Solved Hosts: always Access Denied or asking for Admin permissions

DudeOnFire

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So I've been trying to modify my hosts file for a while now. On and off because I was fed up with searching and trying different things then always ending up failing.
So that is why I am posting on this forum, asking for help from you guys.

So far I have tried:

  • Unchecking Read-Only for the file and the 'etc' folder

  • Opening Notepad as administrator

  • Taking ownership

  • Activating the 'Hidden Admin Account'

  • Made sure I had all the right permissions for the file (right click 'hosts', properties, security, etc.)

I might or might not have forgotten something. Also, there is only one account on my laptop and it is me. And I am the admin.

Thank your for reading.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Vaio VGN-NS150D
OS
Windows 7
CPU
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
I was able to do it through notepad running as an administrator... What happened when you tried? Can you upload a screenshot?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion e9110t
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard
Pegatron IPIEL-LA3
Memory
6.00 GB Hundai HMT125U6BFR8C-H9
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device 500 GB
PSU
Unknown/installed by HP
Case
HP generic case
Cooling
Intel Stock Cooling
Keyboard
HP Keyboard
Mouse
HP Mouse
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Vaio VGN-NS150D
OS
Windows 7
CPU
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
What antivirus are you running?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion e9110t
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard
Pegatron IPIEL-LA3
Memory
6.00 GB Hundai HMT125U6BFR8C-H9
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device 500 GB
PSU
Unknown/installed by HP
Case
HP generic case
Cooling
Intel Stock Cooling
Keyboard
HP Keyboard
Mouse
HP Mouse
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Vaio VGN-NS150D
OS
Windows 7
CPU
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
What antivirus are you running?
I am using Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 11.0.2.556.

That is probably not the issue then. I've heard of some software's firewall programs causing issues with opening the hosts file. The only workaround I've found for people in your situation is to change the file through Safe Mode
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion e9110t
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard
Pegatron IPIEL-LA3
Memory
6.00 GB Hundai HMT125U6BFR8C-H9
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device 500 GB
PSU
Unknown/installed by HP
Case
HP generic case
Cooling
Intel Stock Cooling
Keyboard
HP Keyboard
Mouse
HP Mouse
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter
Booting into Safe Mode to edit my hosts file actually worked! I should have thought of that! Thank you for all your help.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Vaio VGN-NS150D
OS
Windows 7
CPU
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Could have just dragged the host file to your desktop edit it there, then moved it back....
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Alienware Aurora ALX R4
OS
Windows 10 Pro (x64)
CPU
Intel Core i7-3930K (3.2GHz - 4.5GHz)
Motherboard
Alienware Aurora-R4 x79
Memory
4x Samsung 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (16GB 1600MHz)
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia Geforce GTX 690
Sound Card
SteelSeries Siberia Elite
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp U3011
Screen Resolution
2560x1600
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 Pro 256 GB, Seagate 1TB Desktop Hybrid HDD, 2x Western Digital 4TB Green HDD
PSU
875W Some Dell PSU <.<
Case
Alienware Aurora ALX
Cooling
Custom Liquid Cooling (EK CPU & GPU blocks) dual EK 480RAD
Keyboard
Logitech G710+ Mechanical
Mouse
Logitech G700s
Internet Speed
Verizon Fios (50 mbps average)
Other Info
Server: Intel NUC D54250WYK: i5-4250U, 16GB, 256 GB mSATA, Windows Server 2012 R2
Could have just dragged the host file to your desktop edit it there, then moved it back....
I'll try that next time I need to edit my hosts file again! Thank you!
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Vaio VGN-NS150D
OS
Windows 7
CPU
Intel Core2 Duo T5800 2.00GHz
Memory
4 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Could have just dragged the host file to your desktop edit it there, then moved it back....
I'll try that next time I need to edit my hosts file again! Thank you!

I'm not sure that will work, but it is worth a try. Since you had access denied, you wouldn't have been able to move it, and copying it and then trying to move it back would have likely resulted in "Access is denied" when you tried to replace the file.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion e9110t
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard
Pegatron IPIEL-LA3
Memory
6.00 GB Hundai HMT125U6BFR8C-H9
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device 500 GB
PSU
Unknown/installed by HP
Case
HP generic case
Cooling
Intel Stock Cooling
Keyboard
HP Keyboard
Mouse
HP Mouse
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter
I'm not sure that will work, but it is worth a try. Since you had access denied, you wouldn't have been able to move it, and copying it and then trying to move it back would have likely resulted in "Access is denied" when you tried to replace the file.

Yet I manage to do it every single time?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Alienware Aurora ALX R4
OS
Windows 10 Pro (x64)
CPU
Intel Core i7-3930K (3.2GHz - 4.5GHz)
Motherboard
Alienware Aurora-R4 x79
Memory
4x Samsung 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (16GB 1600MHz)
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia Geforce GTX 690
Sound Card
SteelSeries Siberia Elite
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp U3011
Screen Resolution
2560x1600
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 Pro 256 GB, Seagate 1TB Desktop Hybrid HDD, 2x Western Digital 4TB Green HDD
PSU
875W Some Dell PSU <.<
Case
Alienware Aurora ALX
Cooling
Custom Liquid Cooling (EK CPU & GPU blocks) dual EK 480RAD
Keyboard
Logitech G710+ Mechanical
Mouse
Logitech G700s
Internet Speed
Verizon Fios (50 mbps average)
Other Info
Server: Intel NUC D54250WYK: i5-4250U, 16GB, 256 GB mSATA, Windows Server 2012 R2
I'm not sure that will work, but it is worth a try. Since you had access denied, you wouldn't have been able to move it, and copying it and then trying to move it back would have likely resulted in "Access is denied" when you tried to replace the file.

Yet I manage to do it every single time?

Did not know you had the same problem as the OP. In that case, it is definitely worth trying if it happens again.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion e9110t
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
Motherboard
Pegatron IPIEL-LA3
Memory
6.00 GB Hundai HMT125U6BFR8C-H9
Graphics Card(s)
ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card
Realtek High Definition Audio/ATI High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 ATA Device 500 GB
PSU
Unknown/installed by HP
Case
HP generic case
Cooling
Intel Stock Cooling
Keyboard
HP Keyboard
Mouse
HP Mouse
Internet Speed
Download: 19.15 Mbps Upload: 1.67 Mbps
Other Info
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter
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