Checking for Invalid Hostnames

[lewisje]

I'm not sure what method Kolla uses to check this, but I've run the Spybot-generated HOSTS file through CIP, using the Google Public DNS, and it failed to find a proper IP address for more than half of the hostnames: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=TnVhRr5n
(I tried posting them directly but the post became way too long.)

Now before I started I set all of the IP addresses to 0.0.0.0 and moved the HOSTS file out of its default location (I tried *in* the default location and all I got was quick "verification" of all the IP addresses as 0.0.0.0); I made sure to temporarily disable the DNS Client also, so that any cache wouldn't influence the result. The vast majority of these 8066 hostnames weren't found at all, while about 6 were actually listed in Google Public DNS as having the IP address 0.0.0.0, 4 were listed as having 1.1.1.1 (which I know to be unused, or at least it does't respond to ping and has no PTR record), and 26 were listed as 127.0.0.1 (localhost, not a legitimate A record); now unlike some other resolvers (like Comodo or Norton), Google Public DNS tries to remain accurate, neither monetizing the NXDOMAIN responses nor deliberately redirecting Web surfers away from known malware and phishing domains, so I'm fairly sure that if Google Public DNS couldn't find a legitimate IP address for a hostname, it's because there wasn't one.

(CIP is an old program primarily intended to populate the HOSTS file with correct IP addresses, to take the burden off an ISP's potentially inadequate DNS servers; as a secondary purpose, if you're building a blocking HOSTS file, this tool can automatically verify whether the hostnames actually exist in the DNS so you won't waste space blocking non-existent domains.)