Hosts files

ally_uk

Hi there I am in the process of revamping the security on my Windows XP machine at home and part of this process is that I wish to edit my own HOSTS file to block potentially dangerous websites.

I am also looking at changing my default ISP's DNS to OpenDNS as I have heard good reviews about this.

My query is If I create a Hosts file within windows and assign OpenDns as my DNS server will the changes I have made get replaced and ignored by the OpenDNS DNS or any other DNS server

How does the O/S decide to use the Hosts file rather than DNS or are they seperate i'm slightly confused here.

Thanks

dtlokee

The hosts file is checked before DNS.

ally_uk

Thanks that answers my question

Does anybody know a link to a reliable up to date all ready written Host file which I can download
( I can always add to it in the future)

Many Thanks

BeaverC32

Check the contents of: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

dtlokee

I would add this is not really an effective method of blocking websites, difficult to maintain. I would suggest using your browser's features to do this, and many adware/spyware products can automatically populate the list of restricted websites.

JdotQ

Check out this Blog post by JDMurray;

http://www.techexams.net/blogs/jdmurray/blocking-adware-spyware-and-malware-using-the-hosts-file

blargoe

There used to be a utility called IE-spyad that had a list of known malware sites that would install that list in your restricted sites in IE