GT-Soft Ad Blocker Blocks Advertisements using Hosts File

Advertisements are normally the only source of revenue of online publishers. But fortunately you can get rid of such 'annoyances' through a number ways. I have already write a post on AdFender that you can use for such purpose. GT-Soft Ad Blocker is a similar software that uses a different approach towards Ad Blocking which is in fact the most common approach. It changes the default Windows Host File for blocking Advertising material that suits with your filter.

Features and Specifications

• Download the software from the following link

http://www.gt-soft.org/adblocker.zip [383 Kb]

SHA256: 274e9209f5d113a5947101e70cce7d3592943aa01778e21db4ec74f621c2c144
SHA1:     7a186ae03caeef10efaadd0f44301e3de99eb5e9
MD5:     156c08b531c0fda790294bda81696f21

• Extract the archive and install the software using the installer in it [AdBlock Install.exe ; 624 Kb]. Installation went fast and clean and creates a desktop icon. After launching the software, you have to click on Block Ads! button and the software will automatically access windows Hosts file and change it ad-blocking hosts file. The hosts file is an optimized version of hosts file downloaded from here.
• The software can run of all Windows version including 64 bit. Just make sure that it gets Administrative rights while running.
• If you don't want to block ads click on UnBlock Ads! button and the software will replace the hosts file with a blank file.

• The software has two beta features: Blocking of Youtube and Hulu ads. These features have bugs and you can encounter crash of the software.

• No offline or Online usage documentation.
• The software consumes low system resources.

My Verdict

I somewhat like the software. Although I am not sure if the software automatically downloads a new list if available in the server, the software indeed have both Strong and Weak points.This is acceptable for a new software.

Good Points

1. No Need to run all the time.
2. Extremely easy to use.

Weak Points

1. Installs in System Directory not in Program Files Folder.
2. No uninstall shortcut in start menu entry.
3. The software GUI is not decent. It can be improved.
4. No need to install a software when, you can manually download and replace the hosts file.
5. It should inform the user that it will edit the hosts file. Otherwise users may have deny alerts from Security software.
6. Access to hosts file may classify the software as malware by some heuristic scanners.
7. It should add entries to hosts file rather than replacing it altogether. This way any custom entries to the host file will be gone.
8. While not blocking ads it should replace the hosts file with default hosts file, NOT a blank file.

So,
I would rather prefer a portable version.
To made the software use the default Windows Hosts file while not using the Ad Blocking, download the following file, copy it to the installation directory [e.g. C:\GT-Soft] and replace when asked.
http://minus.com/ltq7bdHLXHcII
Now you will get the Windows Hosts File back while not using the Ad Block list.

Cheers !!