an id*** and the hosts file...

[joll69]

hello everyone, for some time, i have used a self-modified hosts file to block ads (not all, but many) from showing in IE6...this has worked remarkably well for quite some time (a couple months at least), but i was forced to reinstall xp the other day (cuz i screwed up the sys AGAIN) ...and used nlite (as i have before) to make the xp disc....since reinstalling, i restored my old hosts file, set the read only attribute, and then locked it (a zone alarm option)...now, no ads are blocked by it...i think i may have set an option too many in my nlite-ing...here's a copy and paste of the Last Session.ini recorded....

[Main]

Env = 1.0 beta 6 - 1.1.4322.2032.Microsoft Windows NT 5.1.2600.0

Target = Windows XP Professional Sp2 - build 2180 - English (United States)

[Tasks]

Remove Components

Unattended Setup

Integrate Hotfixes

Patches

Tweaks

[Components]

;# Applications #

Accessibility Options

Briefcase

ClipBook Viewer

Defragmenter

Internet Games

NT Backup

Pinball

Wordpad

;# Drivers #

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

Cameras and Camcorders

Display Adapters

Display Adapters (old)

Ethernet (LAN)

IBM Thinkpad

InfraRed

ISDN

MultiFunctional

Scanners

SCSI/RAID

Sony Jog Dial

Sound Controllers

Tape drives

Toshiba DVD decoder card

Wireless Ethernet (WLAN)

;# Hardware Support #

ATM Support

Battery

Brother Devices

Multi-port serial adapters

Multi-Processor Support

PCMCIA

;# Multimedia #

Images and Backgrounds

Luna Theme

Media Center

Mouse Cursors

Movie Maker

Music Samples

Tablet PC

;# Network #

Client for Netware Networks

Communication tools

Internet Connection Wizard

MSN Explorer

Netmeeting

Network Monitor Driver and Tools

Synchronization Manager

Web Folders

Windows Messenger

;# Operating System Options #

Administrator VB scripts

Color Schemes

Desktop Cleanup Wizard

File and Settings Wizard

Framework

Out of Box Experience (OOBE)

Search Assistant

Service Pack Messages

Tour

Zip Folders

;# Services #

Indexing Service

;# Directories #

SUPPORT

VALUEADD

;# Compatibility #

Compat01

Compat02

Compat04

Compat08

Compat10

[KeepFiles]

msconfig.exe

[RemoveFiles]

blastcln.exe

clock.avi

[Options]

AdminName = "root"

AdminNChange

ProfilesDir = "%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings"

TargetPath = "WINDOWS"

SrvpEnabled

;#ISO maker#

isovol = WinLite

isoatt = -allow-multidot -relaxed-filenames -allow-leading-dots -N -l -d -D -joliet-long -duplicates-once -no-emul-boot -b boot.bin -hide boot.bin -hide boot.catalog

[Patches]

DoTcpip

TcpIp = 100

DoUsbPoll

UsbPoll = 500

DoUxTheme

DoSFC

[services]

Alerter,4

ALG,3

AppMgmt,3

Browser,2

CryptSvc,2

DcomLaunch,2

DHCP,2

TrkWks,2

DNSCACHE,2

ERSvc,3

EventLog,2

HTTP,3

HTTPFilter,3

HidServ,4

IpInIp,3

IpNat,3

IpFilterDriver,3

PolicyAgent,2

Ip6Fw,3

NwlnkFlt,3

NwlnkFwd,3

Messenger,4

NDProxy,3

NetLogon,3

Netman,3

NetDDE,4

NetDDEdsdm,4

NLA,3

xmlprov,3

NtLmSsp,3

SysmonLog,3

PlugPlay,2

ProtectedStorage,2

RasAuto,3

RasMan,3

RpcLocator,3

RemoteRegistry,4

RemoteAccess,4

seclogon,2

SamSs,2

LanmanServer,2

SCardSvr,3

Srv,3

SENS,4

LMHosts,2

TapiSrv,3

Themes,2

UPS,3

VSS,3

AudioSrv,2

SharedAccess,3

Wmi,3

W32Time,2

LanmanWorkstation,2

[Tweaks]

;# Boot & Shutdown #

Auto-End Tasks

Auto-Kill Hung Apps

Auto-Kill Hung Services

Disable saving Last Good state at boot

Disabled

;# Explorer #

Add CMD SHELL:> to all Drives and Folders

Advanced Search: preconfigure options

Disable Beep on errors

Disable Prefix: Shortcut to

Remove Send To on context menu

Show all files and folders

Show extensions of known file-types

Show Statusbar in all windows

Use small icons in Explorer bar

;# File Open/Save Dialog #

Disable File MRU-List

;# Internet Explorer #

Disable Market Place bookmark

Disable Media Player 6.4 created bookmarks

Disable Outlook Express link creation

Disable Password-Caching

Preset Homepage to google.com

Set Internet Explorer to accept 10 connects a time

;# My Computer #

Add Device Manager to Context Menu

Add Services to Context Menu

Add Software to Context Menu

;# Network #

Disable administrative shares

Disable automatic search for network folders and printers

Disable DCOM protocol bindings

Disable DNS failure cache

Disable extra SMB notify-change traffic

Disable LAN-Manager from caching passwords

Disable LM HOSTS lookup

Disable Microsoft-DS (close port 445 TCP/UDP)

Disable restoring mapped network drives on logon

Disable Simple File Sharing

Hide PC in Workgroups/Domains

Remove remote-computer NameSpace

;# Privacy #

Clear most recently opened documents list on logoff

Disable and Remove Documents List from Start Menu

Disable Error Reporting

Disable Last accessed Timestamp on files

Disable Logging & Reboot on System Failure

Remove Alexa Spyware

;# Security #

Disable DCOM

Disable Windows Script Host (WSH)

Re-Enable user:pass URLs

Unhide Administrator account

;# Speed #

Classic Control Panel

Disable Optimize harddisk when idle

Disable paging of kernel and core-os

Disable Tracking of Broken Shortcut Links

Disable Warn on low disk space

Speed-up Access to AVI Media Files

;# Start Menu #

Disable Highlight newly installed programs

Disable popup on first boot

Do not use Personalized Menus

Expand Connect To

Expand My Computer

Expand Network Connections

Reduce popup delay

Remove Search the Internet from Search

Remove Set Program Access and Defaults

Remove Windows Catalog from Start Menu

Use small icons in Start Panel

;# Taskbar #

Disable Language-Bar

;# Visual Effects #

Disable: Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing

Disable: Show translucent selection rectangle

Disable: Show windows contents while dragging

Disable: Slide taskbar buttons

Disable: Smooth edges of screen fonts

Disable: Transitions and Shadows

Disable: Use a background image for each folder type

Disable: Use common tasks in folders

Disable: Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop

;# Windows Media Player #

Accept Privacy Statement

Disable auto-add music to library

Disable automatic codec download

Disable license backup prompt

Disable MRU

Disable scripting commands

Disable starting with Media Guide

Disable WMP auto-update

No visualization

Optimize fullscreen mode behaviour

Zoom video to windowsize

[unattended]

UnattendMode = FullUnattended

ComputerType = Automatic

ProgFilesPath = "C:\Program Files"

HibernationNo

AutoLogonYes

MaximumDataStorePercentOfDisk = 1

DefaultThemesOff

IISInstall = 2

[Drivers]

[Hotfixes]

E:\CustomXP\files\RVMUpdatePack1.3.1.cab

E:\CustomXP\files\RVMAddonsWMP10_1.0.cab

..........everything else works like a charm, but this one thing is maddening! can anyone see what i did wrong? or how to get the system to see and use the hosts file? i apologize if this is posted in the wrong section...

[firefoxthebomb]

I do not think that this is what you were asking for exactly but it may help you.

I use a program called Adsgone and it blocks popups and banners on web pages as well as help stop adaware and also blocks messneger popups. Might be a good solution for you.

[Xable]

Disable LM HOSTS lookup - that would be why it`s not working. Next time post stuff related to nlite in the nLite forum, you will get more help if your in the right section.

p.s. i`ve no idea how to reverse the tweak... but if you want to get rid of most ads... use FireFox

Edited September 30, 2005 by Neanderthal

[Yzöwl]

I don't really see how those two should be connected since the LMHOSTS file is different from the HOSTS file.

The HOSTS file contains IP name-to IP address mappings, whereas the LMHOSTS file maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses. HOSTS name resolution is equivalent to what the DNS server does, LMHOSTS name resolution is equivalent to what the WINS server does.

One thing I would check is that the order is such that the Hosts file is actually checked before the DNS.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider]
"DnsPriority"=dword:000007d0
"HostsPriority"=dword:000001f4
"LocalPriority"=dword:000001f3
"NetbtPriority"=dword:000007d1

The above are the default settings!

[joll69]

thanx for all the replies, and to answer those who posted, 1) zone alarm pro has a feature that blocks banner/skyscraper ads, but that tends to block legit images as well, that's why i use the hosts file...it's very specific, you see .....2)i'd rather avoid the fox if possible...it feels too much like netscape to me, for which i never was fond....3)thanx for those registry strings, but i checked my settings, and mine match the defaults exactly! i don't understand why it's not seeing the hosts file...as for future replies, i'd really appreciate it if a mod could move this topic to the nlite section..pretty please?! .......

[nakira]

It might seem silly, but make sure the path to hosts is set properly. Below is %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"DataBasePath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\
  00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\
  64,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,65,00,74,00,63,00,00,00

[joll69]

yeah, mine is set to that directory.....