The Hosts. file, originally used with UNIX systems, contains a list of host name to IP address mappings. It is a regular text file named HOSTS. and is located in the %Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc directory.
The Hosts. file is not case sensitive when working with NT networks. However, UNIX computer names are case-sensitive. When connecting from NT to UNIX, the hosts file must have proper case-sensitivity.
A hostname containing a numerals must be specified in the Hosts. file within single quotation marks (i.e. '1997').
The Hosts. file is only parsed for NetBIOS name resolution when the box is checked to enable DNS for NetBIOS name resolution.
LMHosts.
The LMHosts. file, originally used with MS-LAN Manager, contains a list of NetBIOS name to IP address mappings. It is a regular text file named LMHOSTS. and is located in the %Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc directory.
To view a sample LMHosts. file, look in the Windows directory of your DOS/Windows95 computer (or the %Systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc directory on your NT machine), and open it with a text editor.
The tags associated with the LMHosts. file are as follows:
#PRE will cause the entry to be preloaded into the NetBIOS name cache.
#DOM:domainname specifies the domain master browser in another domain. Must be preceded by the #PRE tag.
#INCLUDE:\\servername\share\lmhosts. specifies the LMHosts. file on another computer, and will parse it as if it was local.
#BEGIN_ALTERNATE precedes multiple #INCLUDE statements.
#END_ALTERNATE succedes multiple #INCLUDE statements.
The LMHosts file is not case-sensitive.
Note: All items after the # sign on the same line are noted as comments