Why do I need a hosts file?
Must every PC have a hosts file?
I was messing around with spybot one day, and after that my PC slowed down to a snail pace, and I discovered I had a hosts file. Is it possible I created the hosts file and didn't have one before?
almost everybody has a hostsfile on the computer i think, my original looks like this:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
and if you add this under the first localhost line: 127.0.0.1 forums.spybot.info
then you can not access this forums, and other programs on the computer can not connect to the spybot forums.
malware blocks security sites and antivirus/antispyware updates in this way but the spybot hostsfile blocks sites that has malware in it and some adservers.