HOSTS files
I seem to be on a role tonight..lol , but here is another one everybody. (If its alright with the mods and admins i'd like to keep these guides in seperate topics) In computing, a hosts file, stored on the computer's filesystem, is used to look up the Internet Protocol address of a device connected to a computer network, such as your home computer connected to the Internet. The hosts file describes a many-to-one mapping of device names to IP addresses. When accessing a device by name, the networking system will attempt to locate the name within the hosts file if it exists. Typically, this is used as a first means of locating the address of a system, before accessing the Internet domain name system. The reason for this is that the hosts file is stored on the computer itself and does not require any network access to be used, whereas DNS requires access to an external system, which is typically slower. quoted from wiki. basically the hosts file can be used to block ads and other forms of malware and even websites them selves, this can result in faster browsing speeds ... and when teamed with a good pop up blocker (firefox or opera and IE all have these included) no more annoying ads. http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?act=dscript&CODE=showdetails&f_id=5 This is the hosts manager from bluetack ( the makers of protowall) ive found this about the easiet way to maintain and update a hosts file also one thing to note is, remember to disable or set the DNS service to manual (noting that your computer is not part of a domain) i have mine set to manual. this is important on a xp box, ME and 9X systems dont seem to have a negative effect running a large hosts file with the dns service running. To do this simply go to Start --> Run --> Type services.msc --> then locate the dns service and simply right click and select properties stop the service click on the scroll box and select the manual or disabled settings and thats it, fire up hosts manager and click download once the hosts is downloaded, click the replace button and once finished click save. and thats it. Keep in mind the bluetack hosts is usually updated once or twice a week. there are several other hosts which managed by other groups but bluetacks should work fine.

I seem to be on a role tonight..lol , but here is another one everybody. (If its alright with the mods and admins i'd like to keep these guides in seperate topics) We do have a guides section... its up to alien14 to make the call.

yea , i just put these here since there were malware & security related.