Answering both you and Dan, here. You can get George Geyde's HOSTS =
Manager program he
http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/SoftMain.htm

It's at the bottom of that page (address is case-sensitive.) This =
program downloads the MVPS HOSTS file from MVPS.ORG, the home site for =
MS MVPs. MVPS.ORG is run by MVPs, not to be confused with the MVP =
Program site maintained by Microsoft. Mike Burgess, I believe it is, =
maintains the MVPS HOSTS file. As malicious sites are encountered--sites =
that are prone to loading adware, spyware, sites that provide the =
content for advertising banners, like doubleclick.com... or sites that =
barrage you with popups or trick you into going to a porn site, for =
instance--any sites that we find to be deleterious to the health of a =
computer we send the address on to Mike. He adds it to the HOSTS file.

Now, here's where I'm likely to lose you: Normally, on an everyday home =
computer, when you type in an internet address, www.microsft.com, for =
instance, that address isn't by itself going to get you anywhere. The =
*real* address you need is the IP address of the server that has the =
pages you want. An IP address is four sets of digits separated by =
periods. When you type in www.microsoft.com, and then press Go or Enter, =
the first thing that happens is your system queries you ISP's DNS =
server---Domain Name Server. That server has a catalog of domain names =
(microsoft.com) and matches it with the proper IP address for you to =
use. That IP address is then used to route your system to the target =
server. Now, most domains have more than one server, if for no other =
reason than to act as backup. Domains like microsoft.com have many, many =
IP addresses to choose from. This is how they divide load. So, me living =
here in California, when I query my DNS server for the IP address for =
microsoft.com, I'm not likely to get the same one as someone in New York =
gets doing the same thing.

Got it? OK! Now for the HOSTS file. In business networks--in-house--each =
of the machine on that network have unique IP addresses. But it's a real =
PITA to remember the IP address of a server or another machine on the =
system, so we have the HOSTS file. A HOSTS file (no extension) is a =
plain text file that simply lists an IP address, followed by a space, =
followed by a familiar name, all on one line. Each line has that =
pairing--IP FamiliarName. If your address on a network that we share is =
192.168.1.932, I could make the following line in my HOSTS file:

192.168.1.932 jane

Then, wherever that address was needed, all I would have to do is type =
in "jane" and it would be automatically converted to 192.168.1.932.

Part 2 of the equation: By convention, your *own* machine is always =
127.0.0.1. But unless you are running an internet server on your system, =
if you put that number into the address bar of your browser, you are =
going to get a 404-Page Not Found. So, the idea behind using the HOSTS =
file for protection is to pair every undesirable address with the IP =
number 127.0.0.1. On my system, I *do* run an internet server, for =
testing my web pages and other uses I won't go into, and to make life =
more pleasant, I have a cute lady in a nice pose as my server's default =
page. So anytime an address in my HOSTS file gets called for, up pops my =
cutie instead. (Though more often, because the real address that's being =
called isn't a simple web page, I still get a 404, Page not found.

So, Mike Burgess has a HOSTS file he maintains, regularly updated when =
someone reports a malicious site, and you can download it any time from =
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip. You can read a *lot* more =
about it, and see pretty pictures, at =
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm. And, getting back to where I =
started out, you can install George Geyde's HOSTS Manager from =
http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/SoftMain.htm and it will do the =
downloading, unpacking and placing of the HOSTS file for you. It also =
locks the HOSTS file so malicious varmints can't mess with it, and =
reminds you every couple of weeks to check for an update--but I run it =
as a scheduled task with switches that make it totally automatic.

--=20
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
=20
"jane" wrote in message =
...
=20
"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
To be clear, I wouldn't use the additional protections because I am
satisfied with the protections I have in place. I find that =
duplication of
active scanning/blocking protection software usually leads to =
problems. I
use SpywareBlaster and the MVP HOSTS file, along with eTrust antivirus =
and
Firewall as active protection, all on top of properly conservative =
IE/OE
settings, and they seem to cover all the bases. Any more than that, =
Spybot's
additional tools like Immunization and TeaTime, for instance, tends to =
get
in my way without providing any additional protection.
=20
--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
=20
hello,
very little 'hello',
do not know if I am going to get way out of my depth,
but could you tell me what MVP HOSTs file means?
Is it somethng we all should have?;
I think I mentioned also once before that I dont have a firewall,
(kids are kept well away from matches in my house) and I havent
yet suffered any Internet Inconvenience due to it...
I know most people here have told me I should have one, I even
got told the same thing tonight from the person who gave me linux
disks, but I am yet to get past all the posts this newsgroup has
regarding the interference and problems caused by actually having
a fire-wall. (especially the problems it causes with a persons own =
ISP.)
=20
That was not the reason for my post, my curiousity lies in the
the MVP hosts file. (& what is it?)
=20
regards Jane
=20