I update my host file a lot due to many VPN connections and locations I commute to.

Normally I would have to open notepad as an administrator, hope the etc path is still remembered, if not traverse those multiple directories, change the file types to any, open hosts, modify, save and close.

But I finally thought of a way to same me some time by creating a simple shortcut on my desktop.

1. Create a new shortcut
2. Update the Target property to “%windir%\system32\notepad.exe C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts”
3. Rename the shortcut to something like “Edit Hosts File”

Now each time just run the shortcut as the administrator and no having to track down the hosts file anymore.