Renaming Hosts file doesn't change browser response

[Phil Rabichow]

Hi All:
Using WinXP Pro SP2 with latest updates.
I checked out the utilities mentioned in Mike Burgess, MVP hosts site at
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

However, if I have a browser open when I rename the hosts file, the response
is the same. i.e. if I start a browser with hosts file "on", renaming it to
oldhosts doesn't allow me to get to a forbidden site unless I exit the
browser & restart it. The same is true with Netscape, Firefox, Avant
Browser, etc.

I've even tried clearing the TIF & refreshing the page (using Shift+F5), but
that doesn't help. I thought that renaming the hosts file on the fly would
allow you to turn it on & off to block or access a site. Is this not
true...or do I need to make some other change on my system.

Thanks for any insight on this.

 

[Haggis]

Hi All:
Using WinXP Pro SP2 with latest updates.
I checked out the utilities mentioned in Mike Burgess, MVP hosts site at
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

However, if I have a browser open when I rename the hosts file, the
response
is the same. i.e. if I start a browser with hosts file "on", renaming it
to
oldhosts doesn't allow me to get to a forbidden site unless I exit the
browser & restart it. The same is true with Netscape, Firefox, Avant
Browser, etc.

I've even tried clearing the TIF & refreshing the page (using Shift+F5),
but
that doesn't help. I thought that renaming the hosts file on the fly
would
allow you to turn it on & off to block or access a site. Is this not
true...or do I need to make some other change on my system.

Thanks for any insight on this.

AFAIK if the hosts file is there when you start your browser ...it will use
it ...no toggling it on and off

 

[Phil Rabichow]

That seems to be my experience. However, Mike Burgess has

"Note: if IE is open when you toggle (rename) the HOSTS file, click Refresh

(F5)"

posted at http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hostsfaq.htm#Rename

so I was wondering if there was a way.

 

[PopS]

That's because it's probably being referenced from memory, not
from the hard drive. You'd have to Refresh memory to accomplish
that.

 

[Phil Rabichow]

Thanks for the response. But how would I refresh memory? I thought that
holding down the shift key when you refresh (or Ctrl+Shift+R or Shift+F5)
would not fetch anything from the cache...is that wrong?

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

If you did not turn off the DNS client service and you attempted to go to
the forbidden site while the blocking hosts file was in place, the result is
cached. Even if you replace the hosts file, Windows will continue to use
the cached result for the default time to live. You can clear the cache by
running ipconfig /flushdns.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Phil Rabichow]

Hi Doug:
Thanks for responding. I get the same results when I run

ipconfig /flushdns

That is:
1. I go try to go to a forbidden site & it's blocked.
2. Then I change hosts to nohosts.
3. Then I go Start/Run/ipconfig /flushdns<enter>
4. I clear the cache in IE (without closing it) & refresh the page. I still
can't get to the site unless I actually exit from IE (or any other browser that
I try this with).

Am I skipping something? (I have the DNSclient turned off).
--
Phil

If you did not turn off the DNS client service and you attempted to go to
the forbidden site while the blocking hosts file was in place, the result is
cached. Even if you replace the hosts file, Windows will continue to use
the cached result for the default time to live. You can clear the cache by
running ipconfig /flushdns.

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP