When you type a URL into a web browser, your computer doesn't know what it means. So it contacts a computer called a DNS(domain name system) server(it's like an Internet phone book for computers) and finds out the IP address(like a computer's Internet phone number) that it corresponds to.


For instance, 72.14.207.99 corresponds to google.com. However, before asking a DNS server, your computer looks at its own list(which stays blank unless you change it). If you change that list to say that google.com is 0.0.0.0(there's nothing there), it'll try to go to 0.0.0.0, but since there's nothing there, it won't be able to load. In essence, you've blocked google! This will work for any other site, too.
click here to find the ip address of any wesite

If you didn't understand that, don't worry; it's actually pretty simple!


Step 1 Open the file


Open the Start Menu and go to Programs>Accessories>Notepad. Click the file menu, and click "Open". Find the box that says, "Text Documents (*.txt)". Click it and change it to say, "All Files". Copy this(without the quotes) into the textbox above it if you have XP or Vista:

"C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"

or this on 2000:

"C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"

It should look like the image below(all the other images are the other steps in order).


Step 2 Edit the file

Make a new line at the end of the file, and copy this in(without the quotes):

"0.0.0.0 whatever"

Replace the word "whatever" with the name of the site you want to block. You have to do this for each version of the name. For example, to block google, you'd have to make a line for google.com, and a line for www.google.com.

Once you're done, go to File>Save. Test it out by going into your web browser and trying to go to the site. If it worked, you should get an error message such as "Internet Explorer cannot connect to the webpage" or "Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at 0.0.0.0.".

If it doesn't work, try saving again, clearing your browsing history, and/or restarting the computer. Usually, though, it'll work on the first try.

To unblock a site, just repeat Step 1 and delete the line with the site's name on it.
And that's all there is to it!