In fact the ad blockers we use with our browsers also take advantage of the hosts file in order to stop ads from appearing on webpages. Also, web developers set up host files in order to test the performance of websites in development, for QA during production, etc. Today, we bring to you an open source tool for Windows called Hosts Switcher that lets you quickly switch between different hosts files without messing with the original one. Once a hosts file is added to the program, you can make it the default profile with just a single click. Read More

Modify Hosts File To Block A Website On Mac OS X Lion [Tip]

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If you use a Mac at work and have access to sites like Youtube and/or Facebook  blocked, you might have experienced a mixture of disappointment and anger trying to access them. Understandably, these feelings probably helped fuel the search for a way around it. As annoying as these  blocks are, they can sometimes be useful and if you’re wondering how it woks on Mac OS X Lion, this post details how you can block websites and domains. The process involves modifying the hosts file on your Mac via the Terminal. Once the domain or website is mapped with localhost, the website/domain is blocked on your system regardless of which browser you use. To unblock a site, you need to access the file again and edit out the modifications you’ve made. You must have Administrative rights to make these modifications or your user account must belong to the administrative group. Read More

HostsMan: Edit, Restore, Manage And Merge Multiple Windows Hosts File

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Just like other OS platforms, Windows includes a hosts file that lets user map domains with their IP address to increase access speed, redirect domains to preferred locations (by specifying IP address), and completely block the domain access. In a network environment, a system administrator may enforce using a single hosts file that redirects, let’s say, Facebook.com to Google.com every time a client PC tries to access Facebook, or map domains with active IP locations, so client PCs can quickly access them without having to wait for DNS resolve processes to respond. Earlier, we covered a number of hosts file managers including BlueLife Hosts Editor, Hosts Mechanic and Hosts Editor. This time around we bring you a feature-rich hosts file management solution called HostsMan. It has been developed to efficiently manage and edit multiple hosts file without having to manually modify Windows hosts file (present in System32/drivers/etc folder). Read More

Edit & Restore Windows Hosts File And Block Websites With Host Mechanic

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Host Mechanic is a portable application to edit, delete and restore the Windows default hosts file. This application makes it easy to add entries to Windows hosts file; you won't have to navigate to system32/drivers/etc folder every time just to add new domains and change mapped IPs. All you need is to launch the application, enter the domain followed by IP address to add the domain entry to hosts file. Moreover, it lets you restore the Windows hosts file and block websites by mapping them with localhost. For those who aren't familiar with hosts file, it allows users and authenticated applications to map domains with defined IPs to either block the access or boost the access speed. Read More

BlueLife Hosts Editor: Get IP Addresses Of Domains & Block Or Activate Them

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Windows hosts file managers are developed to create, edit & manage hosts file and also to switch between multiple hosts files without requiring you to manually overwrite existing hosts file. You may, for instance, want to use different hosts file for home and office network in order to block certain web portals and map frequently visited domains with their IPs to boost the access speed. In such a case, customizing hosts file for home and office network is not a good idea. So, what you probably need is a hosts manager like BlueLife Hosts Editor to efficiently manage and edit hosts files. Unlike previously featured Hosts File Management, it offers a wide range of features to create new hosts files, update existing one, flush DNS cache, search domain names, get IP address for specified domains, block domains, backup and restore hosts files (created/modified in one session), and toggle mapped locations On/Off. Read More

HostsEditor: Quickly Toggle Mapped Domains On/Off In Windows Hosts

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Windows Hosts file is used to map domain names with their IP addresses to instantly access the most frequently visited websites, network locations and also to block potentially harmful remote locations. Hosts file works just like your ISP provided DNS server. The only difference is that Hosts file lets you create list of domain names and make amendments to mapped locations. The hosts file can be easily edited using any text editor but Windows doesn’t provide any tool to manage the mapped domain names. For instance, it requires you to manually enter the domains, modify the IPs, etc. Moreover, users often find it hard to quickly toggle mapped locations On or Off. HostsEditor is an application to add new nodes to hosts file without having to manually edit them. Read More

Create, Manage & Backup Windows Hosts File With Hosts File Generator

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Some malware programs attempt to modify, remove or simple empty Windows hosts file. After gaining access to Windows hosts file, such malicious applications/scripts try to bypass those blocked websites which provide a gateway for other rootkit applications/scripts to gain and exploit root access of your system. For those who are not familiar with Windows hosts, it’s a small file in Windows system which can be used to block access to comprised websites and to give relatively quicker access to frequently visited websites and local domains; you can map as many IPs with their domain names as you want in hosts file. Hosts File Generator is an application written to automatically create hosts file when viruses and malwares have blocked your access to System32 folder or have deliberately removed or altered Windows hosts file. Read More

Manage Multiple Win Hosts Files With Hosts File Management

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Windows hosts file is responsible for mapping hosts names with their IPs in order to quickly locate the hosts on the network and also for addressing nodes in a simple LAN environment. You can use it to block web page access or map frequently visited websites / domains with IPs to boost the access speed. If you change Hosts file frequently for mapping domain names, blocking websites, or to resolve domain name to an IP, you should use Hosts File Management for this very purpose. It is an open source utility that allows you to create multiple hosts file which can be set as default with the single click. You can also backup current hosts file to customized hosts profile and restore it anytime later. Moreover, it automatically performs DNS flushing prior to replacing the hosts file with currently applied one. Read More

Optimize Windows Hosts File

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There may be multitude of reasons as to why optimize WinHosts file, the reasons being it can be used for blocking specific websites, increase load up time of frequently visited WebPages and so on. HostsOptimizer is small utility designed for optimizing the content of WinHosts file, by eliminating the duplicate host names and comments. Adding more, you can also add up to 9 host names in a single line, pointing to the same IP address. Read More

How To Block Unwanted Website In Ubuntu Linux

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If your Ubuntu computer is used by some one else besides yourself, specially children, then you might want to restrict some websites and make sure they do not open on your system. Here is a quick way to block such sites in Ubuntu. It is extremely simple doesn't require any third party application, you just need to make a simple entry in the /etc/hosts file. Read More