How To Block or Redirect Unwanted Websites Using HOSTS File

In windows and Linus Operating system hosts file is one of the interesting and useful feature which provides many usefull options in addressing network nodes. For instance, you can use the hosts file to block many annoying ads, specific website like porn sites, pop-ups ads or banners, or even using host file you can crack some software to make it full version. On Wildhacker, I have already explained you how to crack IDM software using Host File.

Here in this article I will show you how to use host file to accomplish some of the above mentioned task.

What is a hosts File?

The hosts file is just like any other computer file that is used by the operating system to map hostnames and domain names on to their corresponding IP addresses.

In other words, when you type “google.com” on your browser’s address bar, your computer will look for the hosts file to see if it contains the corresponding IP address for the domain name you typed (google.com). In case if no entry is present in the hosts file, the request is then passed on to the DNS (Domain Name System) server to obtain the IP address.

When it comes to resolving the hostnames, the hosts file is given the first priority over the Domain Name System. In most cases, the hosts file remains unconfigured on the operating system and hence the DNS is used by the computer to resolve the domain names to their corresponding IP addresses.

However, if the hosts file is found to contain a valid entry for a given hostname or domain name, then this is picked up and used by the operating system.

Where is the hosts File Located?

In Windows operating system, the hosts file is located at:

%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Note: In most cases this should be:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

In Unix/Linux operating system, the host file is located at:

/etc/hosts

How to Block a Website?

To block a specific website on your computer, all you have to do is just add a new entry for that site in the hosts file.

Note : I would prefer to backup the original file before modifying it. So, if something goes wrong, you can just delete it and restore the original one!

Well, here is a step-by-step procedure on how to create a new hosts file on Windows:

Step 1: Go to START => Then go to RUN and type the following text and click enter:

notepad %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Step 2: Now right click on hosts file and go to its properties, then go to security tab and then select your admin account, just below u will see an edit button (in front of change permissions), Now give the user full control and write and read rights and then click on apply and then click on Ok, now u will be able to edit the hosts file and save changes in it.

Detail Note about Granting Permission In Windows7:

For Windows 7 users, due to security reasons you will not be able to save hosts file.so follow this steps : First of all go to C:/ drive then go to Windows Folder and then go to System32 folder and then go to Drivers folder and then go to Etc Folder, in the Etc folder you will see the hosts file.

Now right click on hosts file and go to its properties then go to Security tab select Users under Group or user names and click on edit button,Permission For Host Window will get open, in that window select Users account and grant permission in bellow section which is "Permission for SYSTEM" by clicking all checkbox under "Allow" Name and press Ok.Dnt click on any Deny check box.

Note : If you have login through admin then skip this step2 .Its just for granting permission for editing file.

Step 3: Now a notepad file appears something like this as shown below:

Now just add those website in the hosts file which you wants to block. Now let us assume that you want to block the sites Facebook and Youtube on your computer. For this all you have to do is add the following lines to your hosts file:

127.0.0.1 facebook.com
127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
127.0.0.1 youtube.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com

Note : Each new entry should be placed on an individual line in Host file. The IP address and the hostname should be separated by a space or a tab. In this way, you can block any given website by just pointing it to the IP address 127.0.0.1.

Step 4: After adding website in Host file, save the notepad file. And exit from there.

That’s it. You’ve now successfully blocked those websites from loading on your computer.

How to Redirect a Website?

Suppose you want to redirect Facebook.com to Google.com, all you have to do is just add the following lines to your hosts file:

173.194.69.113 facebook.com
173.194.69.113 www.facebook.com

Here 173.194.69.113 is the IP address of Google.com. To find out the IP address of any given website, just go to command prompt and ping it. For example: ping google.com. You should get a ping response that displays the IP address as shown below:

From now on, whenever you type “facebook.com” on your browser, you will be redirected to “google.com”.

How to Block the Annoying Ads on your computer?

Download this MVPS HOSTS file which includes entries for most major annoying ads, banners, pop-ups and other parasites. In this hosts file there are lots of entries of unwanted sites like annoying ads and pop-ups that usually load while you are surfing the Internet. You can also receive regular updates on this to stay up-to-date. You can download MVPS hosts file from the link given below:

Download MVPS hosts

Note: If you are playing around with the hosts file and something goes wrong, just restore backup Host file with modified one.

I hope you are now able to Block or Redirect Unwanted Websites Using HOSTS File. If you have any problem in this tutorial on
How To Block or Redirect Unwanted Websites Using HOSTS File
please mention it in comments....Enjoy .........

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