RE: HOSTS Spybot F-Secure BackWeb

From: Techno Mike (glaubig_at_tracercorp.com)
Date: 10/19/03 

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 10:41:06 -0700

I ran into this one on a home PC about a week or two ago, couldn't access any of the search engines. Running SpyBot didn't help to fix this particular system either, although I have used it quite successfully on other computers to get rid of pop-ups.

Search your HDD for 'HOST*' (without the quotes). The default HOSTS file is located in:

%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc

However this search found a completely different file in a different directory that appeard to only be used by IE (in %SystemRoot% I think). This was apparent to me because I used nslookup to resolve 'www.google.com' and retrieved the correct IP address but still couldn't access the site. When I attempted to access 'www.google.com' by the IP address directly, the website came up without a hitch. I got the IP address from another machine that wasn't affected by the problem.

It was only by deleting that file that everything returned back to normal for IE. I may suggest simply moving it or renaming it just in case you need it.
     
     ----- Keith wrote: -----
     
     Ron, I too have the same problem, however, it not only
     affects google, I can't search on yahoo or msn or even
     using the search button on the tool bar. I am have very
     limited computer knowledge and have posted this problem
     on this site a few times to no avial. Still don't know
     how to fix it.

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