How To Edit Hosts File on Windows 8 or 8.1. In this article, you will read what is Hosts file used for and how method to edit host file on Windows 8 and 8.1. Sometimes, there is a need to edit the host file on your system. Because your host file can be edited maliciously. So, you may want to control access to certain websites or control network traffic.
What Is Hosts File Used For?
Host File are the computer system files. It is an operating system file that maps hostnames and connections between an IP address and domain names before going to domain name servers. This file is an ASCII text file. It contains IP addresses separated by a space and then a domain name. Originally a file named HOSTS.
It resolved host names for decades before the DNS system was implemented, since way back in the ARPANET days. It varies very little between Windows, macOS, and Linux. The syntax is almost the same.
The typical syntax consists of three parts. The first part is the location to redirect the address to, the second part will be the address that you will want to redirect, and the third part is the comment.
(IP Address) (URL) #(Comment) ; for example
127.0.0.1 localhosts #loopback
How To Edit Hosts File on Windows 8 or 8.1?
You can find the host file in the Windows folder, which is protected. If you want to edit, delete, or move the file, then you need administrative privileges to do so. To modify the host file, Notepad is the perfect choice. To edit the host file:
1.Search for Notepad.
2.Right-click on Notepad in the search results list.
3.Then choose “Run as Administrator.
4.After the Notepad is open, click “File” in the top right.
5.Click “Open”.
6.Then navigate to the /etc/ folder:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
7.Then edit the hosts file as per your wish.
8.You can use it to block access to websites.