Your own GenP.exe ran correctly on your system, but it wasn’t able to download the blocklist from the server it normally connects to.

Because the blocklist couldn’t be retrieved, the script marked GenP’s output as invalid and then tried the backup URLs.

Those backup sources also failed to load, which means your network or ISP is blocking all of the domains used for fetching the updated hosts entries.

Since no valid blocklist could be retrieved from any source, the script automatically restored your hosts file to the previous backup to prevent writing an empty or incomplete file.

That’s why the hosts file returned to its original state.

To fix this, make sure your network can access the domains used by GenP and the fallback URLs.

Using a VPN or changing your DNS (for example to Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google 8.8.8.8) usually resolves the issue.

Security software such as antivirus HTTPS filtering can also cause this problem, so temporarily disabling that may help as well.

The advanced script works perfectly as long as GenP can reach the latest domain list, or, if that fails, any of the backup URLs remain accessible on your network or through your ISP.

This situation is also mentioned in the Advanced Method section of the GenP guides, which explains the connection requirements and what to check if the script cannot retrieve the blocklist.

As your posted image indicates, it appears you may be accessing your content from China.

In several countries, including China, governments implement extensive internet censorship systems to regulate and block access to external websites, cloud services, and other online platforms.

These restrictions can prevent scripts like GenP from retrieving the blocklist.

This situation is entirely network-related and is not a problem with the script itself.

GenP runs correctly as long as the necessary domains and URLs are accessible.

Users behind such restrictions will need to use a VPN, change DNS (e.g., Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 or Google 8.8.8.8), or adjust their network to allow access to these external sources.

As for your suggestions, the issues you're encountering are specific to your country’s network restrictions.

This is not a GenP-related issue; the script itself works perfectly as intended.

The changes you've made are essentially workarounds for the restrictions imposed by your network.

The original script functions fine if the domains GenP uses, or the backup URLs, are accessible.

Problem 1:

• This only matters if the hosts file contains unexpected content before the blocklist.

• If the Advanced Method is used correctly and hosts.plain is applied for any existing content, the original detection works as expected.

Problem 2:

• These adjustments are only necessary if the network blocks TLS 1.2+ connections.

• The -UseBasicParsing parameter was originally needed on older versions of Windows (pre-PowerShell 5.1) because Invoke-WebRequest relied on Internet Explorer’s HTML engine to parse web pages. If IE was not installed or misconfigured, requests would fail.

• On modern Windows systems (Windows 10/11) with PowerShell 5.1+, Invoke-WebRequest works independently of Internet Explorer, making -UseBasicParsing unnecessary.

• Therefore, your fix is only relevant for very old systems or environments where IE-based parsing fails. For the vast majority of users today, the original script works perfectly without these adjustments.

In summary, your fixes address issues created by your network environment, not by the GenP script itself.

If the websites and fallback URLs were reachable, none of these adjustments would be needed.

We provide a script that works for most users worldwide, under normal network conditions.

Users behind network restrictions like yours need to adjust their network setup (e.g., use a VPN, change DNS, or configure their ISP) to allow access to these external resources.

I've been having the same issue on the Advanced method Host File updater, keeps saying that on the log. I made sure to change the GenP file path to where GenP is in my Downloads (C Drive) and I made sure the folder and Downloads itself has full admin access on all my admin accounts.

But the updater task works just fine when it uses the backup URLS, so I've kinda just let it be since it still works. Plus since I've now started using Wintrust on Premiere and Photoshop (Acrobat blocks popups great just patching with GenP), I've not really used the hosts file anymore anyway.