1. Some software (such as web browsers) use their own DNS cache. Not all new hosts file entries will take effect immediately with this software. URL Blocker only manages the system’s DNS cache. Software that uses its own DNS cache has to be configured individually, for which you can find help here.
In my experience, most custom DNS caches are updated in a relatively short time (a few minutes). If it is not possible to set the custom DNS cache, or if you have no time to wait, restarting the software can help. The purpose of URL Blocker is to implement system-level settings that you can test with the ping function of a given entry.
2. The hosts file created may be very large and the operating system’s background processes will no longer be able to perform the required operations. In this case, the internet becomes inaccessible. In my system, this occurs when there are more than 100,000 hosts file entries.
Unfortunately, the hosts file cannot be deleted in this case because it is in use by system processes. A simple restart of the computer will not solve this problem either, as the same problematic hosts file will remain valid after the restart.
In this case, select the “Others > Advanced > Force delete hosts file on reboot” menu and restart the computer.
Another solution is to kill the “Service Host DNS Client” process using the task manager. After the process has been killed, you can delete the problematic hosts file. The disadvantage of this method is that the killed process often restarts after a very short time. It might help if you close all programs before killing the process. If you managed to delete the hosts file, restart the system.
3. For web browsers, the host must be provided regularly in two formats: e.g. myhost.com and www.myhost.com
4. In most cases, the operating system automatically clears the system-wide DNS Cache when you edit the hosts file, in which case the status of the “Flush Auto” menu is irrelevant.
5. Some antivirus and security software may block you from editing the hosts file and/or display a security warning if you edit the hosts file.
6. URL Blocker allows you to change the attribute of the hosts file. The hosts file should only be made editable temporarily for testing purposes. It’s best to always choose read-only mode.
7. URL Blocker does not check or limit the number of entries. Depending on the performance of the computer, a maximum of a few thousand entries is recommended. If you are managing a large number of hosts, you should use the attached hosts file. Pay attention to the size of the created hosts file as described in point 2.
8. The file containing settings may get corrupted and an error message is displayed when it starts. In this case, delete the subfolder of the affected software in the c:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\WinTools.Info folder.