block websites for free on Windows
MySpace, Facebook and other sites like them can be useful, but you may not want your younger children accessing them. You can always buy software that will block categories of websites, but there is an easy way of preventing individual sites from being accessed without buying any extra software. The only drawback to this method is that it requires you to know the address of the site, and only sites that you specify will be blocked. But, then again, it is free.
- Open notepad by clicking Start, Programs, Accessories then Notepad.
- Click File, Open
- Browse to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the file called “hosts”
- If you use Spybot or other spyware removal software, your file may have a hundreds of sites listed in it already, but either way, go down to the last line of the file and press Enter to create a new line.
- Enter the 127.0.0.1 and press your TAB key
- Enter the website address, for example “myspace.com” (without the quotes)
- Click File, Save
- Close Notepad.
- Click Start, Run and type “nbtstat -R” without the quotes
- You’ll get the response “Successful purge and preload of the NBT Remote Cache Name Table.” and the site you added will no longer be accessible.
To be able to access the site again, simple repeat the process, this time taking the line out that you had added.
