Hosts File Missing!

J

jonathanbean

New member
The long lists of hosts files is missing. I tried to remove and then add and it says "system path can't be found...." (rough paraphrase). I uninstalled Spybot and reinstalled the 1.4 version. Still no luck. I upgraded to 1.5 beta. Nade.

Why would it suddenly disappear, never to return?
 
The location of the HOSTS file is OS dependent as follows:
  • Windows 95, 98 and ME
    C:\WINDOWS
  • Windows 2000
    C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc
  • Windows XP and Vista
    C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
The backup HOSTS files created by Spybot are also stored in the same directories.

It sound like you may be missing your C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder. If so:
  • Create a C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder.
To restore your HOSTS file with Microsoft's sample HOSTS file:
  • Download HostsXpert from funkytoad.com and unzip (extract) it to your desktop.
  • Open HostsXpert from your desktop.
  • When you receive the following message, click the "OK" button.
    • Confirm

      HOSTS file does not exist, press OK to create HOSTS file, Cancel to Quit.

      [OK] [Cancel]
  • Close HostsXpert.
 
Last edited:
God bless you, it worked!

THanks a million. I suspect that one or two trojans might have got by because my hosts were gone. Could that be?
 
Spybot detects HOSTs as Hijack?

Is this a false positive?

Windows.RedirectedHosts
Threat: Hijack

Description
Hijackers often use the hosts file to redirect websites to other ipadresses, commonly antivirus vendors get blocked by hijackers

It reads:

Redirected host
www.net-integration.net=127.0.0.1

I used Spybot to "Fix the Selected Problem"

Then I removed the Spybot hosts list and added it again -- it is there.
 
Last edited:
Darn

I ran Spybot again and the same Microsoft.Windows.Redirected Hosts warning comes up. I suspect this is a false warning but . . . ?
 
I also found that my HOSTS file was gone, when I tried to use the spybit hosts file, I go the message described in the first post.
I haven't had the FP mentioned, but then I can't get spybot to complete a scan without crashing atm.
However, when I went to
%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc there was no HOSTS file present. (I'm on xp)
I ended up restoring a hosts backup I'd made in spyware blaster :bigthumb:

I can't say that spybot was responsible for this, coz I really don't know.
 
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