Recently a reader asked how to save their HOSTS file in Vista, because it wasn’t letting them save their changes. Vista is a bit different from previous versions of Windows. Vista introduced the new User Account Control (UAC) to help protect common users from malicious activities. In doing so, UAC has also hindered productivity. Not only does it ask you to confirm everything you want to do, it blocks your access to edit the HOSTS file. Let’s fix this so you can have complete control of it.
There are two methods to get around this problem:
1. Turn UAC Off
Go to Start > Control Panel. In the top right search box, enter UAC. The search will return 1 result which will let you toggle UAC on or off. Click on the result and uncheck Use UAC… This will require a reboot, but it will save you time in the future.
2. Copy, then overwrite the HOSTS file
Navigate to the etc folder located @ c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\. Copy the HOSTS file to your Desktop and edit it accordingly. Make sure it’s named hosts, not hosts - Copy. Drag it into the etc folder and when you’re asked to overwrite the existing file, say yes.
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