LMHOSTS File

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What Does LMHOSTS File Mean?

The LMHOSTS file is short for the “Local Area Network (LAN) Manager Hosts File”, is a plain text file that that resolves a domain host name to an IP address. The LMHOSTS file does not have a file extension and is only used when a WINS server is unavailable.

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Techopedia Explains LMHOSTS File

LMHOSTS Files have been replaced by the WINS naming system. “LAN Manager” was an early Microsoft network operating system (NOS).

The LMHOSTS File’s location varies from one OS to another; it is most easily located using a Windows search for the “lmhosts.sam” file (an LMHOSTS sample file). If present, it may be found in the following locations:

  • Windows XP, VISTA and 7: C:WindowsSystem32driversetc
  • Microsoft Windows 98: C:Windows
  • Microsoft Windows 2000: C:WinntSystem32driversetc

The file can be opened with a simple text editor program and then edited or read as needed.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ??a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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