Actually this is not a request. This is an information that i think should be shared with new hosted members.

Cannot wait to get your DNS propagated? 48Hrs is too long. Really wanted to see how your website is going to be? Then, you've just read the right article.

Even if your DNS is not yet propagated, you can always "fool" your PC into believing that it has been properly propagated. This is how you do it.

Firstly you will need to find a file named "hosts" and open it using any text editor.

In windows, the file is in here;


*where %windir% is the windows root directory like c:\windows

In linux/unix, I believe it is here;


To fool your PC, you need to examine the IP address of your hosting. When you created your hosting account, please note anything like this;



Please note the IP address, 64.69.46.210 That's where your site is hosted.

The next step is the most vital one. This is the core of the trick.

In this example, your domain name will be domainname.com and its IP address is 64.69.46.210 You will want have it accessible from these addresses;

http://www.domainname.com and http://domainname.com.

So, considering this, we will have to design the trick for two host.

This is the basic format of "hosts" file parameter


Then, in this example, you'll need to add these lines at the end of the "hosts" file.


*please note that we do not add the prefix "http://" infront of the domain names.

Please save the file, and you'll be able to browse to your site immediately!

Note: If you want to access your site using other computers, you'll need to do the same steps to them.



This post has been edited by BuffaloHELP: Dec 9 2005, 04:54 AM

Thank You for sharing this Information.

I am pinning this TOPIC

[ Bypassing the DNS Propagation Issue ]

Wow ... this is ver cool information there. Thanks !

Thanks for the information. While we're on the subject, is the Hosts file used soley for keeping track of the IP addresses associated with domains? I might find good uses for the file... (probably not)

The Hosts file redirects traffic based on either IP addresses or canonical names. This thread is very old - despite being a sticky, you might consider asking questions in new threads.

Unpinning this topic. Added to HELP > TRAP17 README. Moving to Internet > General.