Productivity can be a very fickle thing for many, especially when it involves the internet. All it takes is one sidetracked link to send you hurtling into the depths for hours on end. Seriously, how did I end up watching these cute cat videos? Sometimes when you’re trying to remain productive it’s absolutely necessary to restrict yourself from visiting certain websites. Sure, it does boil down to how much self-control you have but it’s also possible to be weak on that front. Cold Turkey is a simple application for Windows that blocks various sites for a certain period of time.
Once the time has expired, and it’s configurable, then access to the blocked sites will be restored. What is it and what does it doMain FunctionalityCold Turkey prevents access to several popular sites, namely those that would see you traveling off on a tangent and killing productivity. It comes pre-configured to block sites like Facebook, YouTube and several more. You can easily customize what sites are blocked and for how long. At any time you can launch Cold Turkey to see how much time is left on the clock. A simple little dialogue window will appear telling you the restore date and time, and it will also prompt if you want to block more sites or not. Clicking on yes will bring you to a slightly modified version of the main UI, which only allows you to add or remove custom websites and URLs.That’s it, there’s absolutely no easy way to reverse the process until the time has run its course.
Feb 07, 2012 How do I delete Cold Turkey to unblock myself from websites? You know that program that blocks you from websites called Cold Turkey? They have it listed how to delete it from your system.
Take heed of that fact. If you’re resourceful you could always open and edit the Windows HOST file yourself, but I’m not going to delve into that here.The app settings survive even through reboots, and are computer-wide meaning that they affect all users of a particular machine. You cannot end the application through the task manager, you can’t uninstall the program once the blocking process has been started, and you cannot change the system time to trick it.
This little quote from the official FAQ caught my eye and sums up the application quite well:What if I change my mind while I’m blocked?Tough luck. You will have to wait until your time expires. This is why the program exists in the first place, silly. Conclusion and download linkCold Turkey is a very useful Windows application that will help you to be more productive by blocking bad websites and apps. More specifically, the idea is to prevent access to apps and websites that would greedily consume your time. It’s not difficult at all to visit Facebook or YouTube for a few minutes, only to be sent off on a several hour long tangent. This app prevents that from happening by blocking access to the related sites through the Windows HOST file.
Once the Cold Turkey process has been activated, you cannot reverse the process (at least not without more advanced knowledge of the operating system). While configuring the block session, you can choose from several pre-configured websites or enter your own. You can also block installed programs and apps, personally I always block Guild Wars 2 (it’s my kryptonite). You choose a specific time and date, and then once activated the affected sites and apps are not accessible until that time has passed.
![Unblock Unblock](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125423311/562302005.png)
It works well, it’s remarkably efficient and the developer has done a great job at preventing the block process from being reverted. Don’t make a mistake by blocking access to a site or app that you need for work. Otherwise, this is a great application to keep you productive and on task. It’s pretty lightweight too, as it uses less than 20MB of RAM.Price: Free, Pay-what-you-wantVersion reviewed: 0.8Supported OS: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/2000/NTDownload size: 996KBVirusTotal malware scan results:Is it portable?