Windows 10: Hosts file does not exist in etc but Windows folder instead. Windows Security quarantines...

Hello, All.

Windows 10 Pro, Version 2004, OS Build 19041.630

For some time Windows Security has been notifying me of a Severe level alert: SettingsModifier:Win32/HostsFileHijack. This is not something new from what I've read. The affected items is file: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. But as you can see from my screen shot, I do not have a hosts file in that folder.





The host file, for me, is located here:





As you can see it was created when I booted my computer.

Windows Security moves this hosts file to quarantine.


At the start of this problem, Security did not remove it every boot. As time went on it became more frequent. Then every boot.

Bitdefender sees no problem with this file.


Is this a false positive or do I have a problem?


I enabled Windows Security and scanned the Windows folder and again it found the Hosts file as a threat.


As I tried to post this question the first time, Bitdefender gave me this warning:

bitdefender web threat attack.localfileinclusion.20 detected on answers.microsoft.com was blocked on port 443


Thank you in advance.

:)

 

Windows folder security.

Is there a way to disable ALL windows security on folders? I'm using Windows 7 and trying to replace some system files that may be currupt and I get the "You need permission..." bitching from Windows. I know I can take ownership of the folder through the security tab but it's getting REALLY old having to do this for each and every file and folder I'm trying to overwrite. *Bang Head :banghead:

I'm the administrator for christ sake. If I want to open my drive and take a crap in it, do I need permission from Microsoft?

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

Editing the hosts file in Windows 7

I recently just upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Edition and I need to edit the hosts file located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\. I've done this before on XP and Vista Ultimate 64-bit by opening the hosts file with Notepad. Only this time, when I opened it up with Notepad on Windows 7, it looked like this:

Code: # Copyright (c) 1993-2009 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 handled within DNS itself. # 127.0.0.1 localhost # ::1 localhost[/quote] Where as on XP and Vista, it would look like this:

Code: Copyright (c) 1993-2008 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 handled within DNS itself. 127.0.0.1 localhost ::1 localhost[/quote] So if I were to insert a line into the hosts file in Windows 7, would I have to add the # before the line or can I just simply put the line in without adding the # before it?