MVPS HOSTS File Updated Feb. 16, 2006

Information About the MVPS HOSTS File: www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Direct Link to hosts.zip File: www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

 

I just resolved a connection issue on my system that was only fixed by booting into Safe mode and renaming the MVPs hosts file to hosts.old. I had installed the newest hosts file right after reading this post. It disbled me using Opera and IE from connecting to many sites and some, such as here, loaded very slowly. I have sent an email to the webmaster at the MVPs hosts file site.

 

Whiskeyman--Was this the first time you have used a HOSTS file?
I have never experienced the problem you report, so it will be interesting to hear what Mike Burgess has to say.
For the future, you do not have to delete the old HOSTS file to install the new using the MVP HOSTS file. If you use the mvps.bat file supplied with the HOSTS.zip download, it will automatically install the new HOSTS file and rename the old one HOSTS.mvp. Perhaps you should delete whatever HOSTS files (HOSTS, HOSTS.mvp, HOSTS.old, but not HOSTS.sam) you have in your HOSTS folder and reinstall the MVP HOSTS file using the .bat file.
I checked the list of sites in that HOSTS file. Opera.com is not there so the HOSTS file is not what is blocking you from that site. (Also, I have that HOSTS file installed, and I can use Opera OK.)
Name a few other sites that are now blocked and I will check.
Slow loading of sites can come from not cleaning out your Temporary Internet File. Or hopefully temporary server problems.
You may also want to explore the possibility that Spyware is causing your problems.
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=37074

 

I have been using the MVPs hosts file for some time and used the .bat file to install. I used to create a hosts file with HJT but started using MVPs several mnths ago. At the moment I have renamed the hosts file that was created by the .bat file to hosts.old and changed Hosts.MVP to hosts. hosts.sam is still the same. PeteC mentioned changing it to Read only once I had installed it which I didn't do nor did I have to use the DNS Client setup due to I use Win98SE. It seemed strange that my ISP couldn't ping me while researching the problem.

 

I did not use the .BAT file to install the HOSTS file. I backed up my previous MVPS HOSTS file to a different folder and then simply extracted the HOSTS file from the ZIP package into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC folder (overwriting the existing HOSTS file) on my Windows XP SP2 system.

So far, I have not noticed any problems with my method.

I also use Opera 8.52 (and sometimes Firefox 1.5.0.1 and IE).

Whiskeyman, I also would like to know which sites you're having trouble with so I can test and let you know how I fare.

I'm sorry I don't have a Win98SE installation so I can't provide input in regards to that OS.

 

These are some links that would never connect with Opera. There was so many I can't remember them all. I was searching all over Google trying to find answers and tried to go to many sites which wouldn't open. They are fine now that the hosts file is renamed.

http://forums.g4tv.com/categories.cfm?catid=64

http://www.dslreports.com/

http://photobucket.com/

http://xs.to/

http://www.samspade.org/ *I don't know if this was because of site work*

I tried connecting to the test at RIT here http://www.testmyspeed.com/ but couldn't.

 

Do you mean your connection issue with those sites is now resolved with the new MVPS HOSTS file? I was able to load all the pages you linked (using Opera 8.52).

I was also able to load the testmyspeed site but I had trouble with the test links within, perhaps because I'm on a dial-up instead of broadband.

 

I could not connect to those sites using MVPs hosts. The only way they worked in Opera 8.51 and 8.52 was to rename the hosts file to hosts.old.
I just received an email from Mike and decided to try it again. This time I didn't use the .bat file and just copy & pasted the hosts file. I am again not able to connect to G$TV, my PhotoBucket accounts or the others listed. This site is now loading very slowly. I will have to email Mike back. As I type this I still have the hour glass showing next to my cursor.

 

Whiskeyman--

It sounds to me as if the connection problem really is not fixed. Do you want to tell us more about it?
The changes from one MVP HOSTS file to another are relatively small.
I have no idea how well a HOSTS file works with Opera. That might be part of the problem, but I think it is your connection rather than browser.
Changing the HOSTS file to HOSTS.old could mean you have no actual HOSTS file running on your PC.

 

I deleted the hosts file in Safe mode and now my connection is great. Opera is working flawlessly without the hosts file. Even IE is functioning much better. With the hosts file functional I culdn't even go to Opera's websites. I was suffering from packet loss, couldn't ping Google plus couldn't even access some speed tests. Now I can access evrything fine. What really puzzled me was how slow this site loaded and never fully completed.

 

My guess is that those pages have ads on them that come from sites that are in the MVP HOSTS file and that it has something to do with how the browser handles them when it can't find them.

I could be wrong but maybe the ads are the first thing to come on those pages. Since the site they're supposed to come from are in the hosts file, it looks to your own computer to find the ad. It waits and waits (the ad never comes of course because it's not on your computer) and finally it times out and you get a page not found error or whatever and then doesn't load the rest of the page. Ideally, the browser should just skip the ad and continue to load the page but I've found that for whatever reason it doesn't always work this way.

Whatever the case, I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with ads on the page you're trying to visit and addresses that are listed in the hosts file.

I used to use a hosts file for this when I had win98 but quit using it for this very reason. Too many page not found errors.

 

What gets me is the sites will load with IE but slowly. In Opera they don't load at all and no error page comes up. It just stays white. It shows no images loaded in the tab. I also don't undestand why this site will not load in Opera and in IE it loads slowly with the hour glass continually showing by the cursor as I look through the different posts. What ads are on this site that should be in the hosts file?

 

It's not the ads themselves causing it, it's the address that they come from that causes the problem. More than likely the ads come from a site that's in the hosts file.

I don't know why one browser loads them and the other doesn't but that's the type of behavior you see now and then when using the hosts file for this. Opera for whatever reason, times out and the page doesn't load. IE doesn't timeout but you said it loads the page very slow. Possibly because it's waiting for the expected ad and it finally gives up and loads the rest of the page.

I looked at the ones at the top of dslreports.com's page. They come from a site named click.adbrite.com. Experiment a bit and you can see if this is what's causing it. Search the hosts file for adbrite and if it's listed, delete the line it's in and then try to reach it with opera.

 

Whiskeyman, I used to use the MVPS HOSTS file with Windows98SE (and Netscape) and I recall there were issues with sites loading slowly because my browser would "stall" while waiting for ads to load (since the HOSTS file would prevent them from being loaded).

I used another program called eDexter from http://www.pyrenean.com/ (in addition to the MVPS HOSTS file) that would "fool" my browser by loading it's own tiny "ad images" into the locations on the page where the ads were supposed to appear. This took care of my problem with pages loading slowly since the image would be "found" immediately and loaded from my localhost (127.0.0.1). Then my browser would continue rendering the page without delay.

In fact, I still use eDexter and occasionally I still see those eDexter images (in both Opera and Firefox) show where the ad would normally be placed.

I suggest you try installing eDexter and giving it a try. If you decide to give it a try, please let us know how it works for you.

 

I rarely use IE so right now I have the adfilter setup for Opera. It is taking care of what I need. The previous version of MVPs hosts file didn't give me these problems. I should have saved the old version to compare them and see what changes were made.

 

That's because the new one has addresses in it that the old one didn't. Remove those addresses and the problem will go away. But that would defeat the purpose of using the hosts file for this. It seems that it's all much to do about nothing. The hosts file was never intended to be used for this type of thing. It does work, yes, but you run into these type of problems when you use it. It's that simple. If you were able to get the old one back, it wouldn't cause problems but then it wouldn't block the sites that they consider pests either.

Again, if you did that and removed the addresses that they added, there would be no point to downloading the new version.

If you want to avoid this problem, eDextor, which mailman mentioned, is an excellant way to get around it. I used to use it when I had win98. If you're on dialup it can actually help speed things up because your computer doesn't have to download the ads. It uses a pic right of your hard drive. Here's a simplified explantion of what it is. It's a server program that serves pics to any program requesting them at 127.0.0.1. If you use the hosts file and your browser is supposed to get an ad from one of the sites listed in the hosts file, eDextor will give it something to chew on. Your browser will load the pic served by eDextor and continue on it's way. My guess is that the sights you couldn't load before would load just fine with eDextor running.

The type of problems you are having are the very reason I began using eDextor. I haven't looked at it lately so I don't know if it runs on XP or not but if it does, it would be something worth looking at if want to continue to use the hosts file to block ads.

 

I will scope out eDexter. I don't worry about security issues that the hosts file helps with. Between Spyware Blaster and Panda Titanium 2006 not much can get through. As for ads I'm waiting for the final release of Opera 9.0. You just right click on what you don't want to see. I have a 3Mbps/384Kbps DSL package so I am not worried about pictures loading. My biggest issue with ads is the Flash ****. Webmasters who use Flash on sites should be shot.

 

I agree. Totally unecessary but I suppose animated things tend to catch the eye. I really hated it when I was on dialup. Seemed to take longer to load the page when flash was involved. I don't notice it anymore now that I'm on cable but those animated flash ads still are distracting.

 

Especially the ones that are designed to move about the screen.