: Search for Notepad in the Start Menu, right-click it, and select Run as Administrator .
By default, Notepad only looks for text files. Click the dropdown menu in the bottom-right corner of the Open dialog box (above the Open button) and change it from to All Files ( . ) .
: Go to File > Open and navigate to: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\ . solidworks host file block fix
The Windows Hosts file is a local text file that maps hostnames to IP addresses. It acts as a local phone book for your computer, overriding standard Domain Name System (DNS) lookups.
If your company recently migrated its SolidWorks SolidNetWork License (SNL) Manager to a new server, the old server's IP might still be hardcoded in your hosts file. : Search for Notepad in the Start Menu,
To fix a SOLIDWORKS "host file block" error, you typically need to map your license server's IP address to its hostname within the Windows file or ensure your antivirus isn't preventing SOLIDWORKS from reading it . Quick Fix: Modifying the Windows Hosts File
Instead of asking the internet or the DNS server "Where is the license server?", SolidWorks checks the host file first. If it finds a match, it goes directly to that IP address. This bypasses DNS lookup errors and broadcast failures. It acts as a local phone book for
Because the Hosts file is a critical system component protected by Windows security, you cannot open and save it like a normal text document. You must use elevated administrative privileges. Follow these steps to safely clean the file. Step 1: Open Notepad as an Administrator
There are two primary reasons these blocks appear in a workstation's Hosts file:
