I Learned How to Speed Up My Internet With HOSTS File Entries

[CharlesA]

That is pretty much the history of the hosts file. It starts back in sneakernet when resources were statically assigned. Now it's easier to just use DNS to do name resolution because of the sheer amount of hosts on the Internet and how quickly things can change.

[wbar2]

There is a site that maintains a large hosts file that blocks ad / spam / malware content:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Additionally here is a method to update it automatically:
http://www.putorius.net/2012/01/bloc...ements-on.html

This is not for normal DNS resolution to get to your favorite site (although you can append it to it as previously stated). This site has a file just for blocking unwanted sites.