In the hope to make your life a bit easier, we are offering a new application: the Hosts Manager. You will be able to download our new hosts file available here, add, edit, delete HOSTS entries, add or replace your HOSTS file, create or restore a back-up, temporally disable your HOSTS file and much more.



Take some time to read the help file by pressing F1 or by clicking on the little arrow at the right side of the main window. It isn’t really boring

Downloading the Bluetack’s HOSTS file through the Hosts Manager is really easy. If the download URL changes, you will be asked if you want to check the availability of a new download link. If you get any error messages during the download, please take the time to write them down.



Once you’ve downloaded the Bluetack’s HOSTS file, you will have 4 different choices:

• Simply open the download folder.
• Append the downloaded file to your existing HOSTS file.
• Replace your current HOSTS file with the new one. (Recommended)
• Simply close the download window.

The Hosts Manager is available in the Downloads Section of the forum.

If you have any problems, feel free to create a topic in this section.

Thanks for your support.

Kim

Version 1.4.1 is available.

Fixed the bottom of the application being "cut off" on a 1024 x 768 resolution if your taskbar isn't hidden. It should even work on a 800 x 600 monitor now.

The main window will be smaller if your taskbar isn't hidden and a tiny scroll arrow will appear at the bottom of the toolbar to show clipped buttons.



Fixed the tip for the Read Only / Writable status of the HOSTS file.

Fixed the tip for the Disable / Enable HOSTS file.


The previous version (1.3) doesn't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.4.2 is available.

Fixed a bug in the Append / Replace function. The program didn't accept intranet entries.
example : 192.168.1.1 Computer2

Thanks to crass77 for pointing this out.


Fixed a minor bug in the search function related to the use of uppercase and lowercase in the Search Dialog Box.


The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.5 is available

Fixed a minor bug when clearing the HOSTS file.

Disable / Enable button has been moved to a right click pop-up menu. The button has been replaced with an Options button / Menu.




Use of personal inclusions / exclusions is now possible.




Helpfile is updated to reflect changes. Please read it, a lot of new features were added, the different personal lists are explained...

Ressources have been moved into a DLL in order to keep the size of the exe reasonable.


The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.5.1.0 is available

Fixed bug reported by crass77
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=9653

Kim

Version 1.5.2.0 is available

Fixed a minor GUI bug in the download window with dark themes. (Color issue)

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Version 1.5.3.0 is available

Consulting the big HOSTS file posted by r00ted gave me some idea's.

Changes

• Comma is converted to dot
• Underscore is converted to dash since the use of an underscore is not recommended
• Trailing dot is removed if present
• A Hostname that contains a leading dot is considered as invalid (example: 127.0.0.1 .com)
• Entries that refer to a file (*.dll - *.exe - *.inf - *.htm - *.html) are discarded

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.6.0.0 is available

More changes, thx to r00ted.

The Hosts Manager contains a new module : Check my Hosts File



In this module you can check if your HOSTS file contains invalid domain names, thus probably invalid entries. Your file will be compared against a list that contains 267 valid and official domain names (*).

The new window contains 5 buttons:

• Start Check: Starts to examine your HOSTS file for invalid entries.
• Save List: All listed entries will be saved to a text file. You can use this file to manually edit and correct entries, for example to correct domains or missing line returns. Later on you could append this file to your current HOSTS file.
• Delete Checked: All checked entries will be removed from your HOSTS file.
• Add Checked: From time to time, new domains show up, so by using this button all checked entries will be considered as valid domains.
• Close: Close the Hosts Checker module.

How to use
Start with a check, examine the listed entries, eventually save to a file, uncheck correct entries if you find any or uncheck those you would like to edit for example, delete the invalid entries. If you have a few entries left over because you did uncheck some, you can save them to a file and edit them or check them and add them to the valid domains list…

Try it out from time to time, I found 4 invalid entries in my HOSTS file.

Help file has been updated to reflect changes.

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

(*) Source:
http://www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm
http://www.iana.org/gtld/gtld.htm
http://www.thrall.org/domains.htm

Kim

Version 1.6.1.0 is available

Removed the automatic underscore to dash conversion.

Although the use of the _ underscore is not legal, some OS don't convert the _ to a - , which means we will have to put in both domains to be safe.

example:
search_fd.php.coolwebsearch.com (normally the OS should replace the underscore with a dash)
search-fd.php.coolwebsearch.com


Two more file entries (*.cab - *.php)

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.6.2.0 is available

Changes

• Moved the location of the Clear button - r00ted seemed to have some 'wild clicking' trouble with it.
• The Clear button will now ask for confirmation before wiping out the entries.
• Moved the location of the Search button.
• Changed the icon for the Options button.
• Fixed a minor bug in the Personal List Manager.
• You don't need to switch the HOSTS file to Writable anymore to work on. It will switch to Writable automatically for a few seconds when your HOSTS file is saved and Read Only will be turned on after the file was saved. I didn't remove the button since I like to see the status of my hOSTS file when I launch the program.
• Help File was updated to reflect changes.

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

A few changes based on the feedback:
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=9943

Kim

Version 1.6.3.0 is available

Changes

• Bugfix in the GUI related to the status of the Save Button, it was not showing a 'down' status when you pressed the button.
• Added a timer that will check for the status of the HOSTS file (Read Only / Writable) every 30 seconds when the application is open.
• Launching a second instance of the program while a first one is already running will bring the running instance to the top windows. Running two Hosts Managers could be a big problem indeed if a change was made in both windows. Thx to r00ted for this suggestion. As I'm rather worried about this feature, especially when running applications that monitor the creation of a mutex (ProcessGuard or System Safety Monitor for example) any feedback would be appreciated.

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.6.4.0 is available

Changes

• Modified the code for invalid entries detection

The previous versions don't need to be uninstalled before installing this release. You simply will be asked if you want to perform an upgrade of the application.

Kim

Version 1.7 is available

Fixed some minor bugs in the GUI when WindowBlinds is installed. (Menus)

New feature : B.I.S.S. Hosts Switch



Check out this topic for more information:
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=13516

______________________________


New Installer feature : You can choose the install folder. Click on Custom Setup to change the location of the install folder.



______________________________


Note : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.


Kim

Version 1.7.1.0 is available

Fixed a bug reported by Firstaid

Thx Firstaid.

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.7.2.0 is available

Fixed :

• List index out of bounds (0) error when Hosts file is 0 bytes
• Communication problem between the Hosts Manager & Hosts Switch

Thx Firstaid.

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.8.0.0 is available

I like to change icons very often, thus I thought I would share this with you all. A new iconset is available and an entry has been added to the options menu to swicth between the 2 iconsets.



The application will show the new iconset on next restart.



Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.8.1.0 is available

Bugfixes

1. Left Menu was not showing when using Windows 2000 or lower - Windows XP is NOT affected.
2. Fixed a small glitch in Windows 2000 button images - Windows XP is NOT affected.

Thanks to Beamer-1 & racebannon for their time in reporting the issue.
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=13935

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.9.0.0 is available

I did make a change in the way how the download of the Hosts file works. Many people are still on dialup so I finally did take some time to add this new feature as requested by Beamer-1 here.

By clicking on the download button, you'll get notified if a new update is available or not. If a new Hosts file is available, you'll get prompted to install the file. Occasionally, when a new version of the Hosts Manager is available, you will get notified too.

If no updates are available, please try again the next day after 01:00 GMT.





Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.9.1.0 is available

Changes

• A few minor changes in the messages shown by the program.
• Minor Gui fix.

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 1.9.2.0 is available

Changes

• The help file is now in PDF format instead of the integrated mhtml. Pressing F1 will still bring up the Help file but the little arrow has been removed and help will open up in your usual PDF Reader such as Acrobat Reader.

I have made this change since I did get two reports that mention a Stack Overflow error when the mhtml protocol is disabled on the PC. Since many people may opt for a IE lockdown, I did prefer this new solution as suggested by hackattack142 instead of adding an error handling.

Reports
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=14663
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=10067

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Version 2.0.0.0 is available

Fixed

• F1 didn't bring up the help file.
• Edexter line stays on top.

New

• Moved Search.
• Moved Options and Tools.
• Search Panel & Options can be hidden or visible by clicking on the small arrow (see rollup / rolldown).
• Disable / Enable DNS Service.
• Hosts file is not sorted by default (read more in helpfile about this).
• If not sorted you can list your own IP's on top (see helpfile).
• Move up and Move down items if your hosts file is not sorted (see help file).
• Added option to Insert a new entry at current position if hosts file is not sorted (see help file).

Very important : Please uninstall all versions prior to 1.7.0.0 through Add / Remove Programs before installing the new release.

Kim

Included Hosts Switch version is 1.3.1.0

Fixed not switching correctly to Default Style. Thanks Firstaid.

Sorry for inconvenience.

Version 2.0.1.0 is available

Enable DNS

You now have the choice to set the service to Manual (default setting) or Automatic.



IconSets

The program doesn't need to be closed / opened again when changing the Iconset. New choice will be applied automatically.

Search box

Small bug fixed in search method.

Download box

Download box will now show the lastest update date as seen on the Portal under Hosts File.