How do I remove/disable entry in HOSTS file?

adaadat

Hi,

Stupid question, really: how do I, temporarily or permanently, disable an entry in my MVPS HOSTS file?

I'm no longer able to access a site which, as far as I'm aware, is perfectly safe, but has just been blocked by my newly-installed HOSTS file.

I've found the 866 KB file (with the file type of, simply, "File") in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc, opened it with Notepad and am aware I should put a "#" symbol in front of the entry I want to disable, but don't know what file type to save the new file as.

The two options are: "Text" or "All Files".

Do I keep the encoding as "ANSI"?

I don't want to create any more problems.

Can anyone help?

fwor

It sounds like you're trying to save the file using "Save As..." rather than "Save". If you use the latter instead it will just replace the orginal Hosts file without any further questions. Close Notepad, job done.

If you're worried that you might need to undo the changes, create a copy called hosts.bak before you start editing it, so that you have a backup if needed for future reference.

adaadat

Hi,

I closed all open IE windows and tried the "Save" option but was told:

"Cannot create the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS file.
Make sure the path and file name are correct."

I have to choose "Save As...", for some reason.

However, no matter which "Save as type" option I choose, either "Text" or "All files", the file is saved as a "Text" file.

How can I replace the existing HOSTS file with a file of the same file type, whatever it is?

John_Gray

It doesn't have a file extension - it is simply hosts
It comes from Unix.

In NOTEPAD, try saving it as hosts. (Yes, with a full stop after the final s).
And make the Save As type "All Files", not "Text Documents (.txt)"

jaydeeuk1

And right click on the file, click properties and make sure it isn't read only.

adaadat

Hi, John,

I've tried your suggestion of "HOSTS.", but I'm told:

"This file exists with Read Only attributes.
Please use a different file name."

Reluctant_spender

are you using a host file manager like HostsXpert

http://www.funkytoad.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=&28d444df85eb4f435055ed9d39c02f03=fbe5ad684248b9697a332622531d1876

Purple_Dragon

Can you not just rename the original hosts file to a different name eg hosts2. That way it no longer exists. You could then try and save the new file as hosts and see if that works.

John_Gray

adaadat wrote: »

Hi, John,
I've tried your suggestion of "HOSTS.", but I'm told:
"This file exists with Read Only attributes.
Please use a different file name."

Take off the Read-Only attribute before saving the file, and put it on afterwards (if you want).

Either do this with Windows Explorer
or in a command prompt window do
attrib -r \windows\system32\drivers\etc\host

adaadat

Thanks, everyone.

Removing the "Read Only" attribute was what I needed to do.

I can now simply "Save" the modified HOSTS file and access the site previously denied to me.