Some of you may already be using this method for blocking Internet ads, but here it is for those who were not aware.

There is a file in Windows (and other OSs too, but I assume you all use Windows) called the hosts file. It is located at C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

This ad blocking method "tricks" Windows into thinking the ad sites that regular websites link to are located on your computer instead of somewhere out on the Internets.

Your default hosts file should look something like this:



"localhost" is your computer.

Here is a snippet from a modified hosts file used for blocking ad sites (the actual file is much longer):



In this example, when whatever site you visit tries to load an ad from the site ads.sapo.pt, your computer will re-direct to 127.0.0.1 (your PC) where there obviously aren't any ads to load. The effect is that you will see a blank space on the legit website you are visiting where the ad would normally be.

This will also increase the speed at which your browser loads webpages and will decrease the amount of cookies left behind by ad servers.

If you decide to try this out, make a backup copy of your original hosts file before you replace it in case you want to switch it back.

The modified hosts file can be found here. This file came from a reputable source and I am using it myself.

here's a post which some of you may find useful.

i'm quoting the post in its entirety, with the sole exception of altering the host of the link file. the guy is a personal friend who works in the IT dept of a local university.

i searched and didn't find anything on this anywhere here.

I use adblock plus with firefox, blocks all the ads also. Its a little easier to get going i think, but then again, i am really lazy.