How to edit hosts file manually?

[green796]

I am running ver 1.5.2.20 on WinXP. Besides Spybot, I am running AVG (free antivirus only) and ZoneAlarm (free firewall only).

Occasionally when my web browser hangs waiting for some-whoever-site bit in a larger web page to load, I like to try placing that web address as a block in the hosts file. Often the address that won't load is only a hit-counter, or an ad server I don't give a crap about seeing anyway.

Problem is now, I can't do that. If I change the hosts file, it will not allow me to save. I assume Spybot/Tea Timer is responsible, nothing else I know of is set to protect the hosts file.

So how can I do this? I have tried disabling the Tea Timer in the Spybot/advanced/resident settings, but that doesn't work--I still can't save the changed hosts file. Do I have to reboot a couple times to accomplish this?
~

[Terminator]

Its entirely possible that Zone Alarm is to blame as there is a "Lock Hosts File" Option under "Firewall" > "Advanced" within Zone Alarm it's self.

[GreenEyedLady]

Do you have Lavasoft's AdAware installed? It can sometimes lock a hosts file after repairs if you did a scan with that recently, unless you change the default setting.

I once heard something about WinXP's security center setting hosts files readonly but can't check that, the machine I am using right now is Win98. Try finding it in Explorer and open the Properties page, see if the box for that is checked, if so clear it. This could also happen if you restored the hosts file from a backup copy somewhere, or used one of the online security scans that try to "fix" things for you.

[MrGreg]

Hi Green796,

Spybot locks the host file. Please go to the mode tab and switch to Advanced Mode. Once in advanced mode, click on Tools on the left side of the application. Under Tools click on IE Tweaks and you will find the setting that locks the Hosts file. Hope this helps...