New Hack to Bankrupt Microsoft

Seems like people have found a way to block all the ads on the new dashboard update. We know Microsoft is barely chugging along as it is, they have to charge for the service just to keep it running and these cyber bandits are going to take away the precious advertising dollars that must be keeping the company afloat. This is why the internet needs more regulation people.

Here's the loophole these 21st century swashbuckling murders are using to blocks the ads:

ou need to prevent your Xbox from accessing the domain rad.msn.com.

There are multiple ways you can do this, but I'm going to use OpenDNS since it's probably the easiest:

- Sign up for an OpenDNS account (it's free).
- Add a network for your current IP address.
- Go to Advanced Settings and next to 'Domain Typos', check the box 'Enable typo correction' if it's not already checked and apply.
- Got to Web Content Filtering settings and set the filtering level to 'None', and under 'Manage individual domains', put rad.msn.com and select 'Always block' and then click 'Add domain'. Screenshot.
- On your Xbox, go to System Settings -> Network Settings -> (your connection) -> Configure Network -> DNS settings -> Manual, and enter the OpenDNS IP addresses for the primary and secondary DNS servers: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.
- You may need to clear your hard drive cache before ads disappear entirely: System Settings -> Storage -> Hard Drive -> press Y -> Clear System Cache (note that you'll have to re-download any title updates for any games you play after doing this).
No longer pay to be advertised to.

You may also wish to configure your router to use OpenDNS' DNS servers via a static DNS setting, instead of setting it up on your Xbox. Doing so will block the ads for any device that connects to your network - so you don't have to configure them one-by-one.

One other note: If your IP address changes, you will need to update your OpenDNS network to match. If that happens frequently, you probably want the OpenDNS updater.

Alternatively, it's possible (and fairly easy) to configure your router to block the domain, as several people have mentioned. Note that this doesn't work for all routers, though. To test if it will be blocked successfully, try to load https://rad.msn.com/. If the page fails to load, gives you a 404 error, or you get a security error, then it's blocked. If you get this 403 error, it's not blocked.

Seems like people have found a way to block all the ads on the new dashboard update. We know Microsoft is barely chugging along as it is, they have to charge for the service just to keep it running and these cyber bandits are going to take away the precious advertising dollars that must be keeping the company afloat. This is why the internet needs more regulation people.

Here's the loophole these 21st century swashbuckling murders are using to blocks the ads:

Welps, solution is the ads will download onto your Xbox 360 and then you can't block em.

Or MS adds mirrors. Then you have to access a handful of sites.

Welps, solution is the ads will download onto your Xbox 360 and then you can't block em.

Or MS adds mirrors. Then you have to access a handful of sites.

Thank god.

Thank god.

We need to preserve the random ads or without them we'd have to pay for XBL - oh wait.

Honestly I thought the last dashboard had way more ads, this one isnt that bad. But if the few ads that are there are that big of a deal then by all means, King Kam, the hyperbole machine! All hail!!

Heh..gotta give it to $pams with the attention grabbing title :lol: BTW you better do this fast as MS has an easy work around ;)

Honestly I thought the last dashboard had way more ads, this one isnt that bad. But if the few ads that are there are that big of a deal then by all means, King Kam, the hyperbole machine! All hail!!

Of course it's hyperbole.:rolleyes: That's why people have already gone to the extent of finding a way to eliminate them?

I didn't come up with that. It was on the front page of Reddit today.

I don't see the problem with content related ads. If its stuff I can download, fine, show me, provided that I don't have to click away from it. Its not like they're advertising for Pepsi Max or anything