Disable Social Networking?

[Felix-Grucci-III]

Felix-Grucci-III last edited by

In "Sidebar Setup" I have none of the messengers checked off yet Opera still keeps trying to connect to Facebook (I frequently get the following notification very frequently: "Blocked (General Interest - Personal:Social Networking): https://connect.facebook.net/" from my firewall. Is there a way to stop Opera from trying to make this connection?

[oddssatisfy]

oddssatisfy last edited by

Here' a step-by-step guide:

• Open the File Explorer and follow the path C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc.
• Right-click to open the host file with the help of Notepad.
• Now, type 127.0. 0.1, followed by the social media site name you want to block. ...
• Save the notepad file and the site will be blocked.

[Felix-Grucci-III]

Felix-Grucci-III @oddssatisfy last edited by

@oddssatisfy thank you so much!

[Felix-Grucci-III]

Felix-Grucci-III @oddssatisfy last edited by

@oddssatisfy Hi again. When I followed the path C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc and then opened the hosts file all it says is:

"# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.

This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
space.

Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

For example:"

There are no social media site names.

[blackbird71]

blackbird71 @Felix-Grucci-III last edited by

@felix-grucci-iii

A typical hosts file block list will include 0.0.0.0 entries to be blocked like the example below:

127.0.0.1 localhost

::1 localhost #[IPv6]

0.0.0.0 traffic.acwebconnecting.com
0.0.0.0 ad2games.com
0.0.0.0 content.ad20.net

In your case, you should probably enter the name of the Facebook portal you wish to block following the 127.0.0.1 entry, even if it's the only blocked one:
0.0.0.0 connect.facebook.net

The only question I would have (since I don't use Facebook) is whether this will block any other Facebook functionality. It will stop that computer from connecting to that web portal, but it might cause your browser to hiccup when trying to connect to Facebook otherwise. If so, simply delete the added entry to restore your system to its prior functionality.

Also note: the hosts file has no extension name. You may find Notepad or whatever word processor you use trying to add a suggested extension name when you save the file - be sure it's saved with no extension name or the file will be ignored by Windows.

[blackbird71]

blackbird71 @Felix-Grucci-III last edited by

@felix-grucci-iii Note: The 0.0.0.0 notation shown in my previous post may not work on some older OS versions. If that happens, each entry should carry the 127.0.0.1 notation instead of the 0.0.0.0. Otherwise, both notations will achieve the same blocking result.