James Moss
asked on
block a specific webpage for all workstations on entire network by whatever means possible
Hello Experts – I decided to give this service a go as a trial. I can imagine that this service could be very helpful when stuck on a problem and also when overloaded. Thank you.
The issue that I am having is detailed below. I've also written a synopsis at the bottom if you don't care to read the entire scenario.
Problem
Our base image and software contains an outdated version of RealPlayer (v14.0.6.666) that due to extenuating circumstances will not be updated.
The RealPlayer software is displaying a webpage as its background. The webpage affirms that our version of RealPlayer is out of date, and is no longer supported. That's acceptable. What's troublesome is that it also displays a big fat orange 'Update Now' button.
Teaching our users to behave is one thing, but dangling a clickable update button in front of them can be too tempting even for our educated users who have privileged accounts. I would like to block this specific webpage across the entire domain.
I first tried to emulate my desired behavior by going into Internet Options, Privacy, Sites, Add http://www.real.com/realplayer/guidepage and click Block. This works, but it blocks the entire domain, i.e. real.com. Since that didn't work, I looked into setting the Content Advisor, but then I started getting into 'ratings' and creating a 'supervisor password' and this didn't seem to be what I wanted.
Synopsis
Workstations are running Windows 7, 32-bit.
Internet Explorer v9
Domain Controller is running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, SP1
Internet Explorer v8*
*this is significant because we can use Internet Explorer Maintenance settings.
The issue that I am having is detailed below. I've also written a synopsis at the bottom if you don't care to read the entire scenario.
Problem
Our base image and software contains an outdated version of RealPlayer (v14.0.6.666) that due to extenuating circumstances will not be updated.
The RealPlayer software is displaying a webpage as its background. The webpage affirms that our version of RealPlayer is out of date, and is no longer supported. That's acceptable. What's troublesome is that it also displays a big fat orange 'Update Now' button.
Teaching our users to behave is one thing, but dangling a clickable update button in front of them can be too tempting even for our educated users who have privileged accounts. I would like to block this specific webpage across the entire domain.
I first tried to emulate my desired behavior by going into Internet Options, Privacy, Sites, Add http://www.real.com/realplayer/guidepage and click Block. This works, but it blocks the entire domain, i.e. real.com. Since that didn't work, I looked into setting the Content Advisor, but then I started getting into 'ratings' and creating a 'supervisor password' and this didn't seem to be what I wanted.
Synopsis
I want to block the specific webpage http://www.real.com/realplayer/guidepage for all users' workstations on our network by whatever means possible—GPO?
Workstations are running Windows 7, 32-bit.
Internet Explorer v9
Domain Controller is running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, SP1
Internet Explorer v8*
*this is significant because we can use Internet Explorer Maintenance settings.
I agree that the hosts file is your best bet. When I saw the title to this question that was the first thing that popped into my mind. Have you tried pushing a modified MVPS hosts file out?
ASKER
can you block specific webpages using the HOSTS file?
I never tried doing specific pages, although now that you mention it I may test it out to see if it is possible.
ASKER
thanks, yeah, I just tried it as well, no dice. I'm pretty sure the HOST file is for domain name resolution, not specific webpages, which of course is what I'm asking about. also, as I mentioned in the 2nd paragraph after the image; I also tried blocking the specific page in Internet Options, but that blocks the entire domain, i.e. real.com as well.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
we have a proxy server. although I am not familiar with using it. I'll have to reach out to whoever's in charge or it.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
yes, our plan is to eventually do away with it completely. apparently there are quite a few people who are still using it. an important question that I have would be WHAT are they using it for? Are they using to play RealPlayer files (.ra, .rax, .rv., .rvx, .rm... etc.) or are they using to play mpegs or mov files.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
yes, every month it fails our vulnerability scans and we are forced to submit exception requests with securty programs. I forgot about VLC, and it is awesome. I wonder if that would pass our vulnerability scanners. hmmm.. thanks. thanks everyone for the input.
ASKER
thanks for everyone's help. I think I did this correctly. I checked multiple helpful answers, and one "Best Solution" because it answered the question, and was the first to answer it. the other experts that I tagged provided helpful ancillary information, so I appreciated that also.
But this may not helpful to you if not have a proxy, you can try adding an entry on host file on all computers pointing www.real.com to 127.0.0.1: http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/how-do-i-modify-my-hosts-file