Nowadays phones are common thing and in this digital world everyone
attached to Internet or use it most. Now the Internet, become the part of our
life. So children’s are also using internet and sometimes they get attached to
some irrelevant websites or adult content. To restrict them to see those
content you can block those websites.
Also there are several reasons why you might want to block certain
websites on your computer. Some websites could be spreading viruses, contain
explicit content or even be trying to steal your personal data. While you may
well be more than capable of avoiding these websites, but that doesn't stand
true for everyone who uses your device. In such cases, it might be best to block
certain websites.
There are different ways to go about blocking websites. You can choose
to block websites only on specific browsers, the entire operating system, or
indeed your network router also. Here's how to block websites:
·
On
your computer
If you want to control access to websites on just
one machine, then you can set up block at the operating system level. This
method for blocking websites is not too hard to configure and will work across
browsers.
1).
Windows
One of the
backbones of the Internet is the DNS system that translates easy to remember
(and type) names such as www.google.com into equivalent IP addresses (8.8.8.8).
While you use DNS servers to get to websites, your computer also has something
called a HOSTS file which can have this information stored locally. This can be
used to disable access to unwanted websites. This method can be applicable with
both Windows 7 and Windows 8.
1. Make sure you
have administrator access on your computer. Sign in to your PC using an
administrator account and go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\
2. Double-click
the file named "hosts" and select Notepad from the list of programs
to open the file. Click OK. The last two lines of your hosts file should read
"# 127.0.0.1 localhost" and "# ::1 localhost".
3. In case you
can't edit the file, you'll need to right-click the file labelled hosts and
select Properties. Click the Security tab, select the administrator account and
click Edit.
4. In the pop-up,
select the account again and check Full control. Click Apply > Yes. Now
click OK in all pop-ups.
5. At the end of
the file, you can add the addresses of websites to block. To do this, just add
a line at the end of the file, with 127.0.0.1 and then the name of the site you
want to block - this will redirect the site's name to your local computer.
6. To block
Google, for example, add "127.0.0.1 www.google.com" to the end of the
file without the quote marks. You can block as many sites as you want this way,
but remember you can only add one per line.
7. Repeat this
step until you've added all websites you want to block.
8. Now close the hosts file and click Save. Reboot
your computer for the changes to take effect and you'll find that all those
websites are now blocked.
2).
Mac
Here's how to
block websites on OS X .
1. Make sure you
have administrator access to your Mac. Now open Terminal. You can find it under
/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.
2. Type sudo nano
/etc/hosts and press enter. Enter the user (login) password when prompted.
3. This will open
the file /etc/hosts in a text editor. Type the name of the website in a new
line in this format "127.0.0.1 www.blockedwebsite.com" (minus the
quotes). For each website you want to block, start a new line and type the same
command with only the name of the website being replaced. When done, press
Ctrl+X and then Y to save changes.
4. Now key in the
command sudo dscacheutil -flushcache and press Enter or restart your machine to
make sure the websites are blocked.
·
Browser-level blocks
Blocking a website
on any browser is the easiest way to get the job done.
On Firefox,
you can install an addon called BlockSite to block
website.
1. Install the
addon, press Ctrl+Shift+A, and click Extensions on the left. Now click Options
under BlockSite. In the pop-up, click Add and type the name of the website you
want blocked. Repeat the process for all websites you don't want to access.
Click OK.
2. Now these
websites will be blocked on Firefox. You can also set a password in BlockSite
to prevent others from editing the list of blocked websites. This can be done
via the options menu described in the previous step.
Internet Explorer
lets you block websites easily. Here's how.
1. Open the
browser and go to Tools (Alt + X) > Internet Options. Now click the security
tab and then click the red restricted sites icon. Click the Sites button below
the icon.
2. Now in the
pop-up, manually type the websites you want o block one-by-one. Click Add
after typing the name of each site. When done, click Close and click OK in all
other windows. Now these websites will be blocked in Internet Explorer.
·
On your phone or tablet
1). iOS
Apple has some
handy parental control tools that let you block certain websites. Here's how.
1. Go to Settings
> General > Restrictions.
2. Tap on Enable
Restrictions. Now set a passcode for restrictions. This should ideally be
different from the passcode you use to unlock the phone.
3. After the
passcode is set, scroll down and tap Websites. Here you can either choose to
limit adult content, or allow access to specific websites only.
4. In specific
websites only, there's a short list of allowed websites including Discovery
Kids and Disney, but you can also add sites by tapping on Add a Website.
5. If you tap
Limit adult content, Apple blocks websites that are deemed objectionable, but
you can whitelist websites by tapping on Add a Website under Always Allow, or
blacklist them by tapping on it under Never Allow.
6. If you try to access a blocked website, you see
a message telling you it is restricted. Tap the Allow Website and key in the
Restrictions passcode to open that website.
2).
Android
Method 1:
On Android, you'll
need to edit the hosts file on your device to redirect sites you want to block.
You'll need a file manager, and a text editor - the easiest option is to use
our favourite app ES File Explorer, which lets you do both things. Here's how
it works.
1. Install ES File Explorer Open
ES File Explorer and tap the "/" button at the top. Tap on system
> etc.
2. In this folder,
you'll see the hosts file - tap it and in the pop up menu, tap text. In the
next pop up, tap ES Note Editor.
3. Tap the three
dots button in the top right, and tap edit.
4. Now, you're
editing the file, and to block sites, you want to redirect their DNS. To do
this, just start a new line, and type "127.0.0.1
www.blockedwebsite.com" (without the quotes, where blocked website is the
name of the site you're blocking) for each website you want to block. For
example, you'll have to type 127.0.0.1 www.google.com to block Google.
5. Reboot your
Android device.
Method 2:
If that method is
too complex for you, you can install an anti-virus app such as Trend Micro that lets
you block websites.
1. Install the app and
run it. Go to Options > Safe surfing.
2. Now swipe to
Parental Controls and click set up account. Create an account and you'll see an
option called Blocked List in the app. Tap it, and tap Add.
3.Now add the
websites you want to block one at a time. Once that is done, you won't be able
to access these websites on your Android smartphone.
3). Windows
Phone
You can't do a
full block of websites on Windows Phone, buy you can download the AVG Family Safety browser.
By default it blocks websites with malicious or explicit content, and if you
purchase an AVG anti-virus licence and create an account, you can customise the
list of blocked websites.
