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I use AdBlock+ for Firefox, but I was wondering if it would be possible to apply AdBlock+'s EasyList filter to the Windows Host file. I doubt that that is possible because of the rules in the EasyList filter like: &ad_box_. However, if I just wanted to block ads in a specific webpage, could I block those ads by making a line: 127.0.0.1 "url.com/whatever_ad_address_is_here" for every address I see blocked on the webpage by AdBlock+?

If not, do you guys know of any free firewall programs that could accomplish what I'm going for? The reason I ask is because I have a game client that I want to use, but it's annoying to use because it doesn't block ads like Firefox.

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  • it would be a bad idea to add ten's of thousands of entries to a hosts file. its just a text file, so it needs to be parsed line by line to look for matches, so every hostname lookup would result in the whole file being read line-by-line. Instead you probably want to look into somthing like PeerGuardian (or whatever the current flavor is), and get the ads lists from bluetack or another online provider like IBlockList.
    – Frank Thomas
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 20:10
  • @FrankThomas Sadly, I already have Peerblock with lists like that, and it doesn't work on this client.
    – KlingL
    Commented Sep 1, 2015 at 20:22

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The challenge with a hosts file strategy is that it is an all or nothing filter at the DNS level; you cannot append a specific resource onto the end of it. It basically says "redirect all all requests for foo.com to this IP".

You're better to restrict your local hosts file to domains known as "100% bad" like malware domains, in which case you can use Peter Lowe's ad tracker list or malware domains lists that are already in the hosts file format.

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