Host Files in the Advanced tools section

[Bones]

Reviewing the advanced tools I looked at the System
Explorer section and then in the Networking section under
Host files I have thousands of host file links. Most of
them I have revewed are from adware or other unwanted web
pages. I have tried to disable them but the are too many
to do one at a time.
Question. Should I be disableng these hosts? Is the any
way to disable or remove them all at once?

 

[plun]

Reviewing the advanced tools I looked at the System
Explorer section and then in the Networking section under
Host files I have thousands of host file links. Most of
them I have revewed are from adware or other unwanted web
pages. I have tried to disable them but the are too many
to do one at a time.
Question. Should I be disableng these hosts? Is the any
way to disable or remove them all at once?

Hi Bones

You can open your hosts file with Notepad.

C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc/hosts.file

Delete everything EXCEPT 127.0.0.1 Localhost

Choose "save as" and owerwrite hosts.file

MSAS then protect your hosts file.

 

[JRosenfeld]

If the domains listed in the HOSTS file are redirecting ti
127.0.0.1, it means that you will not access that site;
those entries would be a security feature if, as you say,
they refer to malware/adware sites. So removing them might
not be a good idea.

 

[Bill Sanderson]

This is a matter of taste/choice, as the other two responses show.

I'm with plun, myself--I prefer a hosts file with only entries in it that I
have made and know are needed for my network. For most folks, that means
just the standard localhost entry.

JRosenfeld is also correct however--the entries equating 127.0.0.1 to
mymalware.com are intended as protective features--you can't get to
mymalware.com even if you try.

So--this works both ways. The entries are placed there by some other
antispyware mechanism/program--Spybot Search & Destroy, for example, I
believe does this.

It is also true that viruses and spyware can hijack the hosts file in this
same way, and put in place entries preventing you from reaching, say, your
antivirus vendor, or Microsoft's update site.

So--I prefer to keep it near-empty, so that I can see and understand what is
going on.

 

[Jacques]

I have a host file generated by SB-S&D. It's fully
compatible with MSAS as this one doesn't worry with @
going to 127.0.0.1

I just had to answer the pop-up: "I accept" for the (few)
adresses which wher manually added (my router, an old WS
with a static IP, and a few servers which are not managed
correctly by DNS).

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Thanks!