How to Modify Your Local Host/DNS File

Steps to be followed:

>>Open Up Notepad – If you are on a fancy version of Windows – Vista/7 - you may need to run notepad as an administrator. You can do this by right clicking Notepad icon and selecting run as administrator.

>>Open up the host file in windows – C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

>>Edit the file based on what changes you want to enforce. Start with the IP address of the area you are forcing your browser/computer to look at (probably the IP Address of your server) then *tab* and the domain name you will be forcing. Now its important to remember that you will need to include BOTH www. and non-www versions as each is considered a different location.

>>Save the file

>>Now there is two things you can do – either restart your computer – or if you dont want to waste time…

>>Close your browser

>>Open the command prompt

>>type ipconfig /flushdns

>>Relaunch browser and visit your website

>>You will now see your server instead of the live site

Thats it… now you can edit and play with your new site to your hearts content and see the changes immediately. And the rest of the world has NO idea! It looks live, and in a way it is, but because of the way DNS works, nobody can see these changes yet. And when your HorseMagnet.com is just the way you and your client want it you can change the DNS settings for real for the domain and voila! The site is now live to the world!