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C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

I'm updating the hosts file on regular basis but suddenly it stopped working and now asks for admin rights even though I am administrator.

I've modified and given myself all rights on hosts file but the problem seems to be on the parent folder etc

What happened since I cannot edit (as administrator) hosts any longer and how do I fix it?

Security settings on etc is

Group:
CREATOR OWNER
SYSTEM
Administrators (local\Administrator)
Users (Local\Users)
TrustedInstaller

Trying to change Rights on advanced security settings I cannot add, edit or remove any rights.

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  • Have you tried taking ownership of the etc folder and all files?
    – user50216
    Sep 24, 2010 at 9:51
  • it's c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts - is it wise to take ownership of system folder?
    – Makach
    Sep 24, 2010 at 11:14
  • The only time I had trouble edit it was after Spybot Search & Destroy put a read-only attribute on it for security. Maybe something without your knowing put the read-only attribute on.
    – Scott McClenning
    Sep 27, 2010 at 6:16
  • @Scott, the TrustedInstaller has taken over the etc folder
    – Makach
    Sep 28, 2010 at 8:17

2 Answers 2

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I have run into this on a Windows 7 machine. The only way I've found to resolve this is to use a built-in local administrator account to edit the file.

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From what I've read everyone says to stop the Windows Modules Installer service.

On my machines this service is set to Manual and is stopped. However, my ACL for hosts file doesn't include TrustedInstaller. My machines is up to date with patches, so I assume it is configured properly as far as services & ACLs are concerned.

This website http://www.exe-error-fixes.com/disable-trustedinstallerexe/ says this is a Vista pre-SP1 bug. I assume you have SP2 installed, so this must be a different problem.

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