Where to find the Windows XP “hosts” file

Just like Unix you can add a static host to the Windows system. On Windows XP the file is usually found in the “intuitive” location here (may change depending on where you loaded Windows):

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

This is also where the “lmhosts” file is found.

The format is in standard ARPANET format. For more information see this Wiki page.

Be warned though, putting entries in here essentially makes them static and thus if the target IP is changed in the real owner’s DNS, your local host entry may be pointing to the wrong place. That is why this is best avoided unless really necessary.