I am on a win98 se machine, I have this program from this link: http://accs-net.com/hostess/hostess.zip I know it is a program to maintain hosts, but actually do not know how it works or if it is useful. Has anyone any experience with it. Is it useful, and what can I do with it. I have a hosts file. The former sys ad at work used it for our network. There is where I took it from. Can you use it on a stand-alone? Must I keep it or throw it out?
I use it on winxp (stand-alone, not on a network); it’s good.
It makes it very easy to merge and update hosts files (which is a good thing to do, on a regular basis).
It provides for grouping and organising hosts entries as well.
When you first start it, it’ll ask to import your hosts. It just copies your hosts file into its own database, hosts.dbf and hosts.cdx, within its program folder, as well as group info, to help keep them organised. (Your real hosts file stays where it is, and functions as always.) You can then choose to import an updated host file, and it will merge them, avoiding duplicates. Then you export to your real hosts file.
I like to use both hpguru’s and mvps host files, so being able to merge them quickly (along with a few other small lists) with Hostess, is extremely convenient.