Which is best to have ad blocker app or extension

[ValYooNeek]

I need some help from the forum...I need a good ad blocker. I go back and forth between Google Chrome and IE for my internet search. My biggest pet peeve is all those ads and popup videos! They r driving me nuts! On my laptop I have avg internet security, malwarebytes, SAS to help fight the battle of viruses, malware, spyware but I need a good adblocker. Im not tech savvy, frankly, I'm sooo afraid that I'll crash my laptop with one of my visit to a unsafe site, that it prevents me from truly enjoying the net. So, I was adviced to get the ad blocker advisor app from google or should I get an ad blocker extension? I realize I really dont know the difference.,,an app or extension? Is there one for IE too? It's all kinda confusing! Can anyone simplify it for me?

 

[neonworm]

I recommed Adblock Plus: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb?hl=en-US

 

[Mooncatt]

Something else to consider is a HOSTS file. In laymens terms, it's the address book stored on your computer similar to a network based I.p. lookup service. I.E. (not sure about other browsers, but since you said you use it...) first looks to see if you have a HOSTS file to look up an I.p. address for a domain name before sending a DNS request. If the domain is listed in the file, it goes to that i.p. address and doesn't even check DNS.

What this allows is you can manually change what address any domain goes to. You could make it so entering the URL www.Google.com actually goes to the I.p. address for www.yahoo.com instead. (That could make for a fun prank, now that I think about it) 127.0.0.1 is the local address for any computer, meaning for the info requested from your browser to be shown, it would have to be stored locally.

So what happens is groups make HOSTS files available online with all the currently known bad domains that could spam you, send a virus, etc, and direct them to 127.0.0.1. Since there's nothing to be pulled up on your computer, the pop-up or whatever is effectively killed without the need of a specific program. At most, you get a page not found error.

I'm not saying you can abandon anti-malware programs all together, but it's a big help for computer safety and annoyances online. A couple drawbacks are it isn't self updating (it's just a .txt file), and sometimes a legitimate domain could be blocked. I think mine blocks the domain Google uses for its sponsored search results because any time I click one on my computer, it always gives a page not found error on the redirect url. Clicking the regular results are unaffected, just the sponsors.

 

[ValYooNeek]

Mooncatt, I appreciate ur advice but you lost me! I couldnt follow u and I realize that u r talking about something totally different than what I was asking advice about. Something to think though! What about my original concern...ad blocker app or extension? Which is more efficient to use with IE or Google Chrome? Any suggestion?

 

[Mooncatt]

Of the two, I'm not sure which would be better. I've been running a blocker app with I.E. so long that I don't remember which one it is. I'm pretty sure it's a stand alone program, but it works. The reason I suggested a HOSTS file is because it helps stop pop-up's as well as offering other protections. The short version is it's like a fake address book for your browser. Something worth looking into if you want to add another level of security.

 

[anon(394005)]

I've been using the MVPS blocking hosts file (see Blocking Unwanted Connections with a Hosts File). It blocks known malicious stuff on the Internet as well as ads. Been using it for years on my computers and swear it alone has kept any type of malware from getting to my systems while browsing the far reaches of the Internet. It works at the OS level, not just individual applications. After downloading the zip file, I just copy the "hosts" file from it to the Windows/System32/Drivers/Etc directory. The only key is the file is updated at least once a month. But you can sign up (off their webpage) to be notified when that happens (then download the new file and copy it again to above directory, overwriting the old one).

To use that hosts file on Android, you have to first be rooted (to have write access to update the hosts file), then use an app such as AdAway to apply it. Google has banned those kinds of apps from the Playstore, but you can still get it from the dev here: http://sufficientlysecure.org/index.php/adaway]AdAway

 

[Rukbat]

Using both - a good hosts file and adblock plus - would be best. The hosts file protects you from bad sites (mostly) and adblock plus prevents popups. I'd also add WOT to the list. It's pretty much a crowd-sourced listing of both good and bad sites. If you try going to a site it has flagged it'll block you, with the option of going there anyway.

@Mooncatt:
IE doesn't look for anything in the hosts file or in DNS, the computer does. IE simply asks the computer (the IP stack) to connect to xyz.com on port 80. The TCP/IP software in the computer decides where to get the address, first from hosts, then from the listed DNS, then usually to a page your ISP maintains (which basically tells you that the address wasn't found). Any browser or other program that uses the internet is going to use that route if it's not asking to be connected to a numerical address.