Software Optimisation (Windows)

In this section I want to show some tricks to make your Windows software lighter on your system.

Skype: Privacy settings and disabling advertisements

First of all there are a few things in the Skype options, which can/should be changed. Go to Privacy, then Privacy settings, press the button to show advanced options. At the bottom you can disable the two check boxes:

Now you can go to Advanced, then Advanced settings and disable the following check box:

Obviously these changes will not remove all advertisements, because having no ads is a feature of the Skype premium license.

For the following step you will need administrative rights, as it requires you to dig deeper into your system. Browse to c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ and edit the hosts file (as an administrator) and add the following lines:


127.0.0.1 live.rads.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ads1.msn.com
127.0.0.1 static.2mdn.net
127.0.0.1 g.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ads2.msads.net
127.0.0.1 a.ads2.msads.net
127.0.0.1 b.ads2.msads.net
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ac3.msn.com
127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 msntest.serving-sys.com
127.0.0.1 bs.serving-sys.com
127.0.0.1 flex.msn.com
127.0.0.1 ec.atdmt.com
127.0.0.1 cdn.atdmt.com
127.0.0.1 db3aqu.atdmt.com
127.0.0.1 cds26.ams9.msecn.net
127.0.0.1 sO.2mdn.net
127.0.0.1 aka-cdn-ns.adtech.de
127.0.0.1 secure.flashtalking.com
127.0.0.1 adnexus.net
127.0.0.1 adnxs.com
127.0.0.1 .rad.msn.com
127.0.0.1 .msads.net
127.0.0.1 .msecn.net
127.0.0.1 apps.skype.com                      


This redirects the Microsoft advertisement server addresses to local host, which means they can not be loaded anymore. The modified hosts file will take effect as soon as you restart your computer.