Temporary Domain Mapping in Windows

Too many times have I forgotten where to find the file in my Windows XP system folders where I can specify domain mapping. With the following information, you don’t have to wait for a domain name to resolve to your server’s IP address. Instead, you can tell your Windows OS exactly which IP address to go to when you browse a specific domain name. It’s sort of like your own little DNS system.

NOTE: This only works on your computer. This doesn’t work for anyone else on the internet, only you. Also, you may want to remove these changes once your domain name has properly resolved.

• Head over to this folder on your hard drive: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
• Open the file ‘hosts’ in a plain text editor for editing.
• At the bottom of this page, enter your new entry. Let’s say you want to go to example.com which is located on 111.2.33.444 but when you type example.com, it goes to some other IP address. Enter the following new line of text:

  111.2.33.444 example.com

  NOTE: While a space in the middle will work, use a tab instead.

• Save the file and browse to example.com. Your browser will now go to the specified IP address.

Another note for testing purposes: Before making this change, open a DOS window and ping the domain name. This is done by entering ‘ping example.com’ at the command prompt and pressing enter. You will see the IP address that is assigned to this domain name. Once the changes listed above are complete, ping the domain name again to confirm the changes were made.

Posted in: Hints »  by: foyleman

Leave a Response

You must be logged in to post a comment.