SAS and Sygate Firewall incompatible??

[DavidR]

Still the same remove the entries I mentioned only, as a list that isn't maintained is worse than useless, and it isn't easy to look through it to ensure that something hasn't inserted anything into it.

So this line and above it is OK:
127.0.0.1       localhost

The rest remove.

[Jet]

David, ran into a problem.   I first had to right-click the file icon to open it and selected NotePad.  I highlighted and deleted the long list of entries.  When I went to save it, got a message saying it "couldn't create the WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\host file - make sure the path is correct" .  It only let me save it with a new name as a txt. file.  But the host file is still in the "etc" folder and when I open it again, all those entries I deleted are still there!

(by the way, I  haven't seen that annoying popup in Yahoo Messenger since downloading the NoScript and logging out of that Chat/Text window following the instructions on the link I found)

[YoKenny]

I see that you now have more than 20 posts which will permit you to update your profile to include signature information.

Go to PROFILE then Modify Profile then Forum Profile Information then Signature: and put information about your system if you like just like my sigature.

If you are using Vista or Windows 7 then the HOSTS file can only be replaced in Administrator mode so you have to select Notepad to Run as administrator. 

[DavidR]

David, ran into a problem.   I first had to right-click the file icon to open it and selected NotePad.  I highlighted and deleted the long list of entries.  When I went to save it, got a message saying it "couldn't create the WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\host file - make sure the path is correct" .  It only let me save it with a new name as a txt. file.  But the host file is still in the "etc" folder and when I open it again, all those entries I deleted are still there!

(by the way, I  haven't seen that annoying popup in Yahoo Messenger since downloading the NoScript and logging out of that Chat/Text window following the instructions on the link I found)

Didn't you do as suggested and select the All File option:

Now save the file, make sure that you have the Save as type: value set to All Files and ensure that a .txt value isn't added to the Hosts file name.

Whilst the NoScript add-on is good for when you visit sites for the first time, if you allow sites you visit regularly to run scripts then this protection is lessened. When I make permissions for a site permanent, I only do it for that site, not third party sites which may also have scripts on that site.

There may well be some 3rd party scripts that will need to be enabled fo it to function fully, that is done by enabling (temporarily) them one at a time to find the essential one/s. You then disable those that aren't essential and perhaps allow permanently those you consider essential. Whilst this seems like a lot of leg work, it doesn't take long to sort the sites you visit regularly, but the added protection is worth the hassle I believe.

[Jet]

David, I tried selecting the All Files option but it still only saves it as a .txt file. 

Even though the name of the file shows in the subject line as simply "hosts" and not hosts.txt, the only new file that appears in the "etc" folder is a new "hosts" file that is a text document.  The original 'hosts' is still there with all those entries from Spybot intact...

[DavidR]

Try deleting the original Hosts file, now rename the Hosts.txt file and drop the .txt of the end leaving Hosts only, Windows will have a whinge, are you sure, etc. answer yes.

If you don't do this the original hosts file would still be used and Hosts.txt would never be used as windows is looking for Hosts

[Spiritsongs]

   Hi Jet :

 Seems it would be easiest to "remove" those entries from your Hosts File by
 using the FREE "HostsXpert" program available at
 www.funkytoad.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=13 . IF successfully
 download, then installed, select the "Restore MS Hosts File" Option .

[Jet]

David, the .txt file version doesn't have .txt in the name.  The icon shows it as a text document, but when I open it and try to "save as", the File Name merely says "Hosts"; there is no txt tag to delete or change.  It won't let me save it in the same format as the original Hosts file.  If I go ahead and delete the original file, are you saying that Windows will then have no choice but to rely on the hosts text version? 

By the way there are also folders in "etc" titled "Imhosts" which is a "SAM file".  There is also a file called "hosts" with a bunch of numbers after it and a different icon, labled as a "backup file" and when I open it, it appears to be the "edited" version of the original hosts file, i.e. with all the Spybot entries removed.  If I rename this one "hosts" will that suffice you think??

thanks again

[DavidR]

They are all text files, so long as it doesn't have a file extension/type after the Hosts name then it should work. What I was saying is that if it has a .txt file suffix windows will NOT use it as that isn't what it is looking for.

So deleting the original and replacing it with the modified one saves as Hosts, if you use notepad and save a file with the file type Save as type: Text Documents (*.txt) then notepad would append the .txt, that is why I have been making such a big deal about selecting Save as type: All Files (see image) that way it doesn't append a file type if you haven't specified one in the name you have given it in the File name: field.

Ignore the other files, this is the only one we are concerned with or it would have been mentioned. One thing that confuses people is Windows idiotic default setting of hiding known file types (.txt being one such file type), so in explorer you don't see if there is a .txt file type appended.