How to Block Unwanted Ads, Parasites & Hijackers

For quite a while now I've been using a HOSTS file to block ads from all of the major ad servers. When I go to a website that has ads, all I see is "This page cannot be displayed" where the ads would have been. Most popups contain the same message. The only drawback is sometimes when I hit the back button, nothing appears to happen. This is because the HOSTS file is essentially loading the blocked information from your computer (localhost 127.0.0.1), and loads each blocked instance as a page. So when I hit the back button, I have to back through each "page".

There is an excellent explanation as well as an updated HOSTS file with installation instructions at the link below.

If you want a really secure and pop-up free browsing experience, try Firefox, you'll love it!
hosts file + firefox