How to Block Websites From Yourself

Attempting to access a website requires your system to look up the Internet protocol, or IP, address of the system before it can be reached. One technique of blocking websites requires using a built-in file on your system to override the DNS lookup requests and redirect the site to your own computer's local loopback device. This will cause attempts to access the website to fail because they are trying to access your own computer.

Instructions

1. Open the "Start" menu and type "notepad." Right-click "Notepad" from the list of applications and click "Run as administrator." This will open Notepad with administrative permissions.

2. Click "File," then "Open."

3. Type "%windir%\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts" and press "Enter."

4. Enter the address of the website, without the "http," followed by the local loopback address. This address is "127.0.0.1." For example, type "google.com 127.0.0.1" on a new line to block "google.com."

5. Click "File," then "Save." Your hosts file will be updated. This file will be consulted before any request from your system can be made to the Web page.

References

• Mvps.org: Blocking Unwanted Parasites With a Hosts File