Technical Definition:

The Hosts file on your system helps your machine access web addresses when it cannot access DNS (Domain Name Services) to access the machine's IP address.

Non-Technical Mumbo-Jumbo

If you suddenly cannot access Amazon, EBay, Paypal, or other sites and are redirected to different sites, you may have or had spyware on your machine that changed how your computer tried accessing these websites.

To reverse these changes:

1. From Spybot Search and Destroy, Click "Mode", selecting "Advanced Mode".

2. Click "Tools" in the left pane.

3. Click "Hosts File" in the right pane.

4. A list of hosts and their destination addresses should appear. "Localhost" should route to "127.0.0.1". All other changes are either necessary due to your network settings or may be spyware/adware.

5. To remove a setting if you are sure it was added by malware, click on a setting in the Hosts file and click "Remove selected entries". Repeat as needed.

If you've made changes and can no longer access the Internet or networking resources, try clicking "Restore backup".

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