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Tags: computer software, personal technology, additional pc security
 We all agree that the internet can be an unfriendly place to visit. It holds all sorts of viruses and lot's of content that isn't suitable for kids. Ads can just pop up while your son is casually browsing for his favorite web comic or doing research for a paper or some school thing, and then he sees something that he shouldn't have pop right out of nowhere. It could be pornography or an image that's much worse and he goes, "I'm 12, what is this?" You wouldn’t have this problem if you knew how to block a website. If this is familiar, then you should be a proactive parent and take preventive measures before anything wrong happens.
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So in this post, I'm going to teach you how to block a website. To block a website is simple, so it also goes to say that unblocking it should be just as simple. The only upside to this is that it seems technical, so even if it is simple to do, it will sound too dangerous to try. For anyone who's hardly technologically adept; you know what I'm talking about. Another disadvantage is that this can only be done on a Windows OS, specifically Windows XP and Vista. So before I teach you how you can block a website and additional pc security, there are a few things you need to do and to understand.
Let me tell you how internet browsing works. If you just want to go straight to the "how to" portion, you can skip this paragraph but I recommend that you understand how this works so everything can make sense when you're actually doing it. When you open up your browser and you want to go to a site like say, google.com. You type in the address into the bar and then press enter. Your system then queries the Windows host file for the IP address of the site first because it starts with a local source. Because your host file does not have that information, it ventures outside the system and queries the DNS servers listed in your TCP/IP settings. After your computer gets what it wants, you now have the Google page on your browser. When you block a website you're basically changing the settings of the HOSTS file so that it won't need to venture out into the web to look for the address. What you do is add the "dangerous site" to the hosts file and set the value of the site to your localhost address: 127.0.0.1. This is the IP of your own pc. Let's say you want to block a website called xxx.com. Click on Start button on the buttom left of your desktop and go to "Run". Type "drivers" into the tab and then click enter. You need to go in to the "etc" folder and double-click on "hosts". Choose notepad among the programs listed and then you'll see a notepad with stuff written on it. To block the website, type 127.0.0.1 xxx.com below localhost at the bottom of the page. Align them accordingly. After you do this the site will no longer be accessible. Try it with other sites So when you want to block a website and make sure it stays that way, you need to set yourself as the computer administrator and all the other accounts on your pc should be a guest account or another account that shouldn't have administrator powers. That way only you can alter the settings and anyone else who wants to change the settings should log in to your account, so don't tell whoever it is what your password is. This is basically how you block a website. It doesn't really mess with your setting much since you only need to erase the entry to undo it.
About the author
Jego Goldstein is a successful Computer Analyst who has been testing and developing software for many years. Learn how to master Microsoft Excel with this VIDEO COURSE . Click here for more information about Easy Excel Basics.
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