Block Websites without any software

This method uses window's hosts file. HOSTS file to maintain a personal list of web addresses. Any time a request is made for a URL, the HOSTS file will be checked first. If a corresponding address is found you will be directed to that IP without first consulting a DNS Server. The original intent of this file was to define where sites exist; we will use it in this context to define where they don’t exist.

Lets first look at a HOSTS file entry

127.0.0.1 localhost

This is the loopback address for your machine for those cases where an application needs to reference the local machine by IP address- the loopback address will always be valid. This entry should never be changed.

Now lets add an entry to block

127.0.0.1 www.yahoo.com

We are telling our local machine that Yahoo actually exists on the local machine. Any request for www.yahoo.com will be directed to the local machine and therefore effectively blocked. You could also use the IP of another website if you wanted to be creative.

Let’s take a closer look at a URL http://www.yahoo.com

* http:// defines the transfer protocol in this case Hyper Text Transport Protocol; this is the standard for viewing websites. Another common protocol is ftp:// for file transfer.
* www is the host
* yahoo.com is the domain
* .com is further classified as the TLD (Top Level Domain)

A HOSTS file entry will disregard the transfer protocol so it isn’t needed. However, the host does play an important role. A webmaster may choose to define a host for his/her website. “WWW” has become the universal standard for the default host. It is just as common to define a site with no host as well. This means that as far as DNS goes www.yahoo.com & yahoo.com are two totally different sites, even though they resolve to the same place. Because of this to effectively block the site, you must also block all hosts. This would usually mean:

127.0.0.1 yahoo.com

127.0.0.1 www.yahoo.com

Now if you want to redirect yahoo.com to any other website then in place of 127.0.0.1 you just have to put the ip address of the site to which you want to redirect. For example

209.85.231.104 yahoo.com

209.85.231.104 corresponds to google.com. Now whenever someone tries to go to yahoo.com he will be redirected to google.com.

Now question arises how to get the ip address of the website. Thats simple - Open Command prompt and type ping "your site (google.com for me)" and hit enter and you will get the ip address.


This method is simple and working for IE and Firefox. IE also has a feature called CONTENT ADVISOR.

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IE: Content advisor and password recovery

This step-by-step article describes how to use the Internet Explorer 6.0 Content Advisor to control access to Web sites. You can configure Internet Explorer to control the kinds of content users can view in the browser.

You can control content in two manners. You can use content rating systems, or you can specify Web sites. Administration of content-rating systems is done by independent organizations. Internet Explorer defaults to the ratings from the Internet Content Ratings association.

HOW TO: Use the Internet Explorer 6 Content Advisor to Control Access to Web Sites in Internet Explorer
Browse the Web with Internet Explorer 6 and Content Advisor

And incase you forgot the password you can remove it from the following method:

The following steps will remove any password set in the Internet Explorer Content Advisor and allow you to reset the program to its original state.

1) Click on Start and choose Run.
2) Type in RegEdit and select OK.
3) Now click on the little plus sign to the left of H_KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
4) Continue to drill down, always clicking on the plus sign at the left of the named key, through Software, Microsoft, Windows, Current Version and Policies.
5) Now click on the Ratings folder.
6) In the right pane of the RegEdit window, you'll see an icon called Key. Click on it and press Delete.
7) Next, choose Registry and then Exit to exit RegEdit. You've just deleted your original Content Advisor password.
8) Restart the computer and run Internet Explorer again.
9) Choose View and then Internet Options (or Options for version 3.x). For IE 5 or greater, Click on Tools, Internet Options.
10) Click on the Content tab and click on Disable. When asked for a password, don't enter anything; just click on OK. This will disable Content Advisor because there's no longer a password.



How to Fix Problems with Content Advisor Missing Information

In most cases, this problem occurs when the Ratings.pol file is damaged, follow the instructions below to fix this issue.

1) Quit Internet Explorer
2) Open My Computer, click on Tools, Folder Options
3) Click on the View tab and make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is selected, you may also want to uncheck the box next to "Hide extensions for known file types" and click Ok
4) Double click on Drive C in My Computer
5) Double click on the Windows folder and then double click on the System folder
6) Search for the file RATINGS.POL and right click on it and choose Rename. Rename it to RATINGS.OLD
7) Close out of the open Windows and then reopen Internet Explorer
8) Click on Tools, Internet Options
9) Click on the Content tab, then click on Settings
10) Type in the Supervisor password if necessary and click Ok
11) Select the Ratings options you would like and click Ok and close out of Internet Explorer
12) When you reopen Internet Explorer, everything should work.
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