Download: Mike's Ad Blocker
When you visit web sites, do all of the flashy ads on the page distract you? If the answer is yes, you might be interested in a free utility that blocks the ads from appearing. Instead of a frenzy of ads, you only see white space, sometimes with an "Action Cancelled" message in it. It has a side benefit of also preventing some spyware from reaching your computer.
The great thing about this utility is that it isn't an application program, it's just a data file that contains the addresses of advertisers. It operates on a very simple principle (called a HOSTS file). Mike Skallas, the one who provides this, has a very large list of known advertisers in his HOSTS file. All you need to do is download Mike's ad blocking HOSTS file and you will no longer see ads from those companies. There is no program to run to make it work, Windows automatically looks for and uses this file.
A permanent link to Mike's site is also available on the Paramount Digital Security downloads page. On Mike's site, there are two ways to get the HOSTS file. The easiest is to download the Installer program to your computer, then run it. The second way is to download the HOSTS file directly to a windows directory. Instructions are included on Mike's web page.
If you don't like the results and want the ads back, you can just restore your old HOSTS file. The installer even creates an entry in your Add/Remove programs list. One final note, most antispyware programs will see that your HOSTS file has changed and will report this as a possible hijacking, which you can ignore in this case. I use Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts file and highly recommend it.
The great thing about this utility is that it isn't an application program, it's just a data file that contains the addresses of advertisers. It operates on a very simple principle (called a HOSTS file). Mike Skallas, the one who provides this, has a very large list of known advertisers in his HOSTS file. All you need to do is download Mike's ad blocking HOSTS file and you will no longer see ads from those companies. There is no program to run to make it work, Windows automatically looks for and uses this file.
A permanent link to Mike's site is also available on the Paramount Digital Security downloads page. On Mike's site, there are two ways to get the HOSTS file. The easiest is to download the Installer program to your computer, then run it. The second way is to download the HOSTS file directly to a windows directory. Instructions are included on Mike's web page.
If you don't like the results and want the ads back, you can just restore your old HOSTS file. The installer even creates an entry in your Add/Remove programs list. One final note, most antispyware programs will see that your HOSTS file has changed and will report this as a possible hijacking, which you can ignore in this case. I use Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts file and highly recommend it.
posted by Peter at
11:16 PM
