PCMech Forums - View Single Post - Firefox still getting pop ups: from Fusion something?

***glc*** · 10-08-2006, 07:39 AM

When you opened the hosts file, did it have a bunch of stuff already there - like this?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open it again in the HJT viewer and make sure your new entry is still there under the 127.0.0.1 localhost line. If it isn't, you didn't get a good save, it may have saved it as hosts.txt. Try resaving it as "hosts" (using the quotes) after the next Notepad edit. You can blackhole any adserver you want this way, just point it to 127.0.0.1 the same way. That is how a hosts file works.

There are some 3rd party utilities out there that add a predetermined list of ad sites and/or spyware sites to your hosts file.

If you are looking at an O23 entry, you are not looking at the hosts file, you are looking at the HijackThis report from actually running the program. This is used for other purposes, if you are curious, browse some threads in the Security forum. It's used for ferreting out spyware that the usual tools can't get rid of.

10-08-2006, 07:39 AM	#16
*glc* Forum Administrator Staff Premium Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 37,701	When you opened the hosts file, did it have a bunch of stuff already there - like this? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- # Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp. # # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows. # # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name. # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one # space. # # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol. # # For example: # # 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server # 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host 127.0.0.1 localhost ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open it again in the HJT viewer and make sure your new entry is still there under the 127.0.0.1 localhost line. If it isn't, you didn't get a good save, it may have saved it as hosts.txt. Try resaving it as "hosts" (using the quotes) after the next Notepad edit. You can blackhole any adserver you want this way, just point it to 127.0.0.1 the same way. That is how a hosts file works. There are some 3rd party utilities out there that add a predetermined list of ad sites and/or spyware sites to your hosts file. If you are looking at an O23 entry, you are not looking at the hosts file, you are looking at the HijackThis report from actually running the program. This is used for other purposes, if you are curious, browse some threads in the Security forum. It's used for ferreting out spyware that the usual tools can't get rid of. Last edited by glc; 10-08-2006 at 07:47 AM.