Certain Host File Entries Deactivated - Unable to Unblock

[Guest]

I noticed that I had three host file entries marked "deactivated". The
referenced urls were to adware/spyware sites. Every time I clicked on
"Un-block host" MSAS stopped responding. Upon opening Task Manager, I found
that (2) MSAS programs were listed as "not responding".

I'm wondering why I had host entries marked as "deactivated" and why MSAS
would not let me Un-Block them.

btw, I'm running Microsoft AntiSpyware Version: 1.0.701

 

[Bill Sanderson]

It is quite possible that you have a rather large Hosts file, and that
Microsoft Antispyware is quite slow dealing with it--there are several text
file operations that seem to be extremely slow.

I suspect that these entries are commented out.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Hoster_d4626.html

Hoster, at the link above, is a much better tool for working with the hosts
file. And you'll need it, because this facility is one of the things no
longer present in beta2, Windows Defender, available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...E7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en

(download, run, and let it upgrade the Microsoft Antispyware in place.)

Personally, I prefer to keep the hosts file to the default condition--and
Hoster has a one button solution to do that for you.