The hosts file is the first place Windows checks for IP addresses when connecting to websites and can be manually edited to block access to specific websites. The hosts file is located in ...

“Because the hosts file is locally controlled, and its contents can be tailored to the specific wishes of a computer user, network-enabled software applications often give hosts file mappings priority ...

If you see There was an error while attempting to read the local hosts file, Event ID 1012 in the Event Viewer of your Windows 11/10 computer, follow the solutions ...