How to Unblock the Self-Restraint App, Designed to block websites (PC, MAC & LINUX!!)

Okkkk.... So long story short; I used the Self Restraint PC program (Based on the mac only Self Control App) to block facebook whilst I studied, my computer then crashed & Self Restraint never removed the block on the website. As I work in Social Media Marketing part time, having no access to facebook (and all other sites that used my facebook account as a log in).. I was crippled from doing my job and  forced to spend hours trying to learn code, etc.. to understand how Self Restraint works in order to start working again.

Sadly I wasted hours upon hours working through all of it before finding an extremely easy unblock which I can now promise will work if you have landed yourself in a similar situation to myself.

SELF CONTROL WORKS BY PLACING A BLOCK IN THE HOSTS FILE IN YOUR COMPUTER.
Here's how to unblock websites from self control:  (for windows 7&8.. other operating systems below)

1. Open Notepad as Administrator (Start - Search - Notepad [right click] - Run as Administrator)
2. Open Hosts File in Notepad: (File - Open: c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts)
3. Remove Blocked Websites from list:
1. Find this section:
   "# PySelfControl Blocklist. NO NOT EDIT OR MODIFY THE CONTENTS OF THIS
    # PySelfControl will remove the block when the timer has ended
    # Block the following sites:
   (List Of Blocked Websites)
    # End Blocklist"
   
2. To delete a specific website from the block list, delete the ENTIRE Line which it is listed on (including the numbers infront of it)
   
   -OR-
   
   To delete all websites blocked; delete all lines of this code (from #PySelfControl Blocklist... to - #End BlockList)
   
   
   
   PERSONALLY I RECOMMEND USING THE SECOND OPTION, AS IT LEAVES NO CRAP LYING AROUND & SLOWING DOWN YOUR COMPUTER.
   

SO WHAT IF YOU'RE USING ANOTHER OPERATING SYSTEM???

The process to unblock websites should be relatively similar once in the host file! (if you hadn't noticed, the code for Self Restraint in the host file refers to itself as "self control", its predecessor Mac App; suggesting that the way in which the application blocks websites through modifying host files is almost, if not, exactly the same across operating system platforms).

The following is copied from:

http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/how-do-i-modify-my-hosts-file

Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista use User Account Control (UAC), so Notepad must be run as Administrator.

For Windows 8

1. Press the Windows key.
2. Type Notepad in the search field.
3. In the search right click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
4. In Notepad, open the following file:
   c:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
5. Make the necessary changes to the hosts file.
6. Click File -> Save to save your changes.

For Windows 7 and Windows Vista

1. For Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories.
2. Right click Notepad and select Run as administrator.
3. Click Continue on the "Windows needs your permission" UAC window.
4. When Notepad opens Click File -> Open.
5. In the filename field type:
   C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
6. Click Open.
7. Make the necessary changes to the hosts file.
8. Click File -> Save to save your changes.

Windows NT/2000/XP

1. Click Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Notepad.
2. Click File -> Open.
3. In the filename field type:
   C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts
4. Click Open.
5. Make the necessary changes to the hosts file.
6. Click File -> Save to save your changes.

Linux

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Open the hosts file in a text editor (you can substitute any text editor):

sudo nano /etc/hosts

3. Enter your password.

4. Make the necessary changes to the hosts file.

5. Press control-X (hold control and hit X), then answer y when asked if you want to save your changes.

Mac OS X 10.0 - 10.1.5

1. Open /Applications/Utilities/NetInfo Manager.

2. To allow editing the NetInfo database, click the padlock in the lower left corner of the window.

3. Enter your password and click OK.

4. In the second column of the browser view, select the node named machines. You will see entries for -DHCP-,broadcasthost, and localhost in the third column.

5. Select the localhost item in the third column.

6. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu (the quickest way to create a new entry is to duplicate an existing one). A confirmation alert appears.

7. Click Duplicate. A new entry called localhost copy appears, and its properties are shown below the browser view.

8. Double-click the value of the ip_address property and enter the IP address of the other computer.

9. Double-click the value of the name property and enter the hostname you want for the other computer.

10. Click the serves property and choose Delete from the Edit menu.

11. Choose Save from the File menu. A confirmation alert appears.

12. Click Update this copy.

13. Repeat steps 6 through 12 for each additional host entry you wish to add.

14. Choose Quit from the NetInfo Manager menu. You do not need to restart the computer. 

Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.1.8

1. Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

2. Open the hosts file by typing the following in the Terminal window:

sudo nano /private/etc/hosts

Type your user password when prompted.

3. Edit the hosts file. The hosts file contains some comments (lines starting with the # symbol), as well as some default hostname mappings (e.g. 127.0.0.1 – local host). Append your new mappings underneath the default mappings.

4. Save the hosts file by pressing Control+x and answering y.

5. Make your changes take effect by flushing the DNS cache with the following command:

dscacheutil -flushcache

6. New mappings should now take effect.