HOSTS file does nothing?

Hi all,

I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.

I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file is being
totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but as far as I can
tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?

I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?

TIA,
Alex

Robert
Fri Aug 08 12:29:32 PDT 2008

1. Do you have extension on the hosts file, for example hosts.txt?
2. if ping Google.com, do you receive 127.0.0.1?

--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:ORf6TrY%23IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
> and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
> worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
> promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.
>
> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file is being
> totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but as far as I can
> tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>
> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>
> TIA,
> Alex
>

Bruno
Fri Aug 08 12:33:22 PDT 2008

"Alex Clark" wrote:
> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
> and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
> worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
> promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.

The hosts file in is "\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc" and has no extension.
Is it the file you've edited?

Ken
Fri Aug 08 12:38:51 PDT 2008

On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 15:33:22 -0400, "Bruno" <bgarbay@yahoo.com> wrote:

> "Alex Clark" wrote:
> > I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
> > and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
> > worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
> > promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.
>
> The hosts file in is "\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc" and has no extension.
> Is it the file you've edited?


And, Alex, exactly how did you edit it? Please copy and paste the line
here.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

John
Fri Aug 08 12:49:58 PDT 2008

"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in
news:ORf6TrY#IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:

> Hi all,
>
> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server
> domains and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test
> whether my hosts file worked at all, I directed www.google.com to
> 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It promptly loaded www.google.com without
> any bother at all.
>
> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file
> is being totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but
> as far as I can tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>
> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>
> TIA,
> Alex

It is doubtful that the Hosts file is being ignored.
To test, try creating a new Hosts entry "abc" and assign it the
numeric IP address of, say, yahoo.com. Then try pinging "abc"...

A couple of things could cause the behavior you describe.

First: Are you accessing the internet through a proxy server? If so,
the proxy server will do the lookups for you.

Second: Browsers are sometimes too smart for their own good. It may
have tried "www.google.com", as specified, and it might have failed
because of your Hosts entry. It then might have automatically tried
"google.com" (which is _not_ the same as far as a Host file is
concerned) which probably did work.

HTH,
John

Alex
Fri Aug 08 13:08:28 PDT 2008

> 1. Do you have extension on the hosts file, for example hosts.txt?

Nope, it's just HOSTS and it's in my c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc folder

> 2. if ping Google.com, do you receive 127.0.0.1?

Yes! Which tends to imply that IE is doing its own lookup and ignoring the
HOSTS file...?




"Robert L. (MS-MVP)" <findemail@chicagotech.net> wrote in message
news:eMi5RzY%23IHA.3344@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> --
> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
> http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
> http://www.HowToNetworking.com
> "Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
> news:ORf6TrY%23IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server
>> domains and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my
>> hosts file worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran
>> IE. It promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.
>>
>> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file is
>> being totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but as far as
>> I can tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>>
>> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>>
>> TIA,
>> Alex
>>
>

Alex
Fri Aug 08 13:16:48 PDT 2008

Here are a couple of lines I've added:

127.0.0.1 google.com
127.0.0.1 www.google.com

Pinging either of the above resolves to 127.0.0.1. Surfing via IE takes me
to the Google homepage.

> First: Are you accessing the internet through a proxy server? If so,
> the proxy server will do the lookups for you.

I think you've just hit upon the problem - I believe my ISP has some sort of
transparent proxy. So they must be doing the lookup work then, rendering my
HOSTS file irrelevant ya reckon? That's a pain, because I could do with
filtering out a few domains.

AHA! Altering the IE connection settings to add a proxy exception for
addresses beginning with *.google.com seems to prevent it loading though!

At least that explains it, but I don't fancy having to add a long list of
blacklisted sites to that tiny little textbox in the IE settings. Sounds
like it may be the only solution though :-(

Thanks for all your help, and that goes to everyone on this thread.
Alex Clark


"John Wunderlich" <jwunderlich@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9AF4828B28wunderpsdrscray@138.126.254.210...
> "Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in
> news:ORf6TrY#IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server
>> domains and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test
>> whether my hosts file worked at all, I directed www.google.com to
>> 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It promptly loaded www.google.com without
>> any bother at all.
>>
>> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file
>> is being totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but
>> as far as I can tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>>
>> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>>
>> TIA,
>> Alex
>
> It is doubtful that the Hosts file is being ignored.
> To test, try creating a new Hosts entry "abc" and assign it the
> numeric IP address of, say, yahoo.com. Then try pinging "abc"...
>
> A couple of things could cause the behavior you describe.
>

>
> Second: Browsers are sometimes too smart for their own good. It may
> have tried "www.google.com", as specified, and it might have failed
> because of your Hosts entry. It then might have automatically tried
> "google.com" (which is _not_ the same as far as a Host file is
> concerned) which probably did work.
>
> HTH,
> John

Jack
Fri Aug 08 14:37:35 PDT 2008

Hi
Maybe this can Help, http://www.ezlan.net/host.html
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:ORf6TrY%23IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
> and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
> worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
> promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.
>
> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file is being
> totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but as far as I can
> tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>
> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>
> TIA,
> Alex
>

AlmostBob
Fri Aug 08 15:30:49 PDT 2008

Clear the TIF
cached pages are loaded from the tif


--
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spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
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Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.pandasoftware.com/ActiveScan/
Catalog of removal tools (1)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
Catalog of removal tools (2)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before use

Grateful thanks to the authors and webmasters
_

"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:ORf6TrY%23IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hi all,
>
> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server domains
> and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test whether my hosts file
> worked at all, I directed www.google.com to 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It
> promptly loaded www.google.com without any bother at all.
>
> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file is being
> totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but as far as I can
> tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>
> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>
> TIA,
> Alex
>

John
Fri Aug 08 16:53:24 PDT 2008

"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in
news:#s0M4OZ#IHA.1224@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:

> Here are a couple of lines I've added:
>
> 127.0.0.1 google.com
> 127.0.0.1 www.google.com
>
> Pinging either of the above resolves to 127.0.0.1. Surfing via IE
> takes me to the Google homepage.
>
>> First: Are you accessing the internet through a proxy server?
>> If so, the proxy server will do the lookups for you.
>
> I think you've just hit upon the problem - I believe my ISP has
> some sort of transparent proxy. So they must be doing the lookup
> work then, rendering my HOSTS file irrelevant ya reckon? That's a
> pain, because I could do with filtering out a few domains.
>
> AHA! Altering the IE connection settings to add a proxy exception
> for addresses beginning with *.google.com seems to prevent it
> loading though!
>
> At least that explains it, but I don't fancy having to add a long
> list of blacklisted sites to that tiny little textbox in the IE
> settings. Sounds like it may be the only solution though :-(
>
> Thanks for all your help, and that goes to everyone on this
> thread. Alex Clark
>
>
>> HTH,
>> John


Thanks for the feedback.
-- John

James
Mon Aug 11 00:20:16 PDT 2008


On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 15:08:28 -0500, "Alex Clark"
<quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote:

>> 1. Do you have extension on the hosts file, for example hosts.txt?
>
>Nope, it's just HOSTS and it's in my c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc folder
>
>> 2. if ping Google.com, do you receive 127.0.0.1?
>
>Yes! Which tends to imply that IE is doing its own lookup and ignoring the
>HOSTS file...?


c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc is only the "default" location for the
hosts file and an alternate is settable in the registry here.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\DataBasePath

Some malware will change this location to prevent being blocked by
hosts


Jim.

Gander
Mon Aug 11 04:42:10 PDT 2008

Alex Clark skrev:

> I think you've just hit upon the problem - I believe my ISP has some sort of
> transparent proxy. So they must be doing the lookup work then, rendering my
> HOSTS file irrelevant ya reckon? That's a pain, because I could do with
> filtering out a few domains.

A transparent proxy won't interfer with what you are trying to do. Only
a proxy you have entered into the proxy settings in your browser will
bypass your hosts file.

david
Wed Aug 13 21:34:02 PDT 2008

You don't have to enter the proxy settings though. The auto-discover
routine will automatically discover a proxy if the proxy responds
to auto-discovery, and the proxy settings will be filled in from the
auto-discover response.

This is not the same as a transparent proxy, this is just a different
way of filling in the proxy settings on your browser.

(david)

"Gander" <gander@.> wrote in message
news:OVz1Kd6%23IHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Alex Clark skrev:
>
>> I think you've just hit upon the problem - I believe my ISP has some sort
>> of transparent proxy. So they must be doing the lookup work then,
>> rendering my HOSTS file irrelevant ya reckon? That's a pain, because I
>> could do with filtering out a few domains.
>
> A transparent proxy won't interfer with what you are trying to do. Only a
> proxy you have entered into the proxy settings in your browser will bypass
> your hosts file.

david
Wed Aug 13 21:36:16 PDT 2008

> At least that explains it, but I don't fancy having to add a long list of
> blacklisted sites to that tiny little textbox in the IE settings. Sounds


You can get an IE settings update from the same people who maintain
hosts files. Have a look around the web to see if that is still true. You
just load the file and all the standard bad sites are blocked by your
browser.

(david)

"Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in message
news:%23s0M4OZ%23IHA.1224@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Here are a couple of lines I've added:
>
> 127.0.0.1 google.com
> 127.0.0.1 www.google.com
>
> Pinging either of the above resolves to 127.0.0.1. Surfing via IE takes
> me to the Google homepage.
>
>> First: Are you accessing the internet through a proxy server? If so,
>> the proxy server will do the lookups for you.
>
> I think you've just hit upon the problem - I believe my ISP has some sort
> of transparent proxy. So they must be doing the lookup work then,
> rendering my HOSTS file irrelevant ya reckon? That's a pain, because I
> could do with filtering out a few domains.
>
> AHA! Altering the IE connection settings to add a proxy exception for
> addresses beginning with *.google.com seems to prevent it loading though!
>
> At least that explains it, but I don't fancy having to add a long list of
> blacklisted sites to that tiny little textbox in the IE settings. Sounds
> like it may be the only solution though :-(
>
> Thanks for all your help, and that goes to everyone on this thread.
> Alex Clark
>
>
> "John Wunderlich" <jwunderlich@lycos.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns9AF4828B28wunderpsdrscray@138.126.254.210...
>> "Alex Clark" <quanta@noemail.noemail> wrote in
>> news:ORf6TrY#IHA.4472@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I edited my hosts file recently to block out a couple of ad-server
>>> domains and noticed it didn't do anything. Curious to test
>>> whether my hosts file worked at all, I directed www.google.com to
>>> 127.0.0.1 and ran IE. It promptly loaded www.google.com without
>>> any bother at all.
>>>
>>> I rebooted and still had the same issue. It seems the HOSTS file
>>> is being totally ignored. I've Googled for information on it but
>>> as far as I can tell, Windows XP still makes use of this file?
>>>
>>> I'm on XP Pro 64bit if that makes any difference?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>> Alex
>>
>> It is doubtful that the Hosts file is being ignored.
>> To test, try creating a new Hosts entry "abc" and assign it the
>> numeric IP address of, say, yahoo.com. Then try pinging "abc"...
>>
>> A couple of things could cause the behavior you describe.
>>
>
>>
>> Second: Browsers are sometimes too smart for their own good. It may
>> have tried "www.google.com", as specified, and it might have failed
>> because of your Hosts entry. It then might have automatically tried
>> "google.com" (which is _not_ the same as far as a Host file is
>> concerned) which probably did work.
>>
>> HTH,
>> John
>
>