I have read about this program at Gizmo's, but haven't actually used it.

I use SpyBot's immunization feature, which adds tons of sites to the blacklist in my Hosts file.

I have heard that a large Hosts file causes your internet to be slow, but Im not sure

Btw mine is 442 KB (Win XP), you say yours is 600, does it have a negative impact on your browser or the speed?

Just a request, if you have some time to spare, could you shed some light on HostsXpert ? since you are using that

Now coming to hpHosts, I see their warning posts on the WOT pages of many good websites. They are mostly False positives, so I can't really recommend them.
I wonder if they list harmless tracking cookies/ads as trojans/malware. And do they re-scan websites that they have termed "Malicious" ?



P.S: (not exactly relevant, but may still help newbies)

I also use Spywareblaster to prevent bad websites from loading, although it does not modify the Hosts file.

WinPatrol also detects changes in Hosts file, and prompts you if a change is found, well thats just an added protection.