Just started using PG2 and I just need some help reading the History of blocked IP's. I do use P2P networks hear and there basically when Im curious about a Paris Hilton video or something. Anyway I was using a P2P network today and decided to run the peer PG2 and see what happened. My history has a list that included - Paramount pictures, BBC, AAFES, Time Warner, along with a few others. This list kind of worries me. What exactly does it mean ?? I cant find any info on how to read the blocked history on PG2. Im not a big user of P2P and would hate to get into trouble for being curious about a movie. Thanks for any help
The only way I know of that you can know what PG2 blocks is to be watching the PG2 window as it blocks a IP address.
There is a view history tab, so select that. You can then select the view all - blocked or allowed, Whatever is listed in any of those are the address, and where possible the associated names of the sites that have been allowed to talk to your PC or blocked. PG2 is only as good as the lists it contains, so make sure you keep it up to date, with legit lists, as some lists flying about are doctored to allow certain nasties through. You can open list manger, select a list and view the contents to see what institutes are being blocked.
PG2 is nothing more than an auto-updating HOSTS file. Every computer, for every OS has a HOSTS file. In windows you can find it in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ directory. Mine is about 2.1MB & growing. I use a custom HOSTS file from MVPS.org which blocks most spyware/malware sites. I combine that with my own blocked IPs from Kerio firewall & a few other tools/websites. Finding a list of blacklisted ISPs & email providers might also cut down on the amount of traffic into your system. A HOSTS file, if you simply update it daily & have a very good firewall, will be several times faster than PG2. I'm not knocking PG2, i'm just stating the facts. PG2 uses an internal database that is so similar to a HOSTS file, you might as well preload that when Windows starts & not bother with PG2. Unless you feel better that you're using PG2 rather than just a firewall & HOSTS blocking. What a HOSTS file does
@xhardc0re Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into the host files as an option. I've used PG because its easy and it works, but I'm always looking for a better ways to do things. If I get stuck, I might come asking for some setup help if you don't mind.
Yeah the HOSTS files thing sounds real interesting. I like the PG also because its simple to use. I only run it when Im running P2P. You have to also keep deleting the history file because it gets so large. My only problem is when I read the history I see all the IP addresses it blocks but I just can't tell if they are actually any danger to me or what. For example Paramount pictures - Is this a group trying to catch you doing something wrong or it just the IP of a advertisement that is trying to run in the P2P software?? I notice paramount is a HTML - if that means anything I don't know. Thanks again for the help
can you explain what you guys are talking about, a program that blocks hackers/spies or wut ? how do i take advantage of this ???
PG2 (Peer Guardian 2) is a SW program that blocks IP addresses. You feed it a list/go to the website & it blocks those IP addresses from communicating with your computer. How they get those addresses I don't know but they supposedly belong to anti-P2P groups/comapanies like Big Champagne. a HOSTS file is a file on your computer that allows you to do the same thing. It also lets you loop back communications (like 404 errors if you run your own web server) & block communications from Windows apps to the Internet. For anyone who wants to mess around with HOSTS, make sure you have a blank file text file. Then add this: 127.0.0.1 localhost To have your PC read only the HOSTS file, you'll need to disable the Windows service DNS Client. Type services.msc from Start > Run or the command line (DOS). If you snoop around your Services & notice anything called Bonjour Service, let me know message to bill gates: All your botnet will belong to me muwahahah. j/k Since we're on the subject of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) let's talk about a few others that should be enabled: -DHCP Client (disabled = no Internutt for you) -Cryptographic Services (if you find a way to hack this, let me know) -Indexing Service (you could run your own search program, but XP's is pretty good) -Print Spooler (play a mean trick on your brother/sister by disabling this before they print their homework assignment LOL) -Windows Audio (i think this is obvious) -Windows Installer (if you're running Admin mode, keep it on. If you let a guest on your computer, make sure this is disabled) These services should always be disabled, no matter what anyone tells you. -Telnet (IRC is evil. Remember that) -Messenger (shoot this messenger. Go to GRC.com to learn more) -Bonjour Service (it should be disabled and here is why) -Remote Registry (Enables remote users to alter your Windows registry. Take a wild guess why this is REALLY BAD) -Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) (If you don't run a scanner, this will speed up your PC a little bit) and finally -DNS Client (once you've added the right blocked IPs to your HOSTS file, disable DNS Client) one more thing: if you want to make someone really, really angry disable DHCP Client right after you get offline/off the computer. They'll never figure out how to fix it
