blocking websites

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 12:58

hi whats the easiest way to block websites, someone i know wants me to block certain websites, there isp is vodafone and operating system is vista

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:01

anyone help

Daegan · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:20

Hosts file, firewall rules, Vista Parental Controls, OpenDNS. All those would be easy options.

kai · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:22

There will be options on the Router.

tolien · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:23

Block certain websites based on what? A list of URLs you don't like, IPs of the servers, keywords in the pages?

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:26

tolien said:
Block certain websites based on what? A list of URLs you don't like, IPs of the servers, keywords in the pages?

urls

kai said:
There will be options on the Router.

there is no router

Daegan said:
Hosts file, firewall rules, Vista Parental Controls, OpenDNS. All those would be easy options.

how do i set Vista Parental Controls

Skidilliplop · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:29

the simplest way is to add the URLs in your hosts file and set the IP to 127.0.0.1.
Though if they have admin access to the PC they can undo this. Vista's parental controls i think are password protected.

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 14:54

Skidilliplop said:
the simplest way is to add the URLs in your hosts file and set the IP to 127.0.0.1.
Though if they have admin access to the PC they can undo this. Vista's parental controls i think are password protected.

they use a usb modem on a laptop

Daegan · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:14

PAULRYAN52 said:
how do i set Vista Parental Controls

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...controls-to-filter-websites-in-windows-vista/

Skidilliplop · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:28

PAULRYAN52 said:
they use a usb modem on a laptop

It shouldn't make any difference what connection they use, if you block IP connectivity you block internet access whatever medium is used to connect.

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:31

Daegan said:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...controls-to-filter-websites-in-windows-vista/

thanks

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:35

is there any software to do it instead

Skidilliplop · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:36

there's K9 webring. But most software isn't free thought a lot of it is quite cheap.

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:47

Skidilliplop said:
there's K9 webring. But most software isn't free thought a lot of it is quite cheap.

whats the best

Skidilliplop · 8 Jan 2009 at 15:59

The best is dependant on how much you want to pay.
Here we have web filtering from Sonicwall on a piece of hardware that cost lots of money.

Given they're on a USB modem and mobile broadband then I'd say K9 is fine, tbh if he knows the website URLs he wants to block adding them to hosts file is by far the simplest way and the cheapest way.

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 16:22

Skidilliplop said:
The best is dependant on how much you want to pay.
Here we have web filtering from Sonicwall on a piece of hardware that cost lots of money.

Given they're on a USB modem and mobile broadband then I'd say K9 is fine, tbh if he knows the website URLs he wants to block adding them to hosts file is by far the simplest way and the cheapest way.

how do i set up hosts file, sorry about all the questions

Skidilliplop · 8 Jan 2009 at 16:32

i'm not 100% on it's location in vista. In XP it was in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc. A quick Google should tell you where it is in vista.

In there is a file called "hosts" if you open that with notepad and edit it you can get the desired result. There's an example in there as default to show you what to put.
Basically you put the url and IP you want it to lookup for that address. The IP should be 127.0.0.1 which is loopback. I.e when that URL is requested the request never leaves the PC. e.g "www.google.co.uk 127.0.0.1" would block google

PAULRYAN52 · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:15

Skidilliplop said:
i'm not 100% on it's location in vista. In XP it was in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc. A quick Google should tell you where it is in vista.

In there is a file called "hosts" if you open that with notepad and edit it you can get the desired result. There's an example in there as default to show you what to put.
Basically you put the url and IP you want it to lookup for that address. The IP should be 127.0.0.1 which is loopback. I.e when that URL is requested the request never leaves the PC. e.g "www.google.co.uk 127.0.0.1" would block google

thanks sorted

Peace · 8 Jan 2009 at 20:56

Bluecoat K9 web protection is for free if you still looking.

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/