The only limitation of putty that I have issues with is lack of port forwarding, but I don't use it that often, and there isn't much you need if for under windows anyway. Deals with BitchX fine for me. If you're running Windows 9x (95, 98, Me) the hosts file is c:\windows\hosts. You may have to create it. c:\windows\hosts.sam should be a sample file. You do have to remove the extention for it to work. Windows NT and 2000 keep the hosts file at c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. As above, there will be a hosts.sam file in that directory. -- Andy Zbikowski, Sys Admin | (WEB) http://www.ltiflex.com LTI Flexible Products, Inc. | (PH) 763-428-9119 (EX) 132 21801 Industrial Blvd | (FX) 763-428-9126 Rogers, MN 55374 | (PCS) 612-306-6055