Drac, That is exactly what I use my host file for, but most folks are not aware that they can block a load of web ads that way. This is what it does, the IP 127.0.0.1 address points to your local computer, you are telling it that all these ad servers are on your computer. Now, whenever your browser tries to retrieve an ad from an ad server, it will look on your own machine and will fail. This also will also keep these servers from placing cookies on your PC. Below is an example of what would be added to the host file 127.0.0.1 ad.ca.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 ad.de.doubleclick.net 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net For those who may have an interest and are using IE and would like to block port sites or other sites via a simple reg hack the below link goes to a freebie reg hack called IE-SPYAD. http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm If anyone needs, I can email a zip file of the reg hack and the ad blocker to them. As a matter of interest, I would like to know what Striving found amiss on his system. In retrospect, I could have done a better job of explaining the above to Striving in my previous post. BabaLouie