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Protecting the HOSTS file

By Mary Landesman, About.com

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Spybot Search & Destroy: HOSTS file viewer

Spybot HOSTS file viewer

Spybot HOSTS file viewer

Spybot Search & Destroy makes it simple for even the most novice user to guard against unauthorized HOSTS file changes. However, if the HOSTS file has already been tampered with, this lockdown could prevent other protection from reversing the unwanted entries. Thus, before locking down the HOSTS file, first make sure there are no unintended entries currently present. To do so:
  1. Locate the HOSTS file icon in the Spybot Tools window.
  2. Select the HOSTS file icon by clicking it once.
  3. A screen similar to the one below should appear.
  4. Note that the localhost entry pointing to 127.0.0.1 is legitimate. If there are any other entries shown that you do not recognize or did not authorize, you will need to correct the HOSTS file before continuing with this tutorial.
  5. Assuming no suspicious entries were found, proceed to the next step in this tutorial.

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