where is the hosts file on windows and how do i edit it

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts The catch is you can't save it unless the editor runs as admin. Search Notepad in Start, right-click > Run as administrator, then File > Open, paste that folder path and change the file type dropdown to All files, otherwise the hosts file doesn't show (it has no extension). After saving run ipconfig /flushdns.