You may be wondering if mapping a host name to its actual IP address will speed browsing up due to not having to do a DNS lookup. The answer is yes BUT people have a tendency to move their sites from one server to another. When a person moves from one town to another he/she gets a new mailing address. Moving a web site to another server is much like a person moving to another town it receives a new IP address. Remember the DNS process halts once the host name has been resolved into an IP address. When this happens and you have the site mapped to a particular IP address, that site will no longer be available until you remove it from your host file.
Another faster easier way to add sites to your host file is to download one. There are several available and if you use Spy-Bot Search & Destroy you can utilize the host file that comes with it. One of the best know hosts files can be downloaded from MVPS.org. It comes as a .zip file, just unzip it and move it to the appropriate location for your operating system.
Also available are several utilities with which you can manage your hosts file.
There is even a utility to replace the empty spots in web pages where ads usually go with an image instead of the "Action Canceled" screen.
The eDexter utility works on Windows 95/98/ME and 2000, however, it caused some problems on Windows XP when I tried it. A newer version has been released since then hopefully with the problems fixed.
Another problem that can occur with Windows XP/2000 is that large hosts files can slow the machine down. The entire hosts file is loaded on startup and interacts with the "DNS Client" Windows service. If you have a stand alone machine (not networked or accessing the web through a proxy server) there is a solution for this problem. Click your "Start" button then click on "Run". In the "Run" dialog type "services.msc" into the box labeled "Open:"
Then click "OK".
This opens the "Services" dialog. Scroll down until you find "DNS Client" and right click it.
When the right click menu opens click "properties".
This will open the "DNS Client Properties" dialog.
- Click the down arrow in the box labeled "Startup Type:"
- Click on the "Manual" selection in the drop down menu this turns on the "Apply" button
- Click the "Apply" button
- Click the "OK" button.
The next thing to do is close all programs and reboot your computer. Since Microsoft arranged the default configuration of Windows XP for maximum "out of the box" functionality, there are services running at startup that aren't needed by every user. The "DNS Client" service is one that is only needed by networked computers or if you connect to the Internet through a proxy server. There are other services that can be "turned off" but tweaking XP for performance is another subject. The point is you should see improved performance with no ill effects from this adjustment.
If you have unanswered questions or just want more detail on the subjects covered here, DNS and Hosts files have been covered in depth by several sites. Just use your favorite search engine to lookup IP, DNS, or Host File. The links listed below will give you plenty of information on the subjects and there are countless others on the web.
Security Now pod casts for those that prefer to listen
For those that prefer to read
- Hosts File on Wikipedia
- Domain Name System on Wikipedia
- Domain Name System on HowStuffWorks.com
Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names have been included in the above text that are trademarks of the respective companies.
