Refresh my memory... isn't there a .txt file in the windows or sys32 folder in which you can specify a "list" of IP's and domain names to refuse connections to?

 

 

 

Heres my reasoning - I'm setting up a computer for a friend of mine and he has two younger children and he is worried about them getting into sites they shouldn't be on.

 

 

 

I know there are various other ways to do this, but I don't want to use any program that is going to filter out sites, I would rather block particular sites from being accesable.

 

 

 

Also, while we are on the topic, is there any kind of internet "black list" that is going to contain the most common pornographic sites and whatnot to be blocked so I don't have to manually put them in and such? Also keep in mind I already stated I don't want to install additional software or edit any existing settings.

 

 

 

Lastly, will doing this effect just the IE browser, or all connections in general (including ping commands for example)

 

 

 

Thanks

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (This is for XP)

 

(The hosts file doesn't have any extension on it but is a normal text file. It should contain a header explaining how to use it. If not, google will know.)

 

 

 

There are several sites around that list a lot of ad servers in hosts file format but I don't know of any adult-content related blacklists like them.

Using the hosts file as a general adult filter isn't really a good idea. There are just too many adult sites to block and there are always ways around them and then Google images will also serve adult images with the safe search off too.

 

 

 

If your friend really needs something to stop his children looking at bad stuff then he is going to need a content filter.

if you're using a router then some routers have an option for content filtering etc. I know my netgear one has something that I can sign up to, the router then blocks the sites.