HostEditor

HostEditor is a free and simple-to-use application that gives you the possibility to edit the Windows Hosts file, which contains the TCP/IP configuration details about host mappings.

It doesn't include complicated settings, making it accessible to all types of users, not only those experienced with networking utilities.

Provided that you have .NET Framework installed, you don't need to set up anything else. This means that you can save the downloaded .exe file to any directory on the local disk or copy it to a USB flash disk, in order to directly launch the app on any computer. It doesn't add new entries to the Windows registry, need other DLLs to run, or create files on the disk without your permission.

As far as the interface is concerned, HostEditor adopts a standard .NET Framework form that doesn't emphasize graphical elements. However, it's easy to navigate due to the handful of options available.

Before proceeding to make modifications, you should know that the tool wipes the current Hosts contents, so make sure to perform a backup before using it.

New IP mappings can be created and automatically added to the Hosts file by specifying the IP address and DNS name. Only one entry can be entered at once. The tool doesn't implement options for loading this data from external files. Moreover, you can remove any entry from the file if you change your mind, by opening the right-click menu.

No error dialogs popped up in our tests and the program didn't hang or crash. Unsurprisingly, it left a small footprint on system resources, thanks to the fact that it needed a low amount of CPU and RAM to work properly.

Although it doesn't come equipped with more comprehensive options and configuration settings, HostEditor offers a simple and effective solution for editing the Windows Hosts file.