{"id":107,"date":"2011-08-29T13:29:08","date_gmt":"2011-08-29T13:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/2011\/08\/29\/modifying-your-hosts-file\/"},"modified":"2021-10-26T09:18:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T13:18:08","slug":"modifying-your-hosts-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/website\/modifying-your-hosts-file\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Modify Your hosts File Using Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"
NOTE:<\/b> The following information is intended for Windows<\/em> users. If you are using a Mac<\/em>, please see our article on How to Modify Your hosts<\/em> File Using Mac OS X<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\t\"How\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>
Don\u2019t have time to read our full article? Watch our walk-through video.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is a hosts<\/em> File Modification?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A hosts<\/em> file modification<\/strong> is a simple tweak that is used to \u201ctrick\u201d your computer into resolving to a specific IP. This is especially useful when developing your site on our server when your nameservers are not pointed to us yet. This is necessary when you are working with domain-name-dependent software (ie: Content Management System (CMS), such as Joomla! or WordPress).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does a hosts<\/em> File Modification Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"DNS<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The image (to the right) depicts the process of resolving a domain to an IP address using various devices. In the image, the hosts<\/em> file on \u201cYour Computer<\/i>\u201d has been modified with the following code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

86.75.30.9 example.com\n86.75.30.9 www.example.com<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Since the hosts<\/em> file was only modified on \u201cYour Computer<\/i>\u201c, only that device will resolve the domain: example.com to the IP address: 86.75.30.9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other devices, that do not have the hosts<\/em> file modified, will resolve to the IP address: 172.16.0.0, found in the DNS zone\u2013present in the name servers that the domain is pointed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n\n
How to Modify Your hosts<\/em> File<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Follow the sections below to learn how to perform a hosts<\/em> file modification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IMPORTANT:<\/b> While reviewing this article, if you are unsure exactly what you need to do, we recommend watching the video above.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Run Notepad as administrator<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
To modify your hosts<\/em> file, you will need to first run Notepad (or any other text editor available to you on the same computer) as administrator. This is because the hosts<\/em> file is a system file and cannot be modified without elevated privileges. Note: If you are running Windows XP or lower, you won\u2019t need to run it as administrator as this functionality only exists in Vista and above. Locate Notepad within your Start menu. If it is not already there, you can type \u201cnotepad\u201d into the search box to show it. Then, right-click on it and click on \u201cRun as administrator\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open Your hosts<\/em> File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After you have Notepad up and running as administrator, you can then locate your hosts<\/em> file and open it. While not all Windows versions store it in the same place, it is typically located within c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\etc<\/strong> and the filename is: hosts<\/em>. If you do not see it there, other possibilities are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n