host file interferes with webshield

[stevejrc]

does a host file need    127.0.0.1 webshield   or something?

Im using sygate with mvps host file. (starts with 127.0.0.1  localhost) *with eDexter
When hosts and websheild are enabled, pages hang after a while.
Disabling either then fixes it. So its not one or the other that causes the problem, just both.

XP sp2, IE6


doh... just started to hang with just webshield enabled so its not hosts file.. I tried webshield patch same thing.

[DavidR]

does a host file need    127.0.0.1 webshield   or something?

No.

It is quite possible that the hosts file could interfere with web shield since the host file would be trying to redirect certain web sites back to localhost (127.0.0.1), I don't know if this would create some form of loop.

Since you don't state what the contents of your hosts file are and the fact that my limited knowledge of the workings of the hosts file, hopefully someone else can give some advice.

There are now a number of threads about sygate's inability to identify localhost traffic as other than web shield, so I would suggest a forum search or brows the subject titles in this forum.

[kpfuser]

It is quite possible that the hosts file could interfere with web shield since the host file would be trying to redirect certain web sites back to localhost (127.0.0.1), I don't know if this would create some form of loop.

I am afraid this is not true. What would otherwise be redirected to localhost is actually redirected to e-Dexter, which is a sort of local server. The role of e-Dexter is to break up loops such as those suggested in the quote. e-Dexter does this by supplying an image thus 'answering' the website that was directed to localhost. This image will flash on screen thus signifying that an attempt was made by the browser to access one of those sites the Hosts file blocks. For as long as e-Dexter is working properly, no loop, and therefore no hangup, will be created. In my opinion, the observed hangup cannot be attributed to the existence of the combination of a Hosts file and e-Dexter, provided that both of them are configured correctly.

[DavidR]

As I said.

1. I have no idea as to the contents of his host file or what he does with it, unfortunately I have any idea what e-Dexter does. If this is some form of proxy, then that and web shields proxy may need to be put into some sort of order.

2. The operative words in the quote is could interfere, not knowing the contents or how he uses his hosts file, I couldn't say it would interfere.

If you are using the hosts file and e-Dexter whit web shield, perhaps you can let us know your settings.

[stevejrc]

I edited the post with: "doh... just started to hang with just webshield enabled so its not hosts file.. "

its not hosts file causing it. so I guess its same problem as some others have using webshield. its been fine for last few hours and last night, hangups just start and eventually google stops aswell. disabling webshield fixes it.

[DavidR]

I think that there is more to this than meets the eye.

I previously knew nothing about the contents of or action of your hosts file or 'e-Dexter', so I looked it up in Google and found that it is in effect a localhost that listens on port 80. This is also the port that web shield is redirecting, so perhaps they need to be aligned/tweaked to work together and avoid conflict. However, with my very limited knowledge on host file ops and none on e-dexter I couldn't be confident in saying this is why the conflict is happening.

e-dexter FAQ - http://accs-net.com/hosts/faq.html
(6.) Why doesn't the Hosts file work with my proxy settings?

Some proxy servers can not be bypassed, unfortunately, and will not work with the Hosts file properly according to Microsoft. This is because of a bug in the programming of the way Hosts is handled by Windows. The work around for this is to add all the entries from your Hosts file into the exclusions section of your proxy settings in Internet Explorer. This would be very time consuming, and is not recommended. The other thing you can do is visit the GRC FAQ site and read the information about "nasties.reg." You can use this file to add many add servers to your Restricted Zone in IE, and if you do so you can then block cookies using the Restricted Zones settings and that will stop tracking from those servers. If you use Netscape, I don't currently have such a procedure available, because it does not use restricted zones.