b. Windows XP
     i. Open My Computer
     ii. Paste the following in the Address bar and then click Go:
          C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
     iii. When asked to choose which program to open the hosts file with, select Notepad from the list and click OK.
     iv. Look for entries containing “winmx.com”. There should be a lot of these entries.
     v. If you see only one entry containing “winmx.com” or none at all, continue to Step 4. (Do not close the file).
     vi. If you see many entries containing “winmx.com”, close the file and go directly to Step 6.



ok, i donno what to do, C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\ has no host file, and everytime i try the patch, it says it cant find a host file and asks to create one, and everytime i click "ok"

Can someone tell me what im doing wrong? i completely removed firewall and antivirus for this, for the hopes that was blocking something, but it was no diffrence.

Hi Robotech,

1. Open My Computer
2. Double Click on C: drive
3. Double Click on the Windows folder
4. Double Click on the System32 folder.
5. Double Click on the Drivers folder.
6. Double Click on the etc folder.
7. Click on the tool bar called Tools. Go to Folder Options.
8. Click on the tab called View.
9. Untick Hide extensions for known file types
10. Untick Hide protected operating systems files (Recommended)
11. Click Apply and Click Apply to All Folders
12. Check if you can see the hosts file now. There may be a hosts.bak or hosts.ics. You want to check for the one that is just called hosts with no file extension.
14. If you can see the hosts file now right click on it hosts file and choose Rename. Call the file hosts.old. If you don't have a hosts file then skip this step.
15. Download the MXPie Patch Manual Install from HERE.
16. Unzip the file. Inside you will find a file called hosts.
17. Copy the file to the etc folder.


Next clear the DNS cache so that the new hosts file will take effect.

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type cmd and click OK
4. In the new window type: ipconfig /flushdns
5. Execute the command.


Then open WinMX and try to connect.

hi, i'm running win 98 - will these directions work for that version of windows? I seem to be having the same problem of, "can't find hosts file," when trying to reinstall the patch... thanks for the help (I really mean it)

Hi hogg2098,

Just a little different for you...

1. Download the MXPie Patch Manual Install from http://patch.mxpie.info/downloads/MXPie%20v3.5%20Manual.zip
2. Unzip the file. Inside you will find a file called hosts.
3. Open My Computer
4. Double Click on C: drive
5. Double Click on the Windows folder
6. Drag the hosts file you downloaded earlier into this folder. So it will be C:\WINDOWS\hosts
7. Close and Restart WinMX if it was running.

Hi Gemini,
Thank you for your help. I see you answered me back on both of my previous posts... I appreciate it. I was able to finally get registered on the info site. I was able to get back to my posts by bookmarking them. It looks like I must have registered as a guest to post the registration problem (like you had suggested) Now, before I try the repair, is it ok if I have the 3.2 patch. It appears as if you want me to go to the 3.5 manual patch installer. Will this host file, that I create, run with the 3.2 patch that I already have? Also, why can't I use my user name to post this message? It says that the username is already taken when I try to post this so I have to use hogg2098.

Thanks again...I'm really not retarded...I promise

I'm a little confused, you said above that the installer cannot find a hosts file on your computer. Can you have a look in C:\WINDOWS\ to see if you do actually have a hosts file there? Are you saying that you are currently using the 3.2 version of MXPie? Either way I would still recommend you upgrade to 3.5, but if you do find that you have a hosts file already then instead of overwriting it with mxpie 3.5 hosts rename it to hosts.old (just in case you have any problems and need to revert back) before you place the new 3.5 hosts into the directory.

Since you have an account now you can click "Log In" at the top of the page and enter the username and password you registerd with. Then you can post and you won't have to keep entering a username as a guest and after your first couple posts you won't have to enter a confirmation code ever again either.