SRL Archive - RuneScape Guides

Why do I need this?
Blocking ads means faster internet (less things to load), less distractions, and many of the ads have errors or obstruct the game window.

All the advise on this forum concerning blocking ads says that you need to install Firefox and then install Ad-Block Plus, but Firefox takes a lot of memory to run and slows down a computer when running multiple copies with Virtual Machines. This is inefficient and over complicated.

The following method is already on your computer! And it'll work for any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) The main advantage is that it'll block the ads on Runescape.exe which is probably the most efficient browser for running Runescape. Its small size makes it perfect for multiple VMs.

Ok, so how do I do it?
Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
When you double click 'hosts' it'll ask you what program you want to use to open it- select Notepad. Alternatively, you can open notepad, and just drag the file into it and it'll open it.

Now that you have it open, paste this at the very end of the file:

127.0.0.1 advert.runescape.com

Save and close. Now try running Runescape, now ads should not appear!

Help it didn't work!
-If it won't let you save the file, then the problem is probably that you are not logged in as the computer's administrator. Only the admin can edit it.
You can go to Start>Control Panel>User Accounts to see who the administrator is and who you are logged in as right now.
-If it saved, but they still appear, try restarting your browser.
-Still not working??? Post everything you know about the problem.

Does this work for ads on other websites?
Yes. You just need to know the host website of the add. (Example: I knew that Runescape downloads the ads from 'advert.runescape.com'
Then you just add another line at the bottom of 'hosts' with:

127.0.0.1 (insert address you want to block here)

If you want to block ALL ads on the internet, then Firefox with Ad-Block is indeed the best option. The above method is best for Runescape because it blocks the ads when using any browser.

I want to learn! How does this work? / Is it safe?
Once you do the above steps, and you try to load a Runescape page, Runescape will tell your computer, "Go download this ad from http://advert.runescape.com/AnnoyingFordAd"

Your computer will now say, "Oh! my 'hosts' file says that is located at 127.0.0.1" (NOTE: 127.0.0.1 is what everyone's computer calls itself) So your computer will try to load the ad from your computer.

Of course it doesn't exist on your computer- when you edited the 'hosts' file, you were lying to your computer. Therefore, when the webpage finishes loading, the ads will have been replaced with mini error pages!

JAGEX DOES NOT DETECT IT!
I, and other people have been using this method forever, and none of use have had any trouble. The hosts file has been around ever since Windows had internet so if Jagex is capable of detecting this, then they have not done it yet.

Post any problems/questions/compliments please!

Nice Guide =D

Sweet, thanks for that… the ads were really starting to get annoying
how they would unselect my window in the middle of play and cause me to go back when hitting backspace

nice it worked

It won't let me save hosts as the original file it saves as a txt or something else (wont overwrite the old file..)

Edit: That was on my Main computer and I didn't need it anyway cuz I don't use runescape.exe on it but I used it on my VM and it worked thanks :) I got that error that popped up and stopped scripts I saw you talking bout on another thread so this fixes it right? Hope So. :D

thanks man
it works great

From: awesom
I used it on my VM and it worked thanks :) I got that error that popped up and stopped scripts.

Yup, that's where I use it. My VM kept stopping from that lame error.

I'm glad it worked for you all!

Its automatik blocket there file. idk how.
There is runescape block by james lol:bart:

Really nice, although:

1. Blocking those god damn ads can get you banned o:
2. Just use ScarScape!

Firefox > IE.

From: EvilChicken
Really nice, although:

1. Blocking those god damn ads can get you banned o:
2. Just use ScarScape!

Last time that I checked, JaghaX isn't good enough to find out what text files are/have been edited on your computer…And plus, what they don't know won't hurt 'em!

:sasmokin::sasmokin: I love colorful Java…lol…

Lulz, good point.

But my other argument still stands :sasmokin:

Thanks dude!

Extremely helpful.

Yeah, the only way Jagex could find out that you're not displaying their ads is if they could view that text file, which would be illegal anyways. They just say it can get you banned to scare you.

SS isn't a bad choice either, but I still like RS.exe better. Just a matter of opinion I suppose.

From: awesom
It won't let me save hosts as the original file it saves as a txt or something else (wont overwrite the old file..)

To fix this all you need to do is after pasting 127.0.0.1 advert.runescape.com on your host file. Just delete the old one and do save not save as. it should work

Edit: Or you can right click on the hosts file. Click properties. Then uncheck read-only. It should allow you save over it. After you're done just recheck read-only.

Thanks King but I don't really need it on my main comp anyway I don't get the error.

I know when I had ZoneAlarm (if not better just as good as Norten Antivirus) that they where automaticly blocked. And I mean completly gone so that the rs window would shift up as it does for members.

From: osmm
I know when I had ZoneAlarm (if not better just as good as Norten Antivirus) that they where automaticly blocked. And I mean completly gone so that the rs window would shift up as it does for members.

Did it do that for all ads? Is ZoneAlarm free or is it easy to install sneakily?

The only problem is that its a baneable offense to block the ads D:

But i dont think they are able to detect it o.o

Just use firefox download the adblock plus addon. And just block the add. Easiest.

From: zasz
Just use firefox download the adblock plus addon. And just block the add. Easiest.

Did you even read the first paragraph? I know about that, I use FF with adblock. But for autoing it is not efficient to have a program as huge as FireFox with Adblock installed and running on EVERY virtual machine. This is for if you want to use the RS client because it is much smaller.

EDIT:

ok I AM NOOB CAKE! thanks munk, and turtle for sharing your 1337n3ss with me and every one else! ^_^"


i got it workin now =)

From: red eyes 20
um,, i am noob cake, but have do i access the Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
file…..

haha i just posted in your thread for you to try this. If you cant see files in that folder, find something that says "show hidden files"

From: red eyes 20
EDIT:

ok I AM NOOB CAKE! thanks munk, and turtle for sharing your 1337n3ss with me and every one else! ^_^"


i got it workin now =)

Lol, I was at school and checked the forums and saw your thread, but didn't want to risk being seen answering it. I'm happy you found me instead! Have fun without errors now!

If we all took the time to do this w/ vms, we could make Jagex go oh so broke…

I've been using scarscape, but I have some questions about it.
It will show the RS2 java client WITHOUT ads.
I little while ago (few weeks) the scarscape java would not load runescape. Now it is working again and I've been using it, but why did it stop working?
Did jagax learn about it and are they using it to catch people? (I sound really paranoid :( )

There have been a lot of people mentioning that lately. I haven't used ScarScape recently, so I don't know, but all the topics I've seen on this say that it is still safe. A lot of people on this forums use it and if there was a security problem I'm sure it would have been mentioned.

If SS ever stops working again, there's a similar program called SCSS which is about the same thing and comes with SRL.
Look in C:\Program Files\SCAR 3.13\includes\SRL\SCSS and then open SCSS.exe
Nothing to install, just run it like ScarScape.

I may try this later to keep the runescape client from locking up on me with server busy messages. Runescape had some ads that I thought must be spyware. Scans came up clean, so I guess they were just normal advertisements. I hope this can fix the lockups.

works yay!! i have noticed i get more script errors from the adds then i do from srl haha…

From: munk
haha i just posted in your thread for you to try this. If you cant see files in that folder, find something that says "show hidden files"

Its in tools, folder options, view :)

hmm, it said it can't save it

Thanks a lot :D

From: xraye
hmm, it said it can't save it

Right click on the 'hosts' file and select Properties. At the bottom of the window make sure 'Read-only' is UNchecked. Then hit ok and try editing it again.

it wont let me save it.i un-checked read only and im using vista, so i might just be s. o. l. lol.

From: tlowe90
it wont let me save it.i un-checked read only and im using vista, so i might just be s. o. l. lol.

Try deleting the old file.
Read my other post on the first page for a little more detail

From: KingNoob
Try deleting the old file.
Read my other post on the first page for a little more detail

King, I'm going to put parts of your first post in the main topic under the help section to see if that helps people. I'll credit you. Thanks for helping out.

gosh dangit ur a genius! thanks s00000 much!

From: JackLKrawl
If we all took the time to do this w/ vms, we could make Jagex go oh so broke…

not realy. jagex gets paid each time they load the add. ie, when they send it to ur comp.

Ok, import information for people who have been having problems saving the hosts file!
If it gives you an error when you try to save, then you are not logged in as the administrator of your computer. You need to be the admin to edit that file.

You can go to Start>Control Panel>User Accounts to see who is the administrator and who you are logged in as right now.

I even tested this, by logging in on a guest account and it gave me the EXACT same error that posters have described.

I use firefox with ad-block plus does anyone know if this is detectable all ads are gone completely and rs window shifts up

Hmm, Blocking Ads In Runescape is against the rules. I would not do it on your main account, :S

this is one of the better methods to block the runescape adds.

I have personaly used tons of software and personal java hacks that sim[ply make them not display…

that is good, but preventing them from even loading is even better.

Now, i dont mean to be a nay sayer.. but jagex can detect this if they want to. Every time you load a picture, you IP address can be logged. Every time you play runescape, your ip is logged.

By simply checking to see if the ip's that are currently playing runescape, are also loading the adds as they come up, bam, you can be detected.

I would also like to note that this has not been implimented yet… i just COULD.

From: TurtleVVisperer
There have been a lot of people mentioning that lately. I haven't used ScarScape recently, so I don't know, but all the topics I've seen on this say that it is still safe. A lot of people on this forums use it and if there was a security problem I'm sure it would have been mentioned.

If SS ever stops working again, there's a similar program called SCSS which is about the same thing and comes with SRL.
Look in C:\Program Files\SCAR 3.13\includes\SRL\SCSS and then open SCSS.exe
Nothing to install, just run it like ScarScape.

thanks. i was trying to figure out wtf SCSS is, now i know and use it, tyvm:f: :f:

Thanks worked for me!

This worked for me to get rid of the adds. I don't have any sound, but think it may be because I am running unsigned. Thanks for the tip.
Edit: I have sound running signed default java. Thanks again for the trick.

From: TurtleVVisperer
There have been a lot of people mentioning that lately. I haven't used ScarScape recently, so I don't know, but all the topics I've seen on this say that it is still safe. A lot of people on this forums use it and if there was a security problem I'm sure it would have been mentioned.

If SS ever stops working again, there's a similar program called SCSS which is about the same thing and comes with SRL.
Look in C:\Program Files\SCAR 3.13\includes\SRL\SCSS and then open SCSS.exe
Nothing to install, just run it like ScarScape.

SCSS is not really scarscape… at all…
notice how the name is "shit compared to scarscape" :P
I use scarscape because it makes it so that the minimap rotation is always the same and the Minimap symbols are always in the same spot. Runescape sometimes rotates the minimap and moves the symbols to mess up macroers.

SCSS does not fix the symbol movement.

From: LordGregGreg
this is one of the better methods to block the runescape adds.

I have personaly used tons of software and personal java hacks that sim[ply make them not display…

that is good, but preventing them from even loading is even better.

Now, i dont mean to be a nay sayer.. but jagex can detect this if they want to. Every time you load a picture, you IP address can be logged. Every time you play runescape, your ip is logged.

By simply checking to see if the ip's that are currently playing runescape, are also loading the adds as they come up, bam, you can be detected.

I would also like to note that this has not been implimented yet… i just COULD.

Heh, I guess I'll be editing the "Is this safe?" section then. So what do you believe is the best method them? I really hate running FF on my VMs, but is that the only safe option? Either way, I've been using this forever and it's been around as long as Windows had internet.

From: nategr8ns
SCSS is not really scarscape…
SCSS does not fix the symbol movement.

Ok, my bad. What exactly is the difference then? Just no ads?

From: TurtleVVisperer
stuff i will reply to

well, you see, it is still safe, like I said, jagex does not do this sort of ip checking as of now. they just could :/.

So this is better than other adblockers because it speeds things up by not even loading them.

methods such as "RIP" (a firefox plugin) are good if you are paranoid like me, and think they might check you on this. (It loads the adds, just hides them = undetectable)

But anyhows, I agree that this method is completly safe at the moment, and you would probably get a heads up from jagex if they plan to inforce this rule more than normal…

Props to you for comming up with this method, I have never seen it before, and I was truely impressed, nice job :D

Wow thanks! I would use but I don't want to get banned if I'm using it. I tried it for a bit and it works great! Nice work on the tut aswell :)
Tazzie

or just get a membership and kill 2 birds with one stone:D

Well it works and makes scripting that much easier so i dont have to stop the scripts. IE to fix the pop ups that accure when ads fail to load.
PS;I LOVE YOU; YOU DA BOMB

Neat, but there're alot of programs that already do this.

Good for people without adblock on firefox, but doesn't everyone use adblock on firefox anyways?

From: Testerz11
Neat, but there're alot of programs that already do this.

From: GrapeII
Good for people without adblock on firefox, but doesn't everyone use adblock on firefox anyways?

You guys need to read the first paragraph before posting.
No, FF isn't always the best option.

No, FF isn't always the best option.

Well, I assume IE isn't either, and if you're saying Opera is, then it's even easier.

thank you so much! i really needed this and i + repped you

From: Here
Well, I assume IE isn't either, and if you're saying Opera is, then it's even easier.

Lol, ok, seriously. First paragraph.
"Firefox takes a lot of memory to run and slows down a computer when running multiple copies with Virtual Machines. This is inefficient and over complicated.
…
This'll block the ads on Runescape.exe which is probably the most efficient browser for running Runescape. Its small size makes it perfect for multiple VMs."

From: t3hl33tn00b
thank you so much! i really needed this and i + repped you

Hehe, thank you!

I've been using this for a while, it really helps stop annoying Ads.

wow thanks alot it helps dude.

Good tut.

However, personally, Adblock Plus ftw! :D

That's really helpfull, thanks!

Mind pming me where srl gets there adds? this site laggs like hell!

Done and it works well thanks.

And as you mentioned, adblock plus works good for blocking all ads.

Worked for me thanks …. I know of this file from back in the day when i got some gnarsty spiezware thingy just never really put it to use since then … Excellent

kl this is great
but i already have a ad blocker for every website

I've got AdBlock Plus for Firefox but this helps out seeing as how I use Runescape.exe to play these days… Thanks for the tip…

sweet,it works thank you so much. If ur ip banned,i think you open one of the files in host and u open it with notepad. Then u delete that certain text and save it.

omg i think i love u :D

Does this work with Internet Explorer I Only saw the name

FireFox



Thank You

thanks it worked

From: FagetHax0r
Does this work with Internet Explorer I Only saw the name

FireFox



Thank You

This will work whenever you connect to runescape.com, no matter how your connecting… Firefox, Opera, InternetExplorer and even the downloadable client…

Lol so easy nice guide. I think I'll try this later.

Im pretty sure your wrong about jagex not catchign this because their server sends the add information to you, and you reject it and it breaks off, i think they just havent caught you with the millions of people that play it.

Thanks. Never knew Notepad was so powerful…

it worked!! thx

It isn't working for me.
I have runescape.exe and i did it all right.
But every advert is still there.

Firefox + Adblock Plus + Filterset.g = no more ads at all :)

Oh thank you :)

this is great :D

Why do Jagex care if you block Ads?

They dont exactly loose any money do they :o

Thanks, worked, :)
Eerik.

Wow works perfectly. Up until now I had to block the ads one by one with Adblock Pro. Thanks for the tut!

Yay this has worked. Now no more stupid ads annoying me

WOW MAN.. THOSE ADDS WERE DEPLENISHING MY DOWNLOAD …

THANKS MAN.. SO MUCH

:spot: :spot: :spot: :spot: :spot: :spot:

That's pretty cool, shame that it doesn't shift the RuneScape applet up, is there anyway to do this?

Otherwise this is great :D

hey thanks it worked!
this is really going to help when i go pking

This could be useful.. But for some reason my computer has never shown those runescape adds.
They always appear as blank boxes or as those error boxes, but never as ads.

Jagex have rendered this obselete. Their own flash ads which lag the shit out of me, even on a 2 gig RAM machine, load from runescape.com/advertblahblah
and not from advert.runescape.com, however it still blocks their commercial ads.

First of all:
Thanks :)

Second:
Lol this also blocks the ad at Detail select Yay! :)

Those nasty things were lagging me out everytime they changed

hehe cool this worked :) to bad its still a white box… though i guess i could change it to something on photobucket now that i know how(or is that not possible?)

My computer doesn't have a lot of memory, so it lags a lot less if I block the ads. I use firefox's adblock plugin. Use adblock version 1. My girlfriend uses adblock 2, but it looks to me like adblock version 1 is better because it's got simpler coding and uses less graphics (probably uses less memory.) You have to be a little better at figuring out stuff on your own in order to use it though.

My computer lags bad whenever ads or anything else makes it run out of memory.

You are a life saver! These ads are really starting to slow down my computer! :cool:

Thanks alot those popups were getting really annoying i was almost about to stop playing runescape becuase of them

awesome.. i used to use adblock plus for firefox which works like a charm but they keep coming back. Now i wont get the dreaded logout when i press backspace and a new ad appears :mad:

this will help me out

FF still p0wnz the most :D

w00t thanks for the guide!! I wanted to become member because of ads.. The Ads are very annoying!! :mad:

It sounds really nice , but hasn't anybody got banned by blocking the adds? since its against fagex rules , Just wondering…. well anyways its a really nice way to block those annoying adds, but I dont really need it because I mostly use S.M.A.R.T so its ok for me :p :D:D:D

Sweet guide will try this out now!


EDIT: It WORKS!!

thanks lol, i always hated that advert especially… always distracted me :D

nice just 1 question how do u know what the host address is??

It doesn't save for me.

I'm using Vista and when I try to save it, it comes up with "Cannot create the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file. Make sure that the path and file name are correct". It then comes up with a Save As pop up after I click okay. I'm not quite sure if I should save it as it'll be a .txt file which would replace the original…

cool I'm gonna try it, even tho the ads don't make runescape lag for me

Great trick, I hate the lag those adverts cause

i wish this actually cut the ad out, instead of just causing an error…

but yeh, using ScarScape is an even better idea…

http://freewebs.com/jk2fakefiles/ScarScape/Run.Html

Thanks WIll help when I go f2p..! rep++

Thanks for this ;).

very nice I read about that somewhere but forgot
Thnx again for reminding:)

Thanks man. The ad on my non members, always lags into my game at some point. Haha it gets so vexing.

Wow thats awesome :P
Before I just used to zoom in on the add, till it was one colour, so I wouldn't get annoyed o_O

From: fudgepack a
nice just 1 question how do u know what the host address is??

Well, to my understanding, this is how. For blocking ads, you ONLY need to know the website hosting them (in this case it is advert.runescape.com). The ip address 127.0.0.1 is not the ad's address, but your own computer's address.
127.0.0.1 is the standard IP address used for a loopback network connection.
This means that if you try to connect to 127.0.0.1, you are immediately looped back to your own machine.
So when your computer tries connecting to the website you gave it (advert.runescape.com) it tries to instead go to the IP you provided it with (127.0.0.1) and it tries to get it off your computer and can't find it, displaying an error.

From: afroman
It doesn't save for me.

I'm using Vista and when I try to save it, it comes up with "Cannot create the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file. Make sure that the path and file name are correct". It then comes up with a Save As pop up after I click okay. I'm not quite sure if I should save it as it'll be a .txt file which would replace the original…

That's strange… Right click the file and go to properties. Is it set to read or write only? Make sure those settings are off. I don't know why it wouldn't let you save it how it is. Sorry.

Hope this one works, thanks for the tut man, been quite annoyed with Jagex's no ad blocking rules. The ads are damn annoying.

nice guide, I'm starting to get sick of all the adverts

im off to test this out :P

Ohh i allready done that thaks tho :P

^Hah, spammer got pwned.^

Nice find, but the ads have never shown up on my PC, a window always pops up saying something like "There is an error in one of the scripts on this page. Keep running scripts?" And i click no and no ads show up.

Does this work for jagex's new bullshit red and yellow thing that say
BLOCKING THIS ADVERT IS AGAINST THE RULES PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR ADVERT BLOCKER! ?

From: Loochie
Does this work for jagex's new bullshit red and yellow thing that say
BLOCKING THIS ADVERT IS AGAINST THE RULES PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR ADVERT BLOCKER! ?

No, the red and yellow letters scar this into a reversal process and now, in fear for its life, it shows you double the adds.

Nice, Finally able to take of those dumd ads

Nice one worked for me thanks

I use a add-on for Firefox called "Adblock Plus."

when i try to save it says

"Cannot create the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.
Make sure the that the path and filename are correct."

Oh thanks man, i've been waiting for somthing ilke this, Thanks again! +REP!

thanks for this. :)

Thank you very much now I can play with full screen without seeing ads in F2P :) (by pressing F11)

Or you can just download firefox add-ons that block ads (firebug and ADblock add-ons)

but still this method is good :)

Thanks.

this will make things so much easier, ty guys

Woah thanx for this makes rs run bit faster :D

very helpfull …
runescape ads is a pain for low speed computers.

lol…those ads r so anoying

From: EvilChicken!
Really nice, although:

1. Blocking those god damn ads can get you banned o:
2. Just use ScarScape!

I have been blocking for a number of years now with no ban. But I take it one step further and block a lot of spam/adware/spyware sites:

Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File

Instructions are there for windows and vista. Like I said been doing this for years and no ban.

Edit: Grrr bloody preview messes up every time. Fixed? I think

i am going to try this.

I also use Firefox's Ad-plus block. It seems a lot easier than adding the websites one by one, and not to mention Firefox having some more useful tools like the spell checker :) .

That's a great idea, thanks!

I hear that this also works for the iPhone and Touch browsers as well

The no dectection from Jagex is great too

wow thanks. no more annoying ads

Thank you this works good for runescape, for some reason adblocker wont block ads for me.

Wow, this is the easiest ad blocking technique i've seen in ages.
Good find, TurtleVVisperer.

Very very good guide =)

Thx !

Added screen shot :

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/4373/imagemvs1.jpg

thanks very much ads suck:0

Wow! It even works on the RuneScape client. Thanks for posting this!

Does not seem to work for me.

did you save it as the same name, and in the same spot?

Yes, I did. I copied and pasted it.

what i did was click save as and then selected the original and changed the format of the save to all files and chose to overwrite.

Haha good guide, It took me a bit to find out have to save it, but I figured it out, no more "YOU HAVE ONE A FREE IPOD CLICK HERE" adverts:D

totally needed this tyvm

Nice guide, doubt they are able to detect this. :)

sweet, short and to the point, and it works! nice guide btw very imformative

thanks now playing runescape isn't as annoying or slowed down =O

Thanks everyone, glad to help.
I'm also glad to see this thread is still active! I still visit here every few months to see what's going on- I don't use SCAR or play RS anymore though.

But no one really cares, so, bye!

Extremely thanks. The adds always are annoying. But you don't get them if you are members. So, thanks from the non member accounts.

Trying this now, Ads are very anoying on my f2p.

Thanks! Worked a treat!

got a white box where the advert used to be but still less lag TYVM :D

Yeah, this is really helpful on VM less lag and dont need to install anything and no annoying ads anymore and what's even better that Jagex can't detect it :)

these are the things i hate most ty for the info :)

damn. i know about host edit,.. but never think to use for it! good idea! thx :)

thanks a lot man this worked for me just had to uncheck then re check read only

BTW, runescape can detect people who advert block now, a couple of my friends got a 10-day ban for it =/
Just a head's up.

Thanks! Those ads always make me go back a page. -.-

From: Justen
BTW, runescape can detect people who advert block now, a couple of my friends got a 10-day ban for it =/
Just a head's up.

Really? Do you know what method of blocking they were using?
Thanks for the heads-up, I haven't heard of that before.

TurtleVVisperer:

Very nice guide to stop downloading those ads.

The problem is that its very distracting to see 'Page cannot be displayed' instead of some random ad, but it helps with everything (loading times etc.)

Still very good find and thank you,
fl4k3s

sweet, thanks for that dude!

i've been using this method forever, i wouldn't think jagex would care/be bothered to do anything about it anyway, as it's only a minority that have worked it out and it doesn't affect anything to do with profits.

this worked, although i dont really need it… i think people with bad internet/slow pc definitely need this! :rolleyes:

Im gonna have to try this is it true u can get banned tho?

well, at first it didnt letme save it so i saved it as hosts.txt
then i navigated to C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\
then i renamed hosts to hosts backup
then i renamed hosts.txt to hosts
and it works :D but i have ad-block, so i tested this in ie. so there's a fix :D

ha ha this rules cheers

From: KungFuCow
Im gonna have to try this is it true u can get banned tho?

I've been using this forever, and I've never been banned. I have never known anyone who has been banned. Also, this blocking method has existed ever since Windows XP was released- it is no secret what the 'hosts' file is.

I have only heard second-hand accounts of people who knew someone else who got banned for blocking ads. None of those stories say what method of ad blocking they used, and I haven't had anyone personally experience it.

I think it is 100% safe.

this is out of the question, but can you do this for any website with that code

Yes, it works for any website.
Heck, I just installed Adobe CS4 (pirated), and I looked at the 'crack' that was included - all it did was add adobe's registration website to your hosts file. So adobe couldn't check if you were legit or not. I think I then just had to put a fake registration file in the program files and I was all set. I get updates and everything!

Yeah, this technique of ad-blocking is kinda useless, but it's fun to learn.

last post was on March 24th, it's July now, try to read the date of the last post before posting and not to gravedig.