Hosts file backups

[enduser62]

Is there a way to keep the hosts file from making so many backups or none at all? I'm running W2K SP4 with all patches. My issue that when I try to immunize, the hosts file does not get immunized. The only way I have found that I can get immunize to work is by deleting all the backup hosts files created by Spybot 1.5.2.

I do not have any of the other programs installed that have been suspected of causing this problem when I did a search on this issue. (No Zonealarm, no Spywareblaster, no Spysweeper and so on.) I have also checked that my hosts file does not have any attributes set.

[md usa spybot fan]

enduser62:


Is there a way to keep the hosts file from making so many backups or none at all? ...
At the current time there is no way to prevent the creation of the backups. However ther may be something in the works in regard to the HOSTS file backups (at least deleting them) in a future release.

The following thread contained a suggestion concerning HOSTS file backups:
Suggestions
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=107
In post #117 (http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=206584&postcount=117), blues (http://forums.spybot.info/member.php?u=43162) suggested:


hi. i have some suggestions to spybot, i can see that i have 11 hostsfile backups in the hostsfile folder, maybe they can be removed by spybot so we dont have to do that manually because the folder is just growing and growing and some people maybe dont know the folder is growing, i mean it is just necessary to have just one backup.

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PepiMK (http://forums.spybot.info/member.php?u=1) responded in post # 119 (http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=206835&postcount=119) with:



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@blues:
1. Good point on backups. We probably should combine all types of backups in 2.0, so that we could put a global "age" for them.

2. If it would be on the wizard, many 2000 users would disable it without knowing what it is about probably. What are the chances that users who actually need this service would blindly disable it, and suddenly have no connection? Rumors on that service are various. Are there any Microsoft recommendations that this file could be safely disabled?

3. See 1., it's probably best to get some combined data storage solution instead of implementing this in various different locations right now.
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[PepiMK]

There's an inofficial way to get none at all actually ;) : a registry tweak called CreateHostsBackup (http://wiki.spybot.info/index.php/Registry_Tweaks#CreateHostsBackup).

[md usa spybot fan]

PepiMK:

I'm sorry I missed that but I am still unable to logon to http://wiki.spybot.info to view the CreateHostsBackup (http://wiki.spybot.info/index.php/Registry_Tweaks#CreateHostsBackup) registry tweak.