Windows 7 – Edit the Hosts File - How to edit the windows hosts file - Host access file edition

Windows 7 – Edit the Hosts File

Need to figure out how to edit the Hosts file in Windows 7? For the most part, it’s pretty much the same as Windows XP and Vista, but with a few extra hiccups!

Just if case you don’t know, the Hosts file is where you can manually enter a hostname and an IP address pair, thereby bypassing the DNS server. This can be pretty useful in certain situation, especially for anyone in IT.

The path to the Hosts file in Windows 7 is the same as usual:

%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\

where %systemroot% is usually c:\windows unless you installed Windows on a different partition. By default, you cannot see these hidden folders since they are system folders.

To show hidden folders in Windows 7, press the ALT key while in Explorer to bring up the File menu. Click on Tools and then Folder Options.

Click on the View tab and then click on the Show hidden files, folders, and drives radio button underHidden files and folders.

Now navigate to the directory above and open the hosts file and make your changes.