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How To Block Websites On Your PC Without Using Software [Windows]

In this article I will show you how to block unsafe websites by adding blocking lists to the Windows Hosts file. The Hosts file allows you to re-direct domain names to an IP address of your choice. Subsequently, you can use this knowledge to block any domains, such as those distributing advertisements, banners, cookies, and more.




What Are The Benefits Of Blocking Sites Using The Hosts File?

First of all you can block malicious websites using excluding lists that contain known offenders.

Secondly, if those lists contain ad servers or trackers, you will experience faster website loading times, as all ad and tracking related apps are blocked from loading.

Finally, you can play a prank on people by re-directing any website you like, for example Bing to Google.

How Can I Edit The Windows Hosts File?

I will briefly describe how to edit the file in Windows 7.

Open Notepad as Administrator. For this go to > Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click > Notepad and select > Run as administrator. When asked whether you > (…) want to allow the following program to make changes to the computer, select > Yes.
From within Notepad go to > File > Open and browse to the Hosts file, which is located under > C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. The folder will be empty as it’s only showing *.txt files. In the bottom right of the folder click the drop-down menu and select > All Files.




Where Can I Find Blocking Lists?

WinHelp2002.
The Hosts file on offer has been updated regularly. You can download the file in plain text or as a ZIP file. The Zip file contains a batch file (mvps.bat) to automatically rename and replace your current Hosts file. However, you can also manually add the list via copy and paste from the text file to your Hosts file, following the instructions above.

hpHosts.
You can either follow the installation instructions on the website, or manually copy and paste the list from their Hosts text file into your existing Hosts file.

What Tools Can I Use to Manage My Hosts Files?




I recommend HostsMan. Apart from providing a simple interface to add entries to your Hosts files, it also allows you to import blocking lists from hpHosts via the > Update Hosts button.




Unfortunately, HostsMan does not currently allow you to import your own text files and merge them with your Hosts files. This is something you need to do manually.

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