MakeFilters PowerShell Script 1.0
This can be run on any system with PowerShell installed - Windows 7 has this by default.
A PowerShell script which automatically downloads and converts an Adblock Plus blocklist - now uses the
official ABP EasyList (without element hiding) - into a registry file which allows someone to import it directly into IE without the need of using the GUI. Much simpler than downloading the new XML, unpacking, opening IE, deleting the old filters and importing the new ones. Just run script then import to registry.
Note: MakeFilters 1.2+ uses Fanboy TPLs (for IE9) and converts them to an IE8 InPrivate Filter List registry file.
Follow the download link below to the new post.
For any of you wanting to cut out the middle man entirely and "autoupdate" this is now possible via Windows Task Scheduler, and I've included automation instructions. I have mine set to update weekly.
Lastly, to avoid IE making its own "false positives" I recommend setting StartMode to 2 and it'll default open to "Choose content to block" and only block those things you choose and what you've imported for filters. Don't fret, I've included a registry file which sets these values for you.
So without further ado,
Download the MakeFilters package. Enjoy!
Notes:
- It takes a little while to convert to the hexadecimal format necessary for the WebFilters DB registry key. If any PowerShell wizards are out there who can improve on this, feel free.
- "exceptions.ini" in the package can be used to add sites to whitelist in the event of something breaking (like google.com, gstatic.com and wikimedia.org for Temi_D's Fanboy-based filters), however the exceptions list currently only has entries for Google Maps as I have no problem on Wikipedia with my EasyList-based filters.
- I've been using the new EasyList-based filters for a couple days and they seem to block all ads on every site I use regularly; works better than when I used Fanboy for this script, which broke Facebook/Hotmail, etc. Of course, milage may vary.
- Thanks to Temi_D for inspiring me to dig around further in the registry and figure out the format for the filters db. Cheers!