Windows 7 Windows 7 x64 Hosts File

[kevvyb]

I cannot find the hosts file and need to check that it has not been changed.

Looked in:

%systemroot%\system32\drivers

Can anyone help?

 

[Trouble]

yes you are very close c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc

 

[kevvyb]

elusive hosts file

only hosts file I can open is a sample file

 

[Trouble]

See attachment and let us know if yours is different

 

[kevvyb]

hosts files found

Sorry. I thought anything prefixed with # was the sample file.

Last two entries were as on the example you posted.

Thanks

I am now doing a low level format anyway as I really am concerned that nothing was found on my machine by any of the scanners I used following what appeared to be a browser hijacking.

Can I overwrite the MBR as well?

 

[Trouble]

Sorry. I thought anything prefixed with # was the sample file.

Last two entries were as on the example you posted.

Thanks

I am now doing a low level format anyway as I really am concerned that nothing was found on my machine by any of the scanners I used following what appeared to be a browser hijacking.

Can I overwrite the MBR as well?

Without knowing what your current situation is I'm reluctant to comment. A low level format should pretty much wipe the drive, haven't actually done one since Win95, so I'm not sure and some people define formatting options differently. The MBR (Master Boot Record) is generally a product of the install and doesn't exist on a drive that has been wiped. But if you're dual booting and or talking about a particular partition rather than an entire drive, then the MBR will contain information about other OS's you have installed so if that's the case and you have the option to leave it alone then I would leave it alone. Are you using some third party software to perform the "Low Level Format"?, Are you just applying it to a specific partion?
The # sign is a coding symbol to comment out a line, so when whatever is parsing the hosts file it ignores the lines starting with the # symbol.