Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: drahnier on June 21, 2005, 07:59:32 AM
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I would like to use a list of ad servers provides by http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/ with avast!'s url blocking feature.
The ad server list is available in various formats and somehow it should be possible to import it into avast!'s webshield.
So my question might be: Where does avast! store the list of to be blocked urls? And what format does avast! use?
Currently I use WebWasher to block those urls and my idea is to get rid of WebWasher if avast! turns out to be sufficiently effective in blocking ad sites.
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drahnier
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Web Shields main purpose is to block malware,not to block ads (although you can :) ).
Are you using Mozilla/Firefox browser?
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Web Shields main purpose is to block malware,not to block ads (although you can :) ).
Are you using Mozilla/Firefox browser?
I'm well aware of avast!'s main purpose, but I would like to give it a try anyway. It's too temptimg to possibly get rid of another piece of software ...
And no, I don't use Mozilla/Firefox. There is really no compelling reason to do so - imho.
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Well now it might be. You can block ads by using AdBlock extension for Firefox.
Block list for AdBlock can be found on my eXcessive Software page found in my signature.
For me,AdBlock is probably the one and main reason to use Firefox. It's just so damn good :) Otherwise i'd probably use Opera hehe
Just load the block list to AdBlock extension and say goodby to ad banners and other crap on webpages.
WebWasher is ok,but not nearly as flexible and effective as AdBlock.
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Well now it might be. You can block ads by using AdBlock extension for Firefox.
Block list for AdBlock can be found on my eXcessive Software page found in my signature.
For me,AdBlock is probably the one and main reason to use Firefox. It's just so damn good :) Otherwise i'd probably use Opera hehe
Just load the block list to AdBlock extension and say goodby to ad banners and other crap on webpages.
WebWasher is ok,but not nearly as flexible and effective as AdBlock.
Well, now that you have promoted Firefox, back to my original question ...
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No i haven't promoted Firefox and i have answered your question.
Web Shield is not an AdBlocking program. WebWasher is,but it has way too many compatibility problems and doesn't do it's job as it should.
I don't care which browser you use even if its Internet Exporer 1.0.
I just gave you the most logical (and actually working and usefull) solution.
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RejZoR's right: it is an excellent solution if you want to block ads.
I believe the avast! team have something up their sleave for version 5: the possibility of adding a blocklist to webshield rather than individual entries. Being an anti-virus company, they may well be concentrating on malware rather than adware servers, we shall have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Firefox Adblock is recommended if you don't like ads.
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I think they have said there are limitations in listsize so probably not of much use. Smells much like a "Pro" feature to me?
There are better solutions than Webwasher, Google "edexter dnskong no-ads" - both IE and Firefox have build in protection just not used. Some info about is here http://www.sherylcanter.com/articles/oreilly_20040330_HostsPac.php
http://remember.mine.nu/ have most you need. As long as host file is maintained it is still good solution but look into edexter and dnskong. Dnskong give systemwide protection! Will work in all browsers, a bit like Ad Muncher which is the best by far but not free.
About Adblock: Forget orignal Adblock Plus is better http://www.sitesled.com/members/bene/adblock.htm latest dev. har working whitelist for example. No more crybaby talk about killing revenues, if site is worth supporting user can whitelist it. Then either show ads or download but hide them. Author says he will not add more, now only want to improve compatibility. Sweet words.
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Wow,it's realy great...
...if i could at least download it ::)
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If you refer to Adblock whitelist yes it is great you can download ads but still hide them with a per site policy. What people have been asking of Adblock for ages. Default = kill them all - User selected sites = ad supported but with option of hiding them.
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Not actually. I prefer global generic based blocking. I hate damn ads all the way.
But i can't test this AdBlock Plus since i can't even download it...
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You have to travel some links. Here it is http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=266291
Well the debate of ad-killing vs. ad-support is more or less dead with whitelisting option. General blocking not popular everywhere. Now user has more control... Ive allready added at least 10 "good" sites which depend on ads to some degree. No more talk about lost revenues etc.
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drahnier, unfortunately, there's no IMPORT feature...
The definitions are in the MDB or XML file (depending on the Database=... setting in the INI file) but I wouldn't recommend changing it directly (they're assumed to be divided into parts).
Thanks
Vlk
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No i haven't promoted Firefox and i have answered your question.
Web Shield is not an AdBlocking program. WebWasher is,but it has way too many compatibility problems and doesn't do it's job as it should.
I don't care which browser you use even if its Internet Exporer 1.0.
I just gave you the most logical (and actually working and usefull) solution.
RejZoR: As a special service just for you I'll repeat my question:
"So my question might be: Where does avast! store the list of to be blocked urls? And what format does avast! use?"
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In the ODBC/XML database.
You're limited by the number of entries anyway.
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Not limited anymore in the current build, to be more precise...
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Thanks Vlk (and thanks RejZoR).
So I learned that avast! is not very suitable for what I want to do. from a simple answer to a simple question.
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Well quite an effective ad blocking can AFAIK be achieved with a surprisingly small number of masks...
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My AdBlock is massively relying on such masks. And i must admit they are very effective.
Only problem with Web Shield blocking is that it doesn't collapse web objects like AdBlock does. It also can't always remove all ads (some visual glitches are left).
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I know your question is where avast saves the blocked url so u can edit the file manually and add many urs in few buttons, Well I dont know BUT Since your objective is to just block the ads and get rid of the software doing it, You can use the way I do it.
By ediitng your host file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
This way
1) All ads sites will blocked at cost of no new software, No annoying banners
2) many many sites which spread viruses and spywares will be blocked
3) even if a spyware gets in ur pc, theres less chance it would be able to connect to its host and show banners/download malware etc
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My AdBlock is massively relying on such masks.
Can you post the masks (rules) here? Thanks.
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Host file is hard to control and far from AdBlock flexibility. You're limited only to domains.
Tech,masks are the same as for avast! exclusions or Web Shield exclusion rules.
There are several more complicated syntax,but i used only simple asterix formatting.
Easy to control and very effective.
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You're limited only to domains.
Can you send me an IM (or email) with a list of them? Thanks.
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What? ???
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What? ???
I've understood that you block the access to some sites using their domain. Do you have a listo of these (dangerous) domains?
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I know your question is where avast saves the blocked url so u can edit the file manually and add many urs in few buttons, Well I dont know BUT Since your objective is to just block the ads and get rid of the software doing it, You can use the way I do it.
By ediitng your host file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
This way
1) All ads sites will blocked at cost of no new software, No annoying banners
2) many many sites which spread viruses and spywares will be blocked
3) even if a spyware gets in ur pc, theres less chance it would be able to connect to its host and show banners/download malware etc
I'm aware of this method.
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Tech,domains are not dangerous. They just host ads. List can be downloaded from my page (eXcessive AdBlock filterlist).
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Tech, here's the list of DANGEROUS DOMAINS which spread trojans, spywares etc + AD HOSTING DOMAINS
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt
Its in host file format, u can always use "find and replace command' to delete all the 127.0.0.1 and will be left with just domina names.
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Tech, here's the list of DANGEROUS DOMAINS which spread trojans, spywares etc + AD HOSTING DOMAINS
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt
Its in host file format, u can always use "find and replace command' to delete all the 127.0.0.1 and will be left with just domina names.
Many thanks, very useful ;)
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I know your question is where avast saves the blocked url so u can edit the file manually and add many urs in few buttons, Well I dont know BUT Since your objective is to just block the ads and get rid of the software doing it, You can use the way I do it.
By ediitng your host file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
This way
1) All ads sites will blocked at cost of no new software, No annoying banners
2) many many sites which spread viruses and spywares will be blocked
3) even if a spyware gets in ur pc, theres less chance it would be able to connect to its host and show banners/download malware etc
The problem with the hosts file is that it is useless when you are working with a provider proxy.
Using the URL Blocking feature with a small but finetuned URL-Blocking list is the best solution for me at last. I can use any browser I want and still get most of the ads blocked by avast! Beautiful!
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Another alternative is to use a blocking program such as Adfree which can be found here ...... http://lucille.dhs.org/adfree.html ... Adfree is also free itself though a donation is asked for on the website. This program works very well using a list of known adserver URLs which can be updated. You can even substitute your favorite photo located on your computer in place of the ads ... or just use the colored block-outs.
I hope this helps you. :)
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