blocking websites
 

what is the easiest way to block websites and the best way to lock folders in windows xp pro password them

and please no one ask why i asked these questions

Re: blocking websites
 

open up the hosts file in notepad
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
if you do something like this then ntlworld would appear dead.
127.0.0.1 www.ntlworld.com


the hosts file can also block adverts and spyware
see http://accs-net.com/hosts/get_hosts.html
for more info.

Re: blocking websites
 

Kronie, to set the security on a folder, first set up multiple accounts on the machine. Using an account with Administrative right, right click on the folder you want secured, select "Sharing & Security" and click "Security". At the top, you will see a list of users & groups, and the bottom shows the access the currently selected group or user has.

Now, the easiest thing to do is remove all the users and groups, and then add back those you want to have access to the folder. You can control what kind of access they get as well.

Now, having done that, click "Advanced", and tick "Replace permission ..." and untick "Inherit from". When prompted for whether to copy or remove permissions, click "remove".

Don't worry to much if you get it wrong and lose access. Using an account with Admin rights it is quite easy to get access again.

PM me tommorrow if you have any trouble.

Re: blocking websites
 

ok thanks that did the trick :)

Re: blocking websites
 

But make sure you don't have a webserver running on your local machine, otherwise you will get directed to the index page of that.

If you have a local webserver running, then putting in one of the private IP ranges that you are not using for your network usually does the trick as well.

10.x.x.x

192.168.x.x

172.16.x.x to 172.31.x.x

Re: blocking websites
 

For some people putting 0.0.0.0 in hosts as the address works, it works for me and it's quicker because it does not attempt to communicate with a non-existent webserver

Re: blocking websites
 

Be aware that it's not a good method if you want to block hundreds of sites as it can affect performance (quite badly).

Re: blocking websites
 

xp pro wont let me do that it wants me to setup a password for the admin account ofcourse i dont want to do that all i want to do is password one folder

anyone know of another way ?

Re: blocking websites
 

If you don't have a password on your admin account(s) then you are pretty much doomed to failure since no matter what security you apply to a folder - whoever wants access can just login as admin and bypass it.

You would have to start looking at file encryption programs (something like PGP).

Re: blocking websites
 

Encrypt the file with PGP or GPG (GPG is free but I'm not sure if it has a GUI, last time I looked PGP had a free version that integrated nicely with the windows shell). Or head on over to download.cnet.com and do a search for something like file encryption.