Updating your HOSTS file.

[SealLion]

I gotta interuptt you both here. I've been using the BlockLIst Manager from BlueTack for quite some time to update uT's Ipfilter list as well as PG2 P2Pfilter.dat file.

Well. I had a look at what else BlueTack has to offer. I saw that they have a HostsManager. 'Very Handy', I thought. Decided to give it a try.

I find that this HostsManager from BlueTack is quite an improvement over other seperate softwares that you can also find on the net.

What I found out about the HostsManager from BlueTack is that you can select from the GUI to have the Hosts File be 'read only', which is actually quite necessary for the file to remain intact and unaltered from outside sources...if you understand my meaning of that.

Well. That is what I like about that.

ONe thing that I do need to ask is the following:

Is it necessary to have PG2 when the IPFilter.dat file inside uT has updates coming to it from Block List Manager from BlueTack??

You see BlueTack also allows PG2's P2Pfilter.dat file to be updated as well, It sounds like unnecessary protection to have both PG2 and the IPfilter.dat file inside uT protecting me from undesirable IPs.

Do you understand the question??

In other words, is PG2 necessary when uT has updates to its ipfilter.dat file and has the same undesirable IPs loaded in to it??


I am thinking of uninstalling PG2 if one is doing the same job as the other is.

[anon]

...
What I found out about the HostsManager from BlueTack is that you can select from the GUI to have the Hosts File be 'read only', which is actually quite necessary for the file to remain intact and unaltered from outside sources...if you understand my meaning of that.
...

a.k.a. spyware But it's very easy for some of them to bypass this protection; all Windows itself will do if you attempt to delete a read-only file is reconfirming this, for example...
It's a good measure though.

ONe thing that I do need to ask is the following:

Is it necessary to have PG2 when the IPFilter.dat file inside uT has updates coming to it from Block List Manager from BlueTack??

You see BlueTack also allows PG2's P2Pfilter.dat file to be updated as well, It sounds like unnecessary protection to have both PG2 and the IPfilter.dat file inside uT protecting me from undesirable IPs.

Do you understand the question??

In other words, is PG2 necessary when uT has updates to its ipfilter.dat file and has the same undesirable IPs loaded in to it??


I am thinking of uninstalling PG2 if one is doing the same job as the other is.

I once thought the same, too.

If you only use uTorrent along an ipfilter, it's not necessary to run PG2, since it'll just waste resources sitting there and not getting a chance to do anything as uT blocks ipfiltered ranges on TCP level.

But I, for example, also use Azureus, Faze and Ares, and the last two don't have a built-in IP blocker, so I need to run P2PFire separately.
Which also saves resources, as P2PF can take care of all four programs' IP blocking needs using just 5MB of RAM and 0% CPU, instead of the lots of memory Safepeer (the Azureus plugin), for example, needs to hold lists and block ranges.

So in short: if you use more than one P2P program, turn IP blocking off in all of them (for Azureus, also uninstall Safepeer), and use PG2 (or any other program), with a periodically updated blocklist (Bluetack's, in your case) to do this task instead. This way you achieve the same using less system resources.

[Aurion]

Well,yeah I remember back then when I was an Online Gamer FREAK! my HOSTS file was like 500KB+ size...which was lacking of integrity,still a bunch of connect 2 server lines were needed to keep the connection stable...

Good that I gave up those games now...was consuming lots of worthy bandwith leaving the Bot for more than 10 days ON just to grind some farming points

[anon]

Well,yeah I remember back then when I was an Online Gamer FREAK! my HOSTS file was like 500KB+ size...which was lacking of integrity,still a bunch of connect 2 server lines were needed to keep the connection stable...

500KB!? I'm not surprised you had connection issues, plus all those lines couldn't be to make the bot(s) work or..? All the ones I have used required just one line:

127.0.0.1 gameloginserver.here.com

Good that I gave up those games now...was consuming lots of worthy bandwith leaving the Bot for more than 10 days ON just to grind some farming points

Yes, that can be frustrating. That's why I got inside high-rate PvP servers back when I played L2 and Mu: you could jump 80 and 300 levels respectively in just one day, and make sure the game could be fun instead.

[SealLion]

a.k.a. spyware But it's very easy for some of them to bypass this protection; all Windows itself will do if you attempt to delete a read-only file is reconfirming this, .....

ah. very interesting.

so. how does one go about, if possible that is, in preventing an outside source from automatically reconfirming the delete, without the user's knowledge [if that is possible as well]????

[anon]

You'd need to use a separate real-time antispyware program; SpyBot SnD can monitor your HOSTS file (and other critical system sections) and alert you if an application changes it, for example.

[Aurion]

500KB!? I'm not surprised you had connection issues, plus all those lines couldn't be to make the bot(s) work or..? All the ones I have used required just one line:

127.0.0.1 gameloginserver.here.com

Yeah,I had the same lines for the game + some lines for the Virtual bot server to work aka Microsoft Loopback,so it sized about 479KB exactly...

Yes, that can be frustrating. That's why I got inside high-rate PvP servers back when I played L2 and Mu: you could jump 80 and 300 levels respectively in just one day, and make sure the game could be fun instead.

damn,sure it was way frustrating & interesting in the same time...man that game made me pay L.E 2700 (my local currency) during a 2 years playing period just to have more & more fun kicking a$$ with extra powerful weapons...

[anon]

Yeah,I had the same lines for the game + some lines for the Virtual bot server to work aka Microsoft Loopback,so it sized about 479KB exactly...

That'sa bit too much But if it worked correctly it was worth it

damn,sure it was way frustrating & interesting in the same time...man that game made me pay L.E 2700 (my local currency) during a 2 years playing period just to have more & more fun kicking a$$ with extra powerful weapons...

I played at private servers myself. For free, that is

[Aurion]

Well,SRO didn't have any private servers since it's a very closed source Online game compared with others...still people over there kinda LOVED the idea of paying dozens of bucks just to see their own characters holding SOS,SOM weaps/sets....that was the way it was

[anon]

Here the are two kinds of servers: the free private ones, where it's possible to play for free and level up very fast, but have some limitations, like not being able to "reset" your character more than 50 times, or not having access to higher-level weapons and armor; and the pay ones, where for a small fee you have guaranteed 24/7 server access (the public ones always fill up at night), can level up your char as much as you want, and have access to the VIP-only gear.
Either way, it's always fun

[Aurion]

yeah,the same was here too,you can freely make a character & level it up till the maximum,but you will have pains conneting in rush hours,especially from 12:00pm~11:00pm CET,after than the servers get a bit empty...Anyway,I used to ask a friend of mine to hack me some Gold,Silk & Bot Cards just to play absolutely free like the super VIP ones

[anon]

yeah,the same was here too,you can freely make a character & level it up till the maximum,but you will have pains conneting in rush hours,especially from 12:00pm~11:00pm CET,after than the servers get a bit empty...

Same here, at 19-20h (GMT -3) it'd be impossible to enter the server unless you kept an autoclicker running over "connect" for like a full minute...

Anyway,I used to ask a friend of mine to hack me some Gold,Silk & Bot Cards just to play absolutely free like the super VIP ones

Heh, once did a similar trick myself:

1. form a party with someone in the high XP zones.
2. type /follow in the command-window.
3. minimize the game using a minimizer hack (Shift+F12).
4. set its process' priority to "below normal".
5. check your new huge amounts of XP and money from time to time

You could also replace steps 1 and 2 with leaving a numpad-bot running once you had leveled up enough

[Aurion]

Well,forgot to mention that upon server rush I used to hook up with a NODC Client (No Disconnect) that will hung up connection traffic & reset it without the need to close then reopen the game's client (it's was an a$$ online game regarding start up & entering server,where you had to fill in your username & password then a captcha image below username/password fields for security checks to avoid auto captcha fillers)...so that NODC client was very simple to make & got way easier to generate the NODC patch after a couple of russian guys released a patcher (20KB sized) that you can use it after each week update to generate the updated NODC patch then implement it to the new client....it's a long story that time nor place would fit for telling it.... Still those days ROCKED back then with all the fuss about leveling up & getting your chatacter to the Hot Zone where ONLY Full Sunners Rule the place...

[divlord]

I update te hosts file according to the following URL
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

But it doesnt seem to block any ads. How do I check if its working?

[SealLion]

Here's what I did Divlord to check to see if its working:

Physically go to the URL by typing it into the address bar. Do you get a 'page not found' or OPen DNS message telling you that the address can't be found, or something else along the lines suggesting that you can't access the address.

to block ads use adblocker if yuor using Firefox.

If IE, sorry I don't know what IE has to block ads.

If you use Opera, there is something in the 'Help' file. I can't remember what action that is, but there is something there. I think its 'block all ads' in preferences