how can i reset ms host files in windows 8

Hi Tony,

Thanks for posting your query in Microsoft Community!

As I understand you are unable to reset ms host files, I would like you to follow the given steps to reset the host files back to default:

Method 1:

1) Press Windows key + R.

2) Type system32 in the Run Window.

3) This will open the System32 folder now browse to drivers folder.

4) After opening the drivers folder browse for the etc folder.

5) Once you open the etc folder, Rename the Hosts file to Hosts.old.

Method 2:

Create a new default hosts file. To do this, follow these steps:

1) Open the run Window by pressing Windows Key + R.

2) Open the system 32 folder by typing System32 in the Run Window.

3) Browse to drivers folder and then browse to etc folder.

4) In the etc folder Right-click on an open space in the (System32\Drivers\Etc folder), point to New, click Text Document, type hosts, and then press Enter.

4) Click Yes to confirm that the file name extension will not be .txt.

5) Open the new Hosts file in a text editor

 6) For example, open the file in Notepad.

7) Copy the following text to the file:-

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.

#

# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

#

# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

# space.

#

# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

#

# For example:

#

#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server

#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.

#       127.0.0.1       localhost

#       ::1             localhost

Hope it works, If still the issue persists, feel free to post, I will be happy to help you.

Thanks!