On occasion you will need to edit the hosts file on your machine. Sometimes because of an attack or prank, and others so that you can simply and freely control access to websites and network traffic.

hosts files have been in use since ARPANET. They were used to resolve hosts names before DNS. hosts files would be massive documents used to aide the network name resolution. Microsoft kept the hosts file alive in Windows networking which is why it varies very little whether used in Windows, macOS, or Linux. The syntax stays mostly the same across all platforms. Most hosts files will have several entries for loopback. We can use that for the basic example for the typical syntax.

The first part will be the location to redirect the address to, the second part will be the address that you will want to redirect, and the third part is the comment. They can be separated by a space, but for ease of reading are typically separated by one or two tabs.

127.0.0.1 localhosts #loopback

Now let’s look at accessing the hosts files in the different operating systems…

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Microsoft uses the “Windows Insider” program to test new Windows features. Think of it as the Windows beta program. For example, testers can use the program to use Windows 11 before its official, stable release.

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The Windows 10 upgrade process drags old files, settings, and programs from your previous Windows system to your new one. Microsoft allows you to get an entirely fresh system by performing a clean install.

This is particularly useful if you’ve purchased a new Windows 10 PC and it includes manufacturer-installed bloatware you don’t want. Or, you may need to perform a clean install on a computer without an existing Windows system after installing a new hard drive. Of course, you’ll miss out on the good pre-installed apps, like the free DVD player program that comes with many PCs. However, you can always install VLC to get DVD playback or use one of the more fully featured Windows Media Center alternatives.

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Windows doesn’t show file extensions by default, but you can change a single setting and make Windows always show you each file’s full file extension. This works in File Explorer on Windows 10 and Windows 11 as well as Windows Explorer on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

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If you suspect there is a hidden Bluetooth device in your house, apartment, or office—or you just lost a Bluetooth-capable device—there’s an easy way to track down its physical location thanks to an app on iPhone and Android.

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All Android devices generally can take screenshots the same way, but Samsung phones are a little special. There are several methods you can use to take screenshots on the Galaxy S22 series. We’ll show you all of them.

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If you want to spice up your emails a bit, make use of various emoji that Microsoft Outlook has to offer. You can add these emoji to your messages on the web, desktop, and mobile.

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Private browsing has been around in one form or another since 2005, but it took some time for every browser to get behind it. Now, no matter what browser you use, you can surf the internet without leaving behind a local trail of history, passwords, cookies, and other assorted bits of information.

Private browsing is useful for covering your tracks (or rather, preventing any tracks from being made in the first place), among other things. It isn’t infallible, however, and while it will prevent information from being stored on your computer, it won’t prevent your employer, Internet service provider, websites you visit, or the NSA for that matter, from collecting any information you transmit beyond your computer.

Every browser has their own name for private browsing, and while accessing it is accomplished in practically the same way, there can be subtle differences from product to product.

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VirtualBox is packed with features that you may have never used, even if you frequently use it to run virtual machines. VMware keeps many of its best features to its paid versions, but all of VirtualBox’s features are completely free.

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VirtualBox and VMware both create virtual machines with the NAT network type by default. If you want to run server software inside a virtual machine, you’ll need to change its network type or forward ports through the virtual NAT.

Virtual machines don’t normally need to be reachable from outside the virtual machine, so the default is fine for most people. It actually provides some security, as it isolates the virtual machine from incoming connections.

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