open the file c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts in notepad.
You should see this:
Code:
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
The last line may be missing in XP, no biggie.
Some spyware will insert additional entries in the file. This file is used to maintain a list of hosts and their numerical addresses so your computer can figure out just who
www.whatever.com is. With your internet connection this mapping is provided by your DNS servers but entries in this file will override that. It has become common for spyware to put something like
127.0.0.1
www.spybot.info
into this file so your computer can't find the site, just remove the line and save the file. That will get rid of it.