Where is the hosts in the Windows system

How many computer owners are starting to understand the operating principles of application programs and the operating system for no particular reason? Is it really necessary to know where the hosts are, and what is this? Configuring services, selecting the size of the paging file, optimizing the download by making changes to the configuration file ... enthusiasts find a huge number of hidden parameters, having configured which, you can achieve a significant acceleration of the system. On the other hand, most users do not want to understand what a host Windows XP is, but simply use the computer for its intended purpose. And why interfere in the work of the system, which successfully performs its functions? Let's try to understand this issue and find out at the same time whether it really is necessary to know what is behind the words "hosts Windows".

Have you ever wondered why in the global Web there are so many stories about deceived users of social networks "VKontakte", "Classmates"? The deception is as follows: when you open a favorite resource, a message appears on the screen that requires you to send a paid SMS message to the specified number or, in the second case, a mass mailing of messages (spam) begins from the user's account. In fact, the administration of social networks is not involved in this.

The real reason for this is that the computer is infected with a virus program that not only knows where the hosts are, but also successfully modifies it for their own purposes. Surely among your friends there are those who sent SMS, "sponsoring" the virus writer. To solve this problem it is possible, if to understand, where there is hosts, and to be able to work with it.

Find the specified file is not difficult. To do this, follow the path "Windows \ System32 \ Drivers \ etc \". By the way, it is equally effective to use the search function for the Windows folder. Please note that the file does not have an extension. The second feature - its placement can be redefined through the registry. By its structure, hosts is a plain text file, so if necessary, you can make any changes you want with any text editor, even built-in WordPad or the file editor (Total Commander, Far).

Now a bit of theory. Any resource (site) in the global Internet network has its own number - IP-address. And the name we all type in the address bar of the browser is his domain name. Still, it is much more convenient to type "site", and not a meaningless, at first glance, combination of figures "194.58.79.36". A special software translating unit (DNS) converts addresses into domain names and vice versa, and for users this operation is completely transparent. When a browser receives a command to open a site, it first checks the hosts file, which can contain lines directly overriding the correspondence between addresses and names, so there is no need to access the DNS.

So, if the hosts have the string "194.00.77.31 fb.ru" (we have registered the "left" IP-address), then typing in the browser "site" will open a site with the address 194.00.77.31. The possibility of hard pointing allows you to speed up the loading of sites, as the need to use the DNS mechanism (search by the service of compliance on the chain of Internet servers) disappears. In addition, you can block access to unwanted resources by specifying the address of your computer 127.0.0.1. For example, if a child visits a site for adults "xx.yyy", then entering in the hosts line "127.0.0.1 xx.yyy", you can block access to the site.

However, since the virus knows where the hosts are, they can add their corrective lines by redirecting an unsuspecting user to a phishing fake site. A person typing the address of a favorite resource (for example, Classmates) gets to the site of the virus writer, which is a copy of the original. Further all is simple: the window with the request to send SMS appears. Another option: the user, having entered here his login data, thereby informs the creator of the dummy site.