You can use MVPS HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems. The Hosts file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, so there is no need to turn on, adjust or change any settings with the exception of the DNS Client service (see below). Windows automatically looks for the existence of a HOSTS file and if found, checks the HOSTS file first for entries to the web page you just requested. The 0.0.0.0 (prefix) is considered the location of your computer, so when an entry listed in the MVPS HOSTS file is requested on a page you are viewing, your computer thinks 0.0.0.0 is the location of the file. When this file is not located it skips onto the next file and thus the ad server is blocked from loading the banner, Cookie, or some unscrupulous ActiveX, or javascript file.
Homepage: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
FAQ: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm
Blog: https://mvpshostsnews.blogspot.com/
Instructions: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm
Download: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip