W7 x64 SP1 running v10.0.1.6223. Question is will hosts files additions result in blocks if the Windows 7 firewall is off? If not, is enabling Windows Firewall in tandem Comodo Firewall safe?
The hosts file and any firewall are irrelevant to each other as the hosts file purpose is for resolving domain names to IP addresses. No reason at all to have the Windows firewall enabled when using any 3rd party software firewall. It cost extra maintenance to make sure both have similar rules in place. For example if you wanted to open a port you would need to do so in both otherwise one will block the port even if it is allowed in the other.
I added an entry to the hosts file but it’s not being blocked in internet explorer or chrome. No idea what the issue might be. I wanted to eliminate Windows firewall being off as a possible cause.
I use Spybot Anti-Beacon which edits the hosts file, but I don’t know if anything is being blocked. In Kill Switch I see a number of listening connections to a.ads1.msn.com, which is supposed to be blocked according to the hosts file. Just to clear up one other thing, do hosts file blocks block only in browsers or is the domain/ip 100% blocked from access to the computer for any application?
Thanks for the reply.
You need to clear the dns resolver cache by running ipconfig /flushdns the hosts file is used by windows to preform dns lookups for domains it does not have an IP address for. So yes every applications would be affected by hosts file entries. hosts (file) - Wikipedia
Thanks. Flushing didn’t work in IE. At least I know it’s not related to Windows firewall being off. I’ll look around further and see what I can find.