[font="Arial Black"]Hi all[/font]

This is my first post so I hope I get it right.

I am running Vista Business on 32bit platform. Plently of memory and HD space. Fairly secure. Good seci=urity software and constant updates, regular checks.

I was adding a couple of sites to the HOSTS file - which as you know is not so straightforward in Vista as it was in XP. I had read that it was a good idea to disable the DNS client when doing this. I did so. Safari immediately stopped working. It wouldf not open any site; however at the same time I could get Firefox 3 - my regular browser to work with no problem. As soon as I reenabled the DNS client, Safar worked fine again>

Can someone explain this? The DNS client service was for years one of the first services I switched off in XP. It had no effect on browsing. ( I was fan of Black Viper for quire a time and hatede to see all those useless services bloating up my computer). Since I ?? upgraded to Vista - I have left the services alone as there seem to be hundreds of new ones, and I have not yet seen a credible site with good - safe -advice on which ones vcan be safely cut out.

The only theory I have is that in Safari - which I really like for many of its features - there is a "privacy option" this allows simultaneouos clearing of tracks etc which added to CCClean and ATF clean I use regularly, to avoid cookies and tracking stuff. Could it be that the DNS resolver is required to do that?

Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

Tanimoto[/color][color="#FF0000"]