Problem with hosts file in Windows XP

If  your Windows XP computer have problems with the HOSTS file then follow the below listed suggestions

Suggestions:

1- Make it is named "hosts." with no extension. As another commenter noted, sometimes editors will try and impose their default extensions.

2- Make sure you are using the file in the correct location. On my XP box it is C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

3- Make sure that the entries you are trying to make are properly formatted. In particular, do not prefix the line with a #; that indicates a comment/remark.

Are you sure about the re-install? I am all for it, I do it once or twice a year to clean the fluff, but what makes you think it will solve the issue with (basically) name resolution?

Good luck

Suggestion 2 : 

If you entered the default IP for address, 127.0.0.1, you always get a reply for ping, because you are pinging yourself. Instead do a nslookup and see if proper IP is being returned. The idea of hosts is not to block traffic, but to redirect addresses. So, check your hosts file once...

Suggestion 3:

The hosts file is for resolving the name to ip address. If your problem is a lack of reply (and the address is correct) then that is another problem.

Have you verified your network is working by pinging the ip addresses instead of the names?

Use the -a option on the ping command 'ping -a ipaddress' to help you figure out the name resolution.

If the name/address resolution is working, use the tracert command 'tracert myhost' to help you figure out where your packets are getting lost.

Suggestion 4 :

Make sure you don't have any trailing space after the hostname or it won't resolve either. If you have an entry like '10.10.10.10 yourhost ' and you try to 'ping yourhost' you'll get an unkown host.

Suggestion 5 :

Delete the "etc" folder and replace it("etc") from another user, who hots enterties are working fine