1. W95-11D.ZIP Driver
2. ADMAD.TXT File Contents

ADMAD.TXT Driver File Contents (W95-11D.ZIP)

				   AD MAD
			      Updated 6-26-2000
				Ojatex@aol.com




Ojatex's Web Ads Fixes page:
http://user.aol.com/ojatex/admad.htm
Ojatex's Web Ads Fixes in Adobe Acrobat PDF format (freeware):
http://user.aol.com/ojatex/admadpdf.zip
You need Adobe Acrobat reader (free) to view PDF files:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Ojatex's Complete Laptop, Laptop98, Laptop2000 + LaptopME Tips in Windows HELP
format (freeware):
http://user.aol.com/aljoajo/LapHlp.zip

If you have questions, tips of your own or portable problems, please contact
the author at
Ojatex@aol.com


Browsing the web can often be an experience of searching for content among
advertisements and waiting for ads served up remotely from various domains.
There is an easy [and free] way to eliminate many of these ads with the added
benefit of speeding up the serving of web pages; the "HOSTS" file can be used
as a tool to block these ads, and it can be customized by each user to suit
their browsing habits.


THE HOSTS FILE


The Hosts file shows the IP address [in the form of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] and name
of various domains. Generally, if a domain has a constant IP address browsing
is speeded up as Windows will consult the Hosts file first when translating
domain names to IP addresses. In the Windows folder, there is a file named
"Hosts.sam" [meaning sample] file. The sample file shows an example of an IP
address with a domain name and directions on how to use a HOSTS file; the
items which are preceded by the "#" sign are for explanation only.


Using the Hosts File to Block Ads


There is an IP address reserved for all local computers [yours and mine] which
is the same for everyone; that address is 127.0.0.1. Since Windows will look
in the Hosts file first to translate a domain name to an IP address, if the
domain names of advertisers are listed in your Hosts file with the IP address
of 127.0.0.1, then Windows will, of course, not find the real IP address of
the advertiser and no advertisement will be sent to you. When you browse to a
web page which has ads from the domains listed in your Hosts file, the web
page will show one to several blank spots where the ad would be and Windows
won't miss them or wait for them. And, you, the surfer, will be served up
content without the wait for and clutter of ads.


Making a HOSTS File


1- Find the Host.sam file in your Windows folder. [If the extension does not
show, open Windows Explorer; on the Menu Bar, select "Tools/Folder
Options/View Tab". Uncheck "Hide file extensions for knowm file types."]

2- Copy/paste it back into the Windows folder.

3- Rename the "copy of hosts.sam" file to "Hosts" [no quotes]. Notice that
there is no extension. Windows will complain about renaming it but ignore the
nag.

4- The Hosts file can be opened & edited with any text editor such as
Notepad.exe. Don't edit it with a word processor such as Wordpad.exe.
Fortunately, there already exists lists of common ad serving domains neatly
compiled with the 127.0.0.1 address in a Hosts friendly format. One such list
can be found at http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~atman/spam/adblock.shtml. Copy,
then paste the list of ad server domains with the 127.0.0.1 IP addresses from
that webpage into your Hosts file.


Customizing Your HOSTS File


Your new Hosts file will now block the major ad serving domains from placing
ads on the web pages you access. However, depending on what software you use
[such as free ISPs] and where you browse, many ads will still get through. To
add your own entries to the Hosts file, use IE4/5's cache of browsed files; it
is a gold mine of ad server domain names. The name of the cache folder is
Temporary Internet Files [AKA TIF].

1- First, clear the TIF, from "Internet Options/General Tab/Delete Files".
Check "Delete all offline content", select OK twice.

2- Put a shortcut to the TIF and the Hosts file on your Desktop.

3- After browsing various websites [especially, the larger, commercial ones]
with one or more of your ISPs and signing off, open the TIF shortcut to find
ads which may have appeared on webpages you accessed. [Note: Set your TIF view
to "Details" by selecting View on the Menu Bar.] Ads are usually "gif" files
whose URLs appear to be from ad servers. The domain names of these ad servers
can be copied from the Address Bar if you open the "gif" or from "Properties"
when right clicking on the "gif". Paste just the domain name, not the entire
file name into the Hosts file after entering 127.0.0.1 and a space. Each entry
in the Hosts file should be on a separate line. [Note: If, when trying to open
a TIF file, you receive a message that "Running a system command on this item
might be unsafe. Do you wish to continue?", select Yes. If you get a message
that "Your current security settings do not allow you to perform system
commands on this item.", then enable or prompt "Launching programs and files
in an IFRAME" in Internet Options/Security Tab.]


Blocking Ad Servers


Browsing is speedier, and content is served faster. Some Ad servers have been
found to collect data about the browsing habits, preferences, and personal
information of the surfer; do not surrender or compromise your privacy or best
interests to those who would use you for their own ends. Periodically, examine
your Cache [TIF] to update your Hosts file. Within the first day of adding the
list cited in the above link, I added over 50 ad servers. If you are a user of
the freeware "X-SetUp Tweaking Utility" at http://www.xteq.com/downloads/#xset
there is a plugin on the Laptop Plugin Page at
http://user.aol.com/ojatex/lapplugs.htm which will assist in working with TIF
files; it will allow you to "read" Cache files by setting IFRAME preferences
if warnings occur. Another free useful utility, which will allow you to place
Notepad [or any other application] in the right click [context] menu of both
the HOSTS file and its shortcut, is "Multilaunch" at
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/15/10/ut1510.001.html. If you
prefer, you can associate Notepad.exe with the HOSTS file using this Registry
entry:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.]
@="file01"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file01]
@="No Extension"
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file01\Shell]
@=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file01\Shell\Open]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\file01\Shell\Open\command]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\Notepad.exe %1"

The above Registry files can also be downloaded from:
http://user.aol.com/ojatex/noext.htm in zip format.


More Ad Blocking Strategies


1- If you use AOL and have placed Ad Server domain names with 127.0.0.1 in
your Hosts file, browse the web OVER the AOL shell; in other words, open your
browser as a standalone application when you want to access websites that use
advertisements.

2- Some websites serve ads from their own domains often with other graphics.
One example [without naming names], is a news-type website whose main page
consists of about 26kb [2 files] of text content and 107kb [46 files] of
graphics [which are a mixture of ads and standard navigation or identification
pictures]. Loading the page with graphics turned on is materially slower than
loading the same page with graphics turned off. [Graphics in IE can be turned
off by unchecking "Show Pictures" on the Advanced Tab of Internet Options.]

3- Turning off graphics solves much of the problem of ad clutter, but it is
overkill as all pictures are turned off when another website is accessed. You
can turn graphics back on by checking "Show Pictures", but this can become a
time consuming and clumsy approach. You can solve this problem by putting some
sites in a graphics permitted category and other sites in a no graphics
category as follows:

 a- Start a browsing session with graphics turned on, that is with the "Show
 Pictures" option checked.

 b- When you want to access a website that is known to serve its own ads from
 its own domain [examining the TIF periodically will reveal the origin of the
 ads], run a Registry[*] entry to turn off graphics & open a separate instance
 of your browser. Now you will have two instances of IE open; one will show
 graphics [it will be on the left side of the Taskbar]; the other will show no
 graphics [it will be on the right side of the Taskbar].

 c- The above graphics on & off works because the first instance of IE is
 "looking at" a Registry that says to Show Pictures while the second instance
 of IE is "looking at" a Registry thats says do not Show Pictures. With these
 two instances of IE open, you can browse in graphic & non-graphic mode by
 alternating between the left side [graphic] & right side [non-graphic]
 browsers. 

 [*] Here are the Registry Entries [for copy/paste] which can be used to turn
     graphics off:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Display Inline Images"="no"

 and to turn graphics on:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Display Inline Images"="yes"

 The above Registry files can also be downloaded from:
 http://user.aol.com/ojatex/admad.htm in zip format.

4- Some ads [gifs] are served from a domain name that looks like 
http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where "x" is a number. Putting these numbers in the
HOSTS file is useless; since Windows gets the IP address from the web page, it
doesn't need to refer to the HOSTS file. When you spot these kinds of URLs in
the Cache, make a note of which website is using IP address served ads. To
defeat these ads, use the same "pixs-off" strategy for domains that mix ads
with standard graphics.


REDIRECT


Some websites redirect you to another page whether you want to go there or
not. One such website is Hotmail; when the visitor logs off from Hotmail, the
MSN home page [www.msn.com] is served up. To stop this behaviour, one can put
www.msn.com into the HOSTS file; a "The page cannot be displayed" message will
appear.


BLANK PAGE


With Internet Explorer & an active HOSTS file, a typical blocked ad will
return a red X. When an entire domain is blocked via the HOSTS file such as
"www.doubleclick.net", browsing to that location will return "The page cannot
be displayed" message. This same message will appear [at least partially
depending on the size allocated to the ad] if that domain is embedded [such as
through layering or Iframes] on a webpage of another domain [e.g.
www.pcworld.com]. This message is embedded in the file "shdoclc.dll" [in the
Windows\System folder] as common HTML code; to make this message less verbose
[and annoying], open a copy of shdoclc.dll [pasted into a non-Windows locale]
with a word processor; browse to the sections that hold "The page cannot be
displayed" message and other text with an Edit/Find operation; change the font
color from "black" to "white". It is strongly advised to save the original
"shdoclc.dll", rename it to something like "shdoclc0.dll" [I prefer the 0
(zero) to denote original]; then copy your revised copy of "shdoclc.dll" to
the Windows/System folder. NOTE: If you had been previously working with IE,
Windows may complain about the rename & paste operations; a reboot may be
necessary. Also the rename & paste operations can be made from native MS-DOS
or from another OS if you dual boot. The new error message will show small
icons with the red links for "Refresh", "Detect Network Settings", & "Back"
still intact & functional; the background will be white. NOTE: If your system
experiences problems, replace the original shdoclc.dll. Some problems have
been reported with right click [context] menu functionality after the font
color changes were made. If a white background is not to your liking, you can
change the "bgcolor" of the relevant message sections to "black" from "white"
and not change the font color. This will give a black backgound with the red
links still intact & functional. Whether you prefer the white or black
background, another change can be made to the Title Bar message which appears
when the Hosts file blocks a domain. The standard Title Bar message is "Cannot
Find Server"; browse to that phrase and change it to "Domain HOST Listed".


LINKS


See also these related articles:
- "MAP YOUR HOSTS":
http://user.aol.com/axcel216/newtip5.htm#NAMESERVER
- "NO ADS THANK YOU!":
http://user.aol.com/axcel216/newtip17.htm#NATY
both also included in TIPS95.TXT, part of AXCEL216's Win9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003
+ DOS 7/8 Tricks + Secrets files [freeware solely for profit-free use]:
http://user.aol.com/axcel216/95.htm